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2015 November 18 - 24 TOP3 [POLITICS]

How far military-academia cooperation has advanced under Abe administration

Akahata on November 19 reported what is occurring under the Abe government policy to promote academia-military cooperation.

Since the end of WWII, academic circles in Japan have refrained from conducting military-related research and development due to the remorse over having supported Japan’s war of aggression.

The Science Council of Japan, the representative body of Japanese scientists in all fields, in 1950 issued a statement stating that scientists should refuse to engage in research for militaristic purposes. In 1967, the council again adopted a resolution of the same effect following the revelation that the research and development branch of the U.S. military had provided financial support to an international conference organized by the Physical Society of Japan.

However, the Abe government is now trying to take the teeth out of the scientists’ non-military principle. The Defense Ministry is moving to strengthen its relation with academic circles. The ministry in 2006 started to exchange information on technology with universities and public research institutions. In April 2015, the ministry launched a funding system under which it invites and selects research project proposals from public and private research organizations, and provides money to an approved project up to 30 million yen a year. So far, the defense authority received a total of 109 proposals, 80 of which were from universities and other public institutions.

An expert on national security pointed out that the government just wants to stimulate academic involvement in military research by using this system and does not expect immediate outcomes because the grant of 30 million yen is not a large amount of money, given that just the laboratory equipment alone often costs more than ten million yen.

The Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT), one of the leading universities of science and technology in Japan, in 2005 decided to allow researchers to conduct military-related research projects on the condition that the projects are aimed at basic research and the findings of the projects will be open to the public. The research strategy section, placed just below the president, conducts the screening of projects. Regarding the Defense Ministry’s funding system starting this year, several projects were put forward by TIT research teams and one of them was approved.

The purpose of the approved project is to develop a transportable biomass electricity generation system. In response to an Akahata inquiry, a TIT official in writing explained that the research team seeks to create a compact system which produces biomass gas from organic waste and wood chips to fuel electric generators. The official added that this system would be useful in disaster-hit areas.

If this power supply system reaches the stage of practical application, it will be utilized in military operations to save time and effort needed to transport fuel to front-line bases. The Defense Ministry is evidently intending to use the technology in such a way as can be seen by the Abe government intent to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces all over the world.

Nagoya University Professor Emeritus Ikeuchi Satoru said that scientists are always in search of research funds and sometimes are tempted to accept funding even from defense authorities. He went on to say, they have a social responsibility to ensure that their findings will contribute to the welfare of the public.

Past related articles:
> Arms agency inaugurated in violation of constitutional pacifism [October 5, 2015]
> Gov’t tries to lure universities to participate in military research projects by offering enticement of subsidies [August 9, 2015]
> Military-academia research cooperation accelerating [December 24, 2014]
> Scholars are opposing Abe gov’t move to further involve universities in military research [December 24, 2014]