VZCZCXRO5814
PP RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKO #1306/01 1612225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 102225Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3625
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 4509
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 2092
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 6842
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8311
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 5037
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 8639
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/USFJ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001306 
 
DEPT FOR STAS, OES, AND EAP/J 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPL TBIO TRGY TNGD TSPA EAGR ECON PGOV JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN'S SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET GIVES MORE TO S&T 
 
TOKYO 00001306  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The GOJ's FY09 supplemental budget includes an 
additional JPY 1.35 trillion ($13.5 billion) for science and 
technology.  The majority of these funds will go to the Ministries 
of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 
Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and Health, Labor, and Welfare 
(MHLW).  The MEXT will establish a special fund to set up 
cutting-edge research centers and support young Japanese 
researchers.  Science and technology programs at a number of GOJ 
ministries will receive funds.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Japanese Government's supplemental budget for FY09 
(April 2009-March 2010) includes additional science and 
technology-related outlays of JPY 1.35 trillion ($13.5 billion), 
roughly ten percent of the total package.  The GOJ's regular FY09 
S&T budget is JPY 3.56 trillion.  Japan traditionally passes a 
supplemental budget to cover needed outlays not fully accounted for 
in the regular annual budget.  This year's supplemental, however, is 
also designed to help provide additional stimulus to help Japan deal 
with the global economic situation.  The April bill is the fourth 
stimulus measure the GOJ has implemented since summer 2008.  The new 
bill's strong focus on science and technology reflects the GOJ view 
that S&T is vital to Japan's economic recovery.  A total of JPY 656 
billion, roughly half of the S&T supplemental budget, is allocated 
to the MEXT, followed by JPY 345 billion to the METI and JPY 231 
billion to the MHLW. 
 
Establishment of Special Fund at JSPS 
------------------------------------- 
¶3.  (SBU) Of the amount allocated to MEXT, JPY 300 billion (about 
USD 3 billion) will be transferred to a special fund established at 
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).  The funds 
will be spent over five years from 2009 to 2013.  Japanese 
government research budgets are typically allocated for just one 
fiscal year - a reality that researchers find difficult.  To realize 
this new special fund, and the benefits it offers Japanese science, 
the government has sent a bill to the Diet amending the law 
governing the JSPS. 
 
¶4.  (U) The JSPS special fund will be dedicated to two, concurrent 
five-year programs.  The first is a program to establish 30 
cutting-edge research centers with a total of JPY 270 billion in 
funding.  The GOJ's Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) 
is developing the procedures for proposal solicitation, review 
mechanisms, and award management.  The centers are likely to be 
managed by several funding agencies to which JSPS will transfer 
funds.  Each center's award budget will total JPY 9 billion ($90 
million) to be spent over five years.  The second program will 
provide support for young Japanese researchers (graduate students, 
post docs, and beginning faculty) with JPY 30 billion in funding. 
The JSPS plans to send 15,000-30,000 outstanding young Japanese 
researchers to other countries.  The details of the program are 
still under discussion at JSPS. 
 
Other S&T-related Budgets 
------------------------- 
¶5.  (U) The following are a number of specific activities that will 
be supported by the ministries' supplemental funds. 
 
Ministry of Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT): 
 
- JPY 69.5 billion: Industry-university-government cooperative 
research centers in all 47 Japanese prefectures; 
- JPY 10 billion: Research on regenerative medicine using iPS 
(induced pluripotent stem cells); 
- JPY 10 billion: Infrastructure for the development, launch, and 
use of quasi-zenith satellites; earth observation satellites and 
extremely small satellites; 
- JPY 5 billion: Environmental technology development centers; 
- JPY 4 billion: Facilities for WPI (World Premier International) 
Centers; 
- JPY 4 billion: Marine resource exploration technology development; 
 
- JPY 0.5 billion:  A new program to encourage companies to hire 
post-docs.  To encourage Japanese companies to hire post-docs, MEXT 
will provide firms that hire post-docs with JPY 5 million ($50K) per 
position. 
 
TOKYO 00001306  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI): 
 
- JPY 31 billion: Advanced R&D facilities for nanotechnology, 
storage batteries, and solar panels; 
- JPY 29.5 billion: A marine resource exploration vessel; 
- JPY 20.5 billion: Low Carbon Society projects; 
- JPY 12.7 billion: Cool Earth (energy innovation/greenhouse gas 
reduction) projects; 
- JPY 4.8 billion: A coastal aqua-community project; 
- JPY 3.5 billion: Acceleration of Green IT projects; 
- JPY 3 billion: Biomass related projects; 
- JPY 2 billion: International cooperative R&D on innovative solar 
energy and hydrogen storage. 
 
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW): 
 
- JPY 127.9 billion: Development and production of vaccines for new 
strains of influenza; 
- JPY 75.3 billion: Development of pharmaceuticals for cancer and 
children's diseases; 
- JPY 12 billion: Medical centers to address issues of national 
priority (induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) applications, 
regenerative medicine, innovative medical equipment, innovative 
biopharmaceuticals, R&D on cancer, cardiovascular diseases, 
neurological and mental diseases, incurable and rare diseases); 
- JPY 4.2 billion: Accelerating the review process for approving 
medicines; 
- JPY 2.9 billion: Subsidies for research on government-designated 
diseases; 
- JPY 2.1 billion: International Medical Center of Japan; 
- JPY 1.7 billion: National Institute for Sciences; 
- JPY 1.4 billion: National Cancer Center. 
 
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC): 
 
- JPY 38.9 billion: Strengthening R&D facilities for information and 
communication technologies; 
- JPY 10 billion: Accelerating priority R&D programs in information 
and communication technologies. 
 
Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries (MAFF): 
 
- JPY 19.3 billion: Creation of industries that make use of locally 
available resources; 
- JPY 8.2 billion: Soil science research; 
- JPY 4.0 billion: Research on Japanese cedar pollen syndrome, 
commercialization of genetically modified silkworms, low-cost, 
high-yield rice at the National Institute of Agro-biological 
Sciences; 
- JPY 3.4 billion: Facilities for research on preventing global 
warming at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute; 
- JPY 2.7 billion: Energy-conserving fishing boats and genome 
analysis at the Fisheries Research Agency; 
- JPY 1.8 billion: Analysis and use of genetic information to 
accelerate the production of new varieties, including low-cost, 
high-yield rice at the National Agriculture and Food Research 
Organization; 
- JPY 0.6 billion: Development of technologies for biomass 
utilization. 
 
ZUMWALT