Japan

Revitalization of Nanotechnology R&D

Much of nanotechnology R&D has been initiated by researchers in Japan, as illustrated by the fact that the term itself was first put forward by Taniguchi in 1974, or by the discovery of the carbon nanotube by Dr. Sumio Ii-jima. Additionally, the Atom Technology Project, whose mission is to study material properties on an atomic level, was launched in 1992. Above all, vigorous R&D efforts have been undertaken in the microfabrication technology of semiconductors. However, specific R&D in the name of nanotechnology has only been conducted since 2001.

Inspired by the NNI, which aimed to promote R&D investments in nanotechnologies to industry, academia, and government circles across the United States, Japan designated nanotechnology as one of its four priority [Page 374]fields in the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan of 2001 (nanotechnology and materials science/technology, life sciences, information and telecommunications, and environmental sciences), and allocated a large amount of public funds to R&D. Such government-led incitements related to nanotechnology R&D were intended to make Japan a worldwide leader in this field. The emphasis was put on the intensive promotion of balanced R&D activities covering both basic and applied researches aiming at commercialization. In addition, “nanotechnology and materials science/technology” was identified as one of the four priority fields to be promoted within the Third Science and Technology Basic Plan of 2006, and thus benefited from continuous and aggressive public investments.

As governmental measures have encouraged the spread of R&D in nanotechnologies, so too did the R&D activities conducted by industries. Since 2000, a number of products have been marketed with the term nanotechnology or nano, using cutting-edge technology as a branding tool, despite the fact that some products did not involve nanotechnology. However, the nanotech boom in the market did not generate sufficient technological outputs in R&D activities, thus fading away near 2002. Yet in October 2003, industries established the Nanotechnology Business Creation Initiative (NBCI), sequentially conducting cooperative R&D activities by building business road maps for nanotechnology and promoting the exchange of R&D-related personnel.

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