Japan Press Weekly

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2014 December 24 - 2015 January 6 [POLITICS]

Military-academia research cooperation accelerating

The Defense Ministry is increasingly contracting universities and research institutes for its weapons development and military research.

Research partnerships between the ministry’s Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), which proclaims itself a frontrunner in defense technology, and academic or scientific institutions have increased since Abe Shinzo made his comeback to power in December 2012. Military-academia collaboration has been on the increase in tandem with Abe’s ardent desire to turn Japan into a war-capable nation.

The Defense Ministry knows which corporations or universities have high productivity as well as technical expertise that can be applied to defense-related research and development. The defense authority assesses each institution’s ability and intends to actively utilize applicable civil technologies. The ministry says it wants to provide funds from the next fiscal year to universities to compete with each other for research grants on the pretext of technology research advancement.

The TRDI is, for example, proceeding with joint research on unmanned underwater probes with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. The ministry admitted that the research is being conducted with possible anti-submarine and anti-torpedo warfare in mind (revealed by Parliamentary Vice-Minister to Japanese Communist Party Kasai Akira, House of Representatives, April 2014). Astrophysicist Ikeuchi Satoru, professor emeritus of Nagoya University, also pointed out that what they are studying is an undersea version of drone bombers.

Industry-university joint research makes its achievements public after a set period of time so that the research results can be shared with the wider scientific community, contributing to the development of science and industry.

However, in regard to military-academia collaboration, research findings will remain secret unless the Defense Ministry gives the okay. On top of that, what to do with the intellectual property rights will depend on the TRDI classification in order to strictly keep the general public unaware of the research.

In other words, some scientists are already engaged in research related to death and destruction. The money for that research flows into research labs from the Defense Ministry. The government is promoting this move without telling the general public about it. Ikeuchi expressed concern by saying, “People will come to distrust scientific research.”

Past related articles:
> Researchers oppose joint development of weapons by state & universities [August 1, 2014]
> Gov’t pushes Univ. of Tokyo to support weapons research and development [July 8, 2014]
> Oceanographic institute will develop unmanned military boats despite its own peace policy [April 18, 2014]