抄録
In 1990, the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan established a Forum for Fundamental Problems of Research Industry. The forum issued a report on the present status of research industry in Japan and problems to be solved for its future development. According to the report, R&D investment by the Japanese private sector has been rapidly increasing, and is now at the level of about 10 trillion yen per year, enough to be regarded as an Industry in itself. It is also said that various research support activities are gaining in importance and sales. Those activities include testing, evaluation, analysis, the provision of research information, and the provision of human resources. On the other hand, the report points out that there exist many problems to be solved for future development of the research industry in Japan. Facilitating basic research, attracting human resources, internationalization, and strengthening research fundamentals are examples.
