Discerning Japan's approach without being swayed by other countries

Adapted from an interview with Takayuki Kobayashi, a member of the Japanese Cabinet.

In his policy speech, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida highlighted the importance of "realizing a science and technology-based nation" as the primary pillar of Japan's growth strategy; reorganizing and expanding undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs; establishing a university fund worth 10 trillion yen within the fiscal year; and investing in research and development in advanced science and technology. Regarding Cabinet personnel affairs, Takayuki Kobayashi, who has worked on science and technology policy, intellectual property, and security within the LDP, was selected as the minister in charge of science and technology policy, space, economic security, and health and medical strategy. We asked Kobayashi (46) an appointed cabinet minister in his third term, about economic security and science and technology policy in Japan.

[Economic Security] For sustainable growth through offense and defense

There is a matrix of national power that I always consider during policymaking. At the core of the national strategy is the economy that enriches the lives of the people and security for the protection of Japan's people. We run the economy and security together, in the same way that the wheels on both sides support a car. Underpinning this is innovation as a force that creates new value for society. Education supports this innovation at its foundation.

I am constantly considering how what I am currently doing fits into the matrix of national power involving the economy, security, innovation, and education. As for economic security, we live in a world where economy and security are truly blending together. The era of security and economy being separate from each other is concluding. As a nation, we must advance this new policy field, namely economic security, in which economy and security are considered together. The vulnerability of supply chains was exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the U.S.-China conflict appears protracted, and competition among nations is becoming increasingly intense. Amid this, there are increasing movements and opportunities to use economic means to exert influence. This is our reality.

We will protect the lives and livelihoods of Japanese citizens and achieve sustainable growth in Japan. It is necessary to secure this firmly from an economic perspective. To this end, rather than changing trends in other countries, the perspective of what Japan will do first is extremely important.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has broadly organized economic security into two concepts: strategic autonomy and strategic indispensability. Autonomy is defense, and indispensability is offense. Regarding autonomy, we have established various risk scenarios for the core infrastructure industries such as information and telecommunications, energy, finance, medical care, transportation, and logistics, to determine Japan's vulnerabilities and ways to resolve them. With regard to safeguarding and strengthening the strategic indispensability for Japan's offense, including approaches for technological conservation, we promote cutting-edge research and development, eliminate weaknesses, and refine strengths in order for Japan to become an indispensable global entity, ensuring that we can collaborate with other countries in a meaningful way for the first time.

[Science and Technology] Unprecedented bold policy implementation

Science and technology, especially the superiority and indispensability of technology, are of great importance and cannot be separated from economic security. For example, we will focus our efforts on areas where countries are competing aggressively, such as AI, quantum technology, materials, biotechnology, and semiconductors. We view science, technology, and innovation as keys to resolving global issues such as carbon neutrality, and reforming the socio-economic structure.

In the Sixth Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan, Japan announced "Society 5.0". However, in order to realize this, we would like to work on bold policies without being constrained by previous ideas. For Japan to lead into the future, it will be important to decide which fields to compete in globally. Semiconductors, AI, quantum technology, materials, and related fields are a strength for Japan, but this is an area where other countries will do their best. In any case we must work hard in these areas. Outside of these areas, it is difficult to determine where to wager.

Our current strengths may be ascertained through the industrial structure and value chains; however, to grasp our strengths in five or ten years, for example, we must consider what we are doing now, and anticipate the kind of society we will have in ten years. This must not only be considered by the government, but the knowledge of various people should also be put to use. Examining trends in the number of recipients of doctoral degrees in major countries, there were 92,000 in the U.S., 61,000 in China, and 28,000 in Germany, followed by only 15,000 in Japan. If this trend continues, the future of Japan is unlikely to be bright. Unless the number of doctoral programs increases steadily, it will be difficult to acquire advantages and essential qualities. Young researchers are reporting difficulty in obtaining research funding and the need to produce short-term results to obtain it.

This is a world in which we cannot determine what will happen in the medium to long term. Thus, it would be better to conduct research from various perspectives. First, I think the government can do more in terms of funding, so I would like to focus on that initially. There are various challenges and limitations in the research and development of the health and medical field. What I am particularly interested in is the use of data. Real data, including those for healthcare, are abundant in Japan, which is said to be a strength. However, possessing data is meaningless if it cannot be utilized properly. Therefore, it is important for the government to support the development of environments and rules. For example, I think there are problems with how genome data and clinical information are utilized for research and development in the medical field, and I have a strong awareness of the problem from the viewpoint of high-quality medical care and extension of healthy life expectancy. The government is working to develop environments and infrastructure that can be effectively applied for useful research in the medical field, such as genome data. Although there are various issues regarding the Next-Generation Medical Infrastructure Act, the government is working to utilize anonymously processed medical information for research and development. By doing so vigorously, we would like to ensure that Japan is a truly advanced nation in health and medical care.