The cuts have been recommended by working groups of the newly created Government Revitalization Unit in an effort to trim next year’s national budget by three trillion yen. In their current form, the cuts would drastically reduce funding for facilities such as RIKEN’s SPring-8 synchrotron facility in Harima and the Next-Generation Supercomputer in Kobe, while also significantly reducing financial grants for individual scientists and research groups.
In a hastily convened symposium at the University of Tokyo on November 26, the eight Nobel laureates publicly decried the proposed cutbacks, warning that, “Weakening science and technology will lead to the decline of our resource-poor country.” RIKEN President Noyori, in a separate message, describes science and technology as Japan’s “lifeline”. “It takes time,” he explained, “before scientific results bear fruit and begin to spur innovation. Instead of demanding results right away, I ask that you take a long-term view and consider supporting science and technology as an investment in the future.”
With the recommendations currently working their way through government, the future of many of RIKEN’s research initiatives, and of Japan’s commitment to basic science, hangs in the balance. “I really have to wonder whether the people who insist on carelessly terminating and freezing operations will be prepared, in the future, to stand behind these decisions in the courtroom of history,” says Noyori. “Besides being the only means for our country to make it through this century of global competition, science and technology is also the pillar of international cooperative efforts to solve the many problems facing the continued existence of humankind.”
