Home > Statistics > Handbook > Chapter 8 Science and Technology/Information and Communication
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Japan ranks third among major industrialized countries, following the U.S.A. and China, in terms of expenditure on science and technology, and this expenditure supports its position as a technology-based country. Researchers in the fields of science and technology (including social sciences and humanities) as of the end of March 2011 totaled 843,000. The total research and development (R&D) spending in fiscal 2010 amounted to 17.1 trillion yen, down for the third consecutive year. Relative to GDP, R&D spending down for the second consecutive year, to 3.57 percent.
As of the end of March 2011, the number of researchers in business enterprises amounted to 491,000 persons, while the number of researchers in universities and colleges was 312,000 persons. In terms of R&D expenditures in fiscal 2010, business enterprises spent 12.0 trillion yen (70.2 percent of total R&D expenditures), while universities and colleges spent 3.4 trillion yen (20.1 percent).
Universities and colleges spend more than 90 percent of their R&D expenditure on natural sciences for basic research and applied research, while business enterprises allocate over 70 percent for development purposes.
Japan drives its science and technology policy from a long-term perspective based on the Science and Technology Basic Law, established in 1995. The Fourth Basic Plan (2011-2015), which started in August 2011, sets the restoration of the Great East Japan Earthquake that occured in March 2011 as a priority issue and states to strengthen efforts to promote basic research and human resources development. Of the total research expenditure spent in fiscal 2010, those spent on specific purposes were for life sciences, information technology, environmental science and technology, energy and nanotechnology and materials in order of the amount spent.
The researchers at business enterprises totaled 491,000 persons at the end of March 2011. Approximately 90 percent of them, or 431,000 persons, were in the manufacturing industries; the largest number was in the information and communication electronics equipment industry, followed by the motor vehicle, parts and accessories industry, then by the electrical machinery, equipment and supplies industry. In terms of R&D expenditures in fiscal 2010, business enterprises spent 12.0 trillion yen. Of this amount, 10.5 trillion yen was spent by the manufacturing industries; the motor vehicle, parts and accessories industry spent the most, followed by the information and communication electronics equipment industry, then by the medical and pharmaceutical industry.
Technology trade is defined as export or import of technology by business enterprises with other countries, such as patents and expertise. In fiscal 2010, Japan earned 2,437 billion yen from technology exports, which was up 20.9 percent from the previous fiscal year; of the total receipts, 72.1 percent was from overseas parent/subsidiary companies. Meanwhile, Japan paid 530 billion yen for technology imports. This was down 0.9 percent from the previous fiscal year, marking the third consecutive year of decrease; of this figure, 23.9 percent was payments to overseas parent/subsidiary companies.
In fiscal 2010, Japan exported 2,437 billion yen of technologies; major destinations for export were: the U.S.A. (862 billion yen, or 35.4 percent of total exports), followed by China (341 billion yen), Thailand (212 billion yen), and the U.K. (151 billion yen). On the other hand, Japan imported 530 billion yen of technologies, mainly from the U.S.A. (403 billion yen, or 76.0 percent of total imports), followed by Denmark (17 billion yen), Switzerland (16 billion yen), and France (15 billion yen).
The total number of patent applications remained robust in and after 1998 as more than 400,000 applications were submitted every year, but a gradual drop has been seen since 2006. In 2010, there were 344,598 applications (down 1.1 percent from the previous year).
Approximately 140 countries, including Japan, have joined the international patent system of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as of February 2012. In 2011, the number of international patent applications made based on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was 182,000, of which Japan filed 38,888, an increase of 21.0 percent over the previous year.
The U.S.A. ranked first among major countries/organizations with which Japanese filed patent applications in 2009, with 81,982 filings. The number of Japanese-filed patent applications in China has been on an upward trend since 2002. It reached 33,882 in 2010, approximately double the 2002 figure of 15,511.
The number of Internet users has been growing steadily since the start of commercial Internet use in 1993. As of the end of 2011, the number of people who had used the Internet in the past year (those aged 6 years and over; covering any and all types of Internet connection devices used, including PCs, cell phones, personal handyphone systems, smartphones, tablet terminals and game machines) totaled 96.10 million, or 79.1 percent of the population aged 6 years and over. An observation by age group showed that the individual Internet user rate exceeded 90 percent in people in their 10s to 40s, although the rate dropped as the age went up.
According to the status of Internet use by terminal as of the end of 2011, the use rate of home PCs was the highest (62.6 percent), followed by cell phones (52.1 percent), PCs outside home (39.3 percent), and smartphones (16.2 percent). Changes in the rate of Internet use by terminal by age group show that approximately 80 percent of people in each age group of between 13 and 49 use home PCs. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of people in age groups between 13 and 59 use cell phones. People aged 60 and over use cell phones (33.2 percent) more than home PCs (31.1 percent). In particular, 44.9 percent of people in their 20s use smartphones.
Among enterprises, the Internet user rate at the end of 2011 was 98.8 percent (same rate as the previous year).
As of the end of March 2011, the contracts of broadband (connection) service subscriptions totaled 34.91 million, marking a 5.8-percent annual increase. Among broadband subscribers, the number of DSL (digital subscriber line) subscribers reached 8.20 million, accounting for 23.5 percent of the total.
The number of broadband subscribers in Japan, as an indication of the spread of its use, was 34.04 million in 2010, the third largest after China (126.34 million) and the U.S.A. (85.72 million).
Meanwhile, IP phone services (voice phone services that use Internet Protocol technology across part or all of the communication network), which use broadband circuits as access lines, entered full-scale use between 2002 and 2003. As of the end of March 2012, the total number of IP phone subscribers was 28.48 million.
Subscribers for Internet connection service using cable television networks (cable Internet) as of the end of March 2011 totaled 5.67 million (up 6.8 percent from the previous year).
FTTH (fiber to the home) service, using optical fiber, is a service that uses an ultra-high speed network capable of communicating faster than a DSL or cable Internet connection. As of the end of March 2011, the number of FTTH (connection) subscribers was 20.22 million, marking an 13.6-percent increase over the past year. The number of DSL subscribers is decreasing, while that of FTTH is increasing. In recent years, the number of BWA (broadband wireless access) service subscribers is rapidly increasing, although the share of total is small.
The number of fixed phone subscription contracts was 31.32 million (down 9.3 percent year-on-year) at the end of March 2012. Meanwhile, the number of mobile phone subscribers (cell phones and personal handyphone systems) totaled 123.29 million at the end of March 2011, marking a rise by 7.7 percent year-on-year to 132.76 million at the end of March 2012.
As of the end of March 2011, there were, nationwide, 24,529 post offices run by Japan Post Network Co., Ltd. and 186,753 mailboxes set up and serviced by Japan Post Service Co., Ltd.
Japan Post Service Co., Ltd. handled 21.85 billion pieces of domestic mail (letters and parcels) in fiscal 2011 (a 1.9-percent decrease from the previous fiscal year).
Meanwhile, the total number of international mail (including letters, express mail services (EMS) and parcels) sent in fiscal 2011 amounted to 49.5 million pieces (a decrease of 8.6 percent from the previous fiscal year), representing an enormous decrease from that of fiscal 1995 (122.8 million).
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