Science Council of Japan panel calls for reservations about military research

A panel to the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) released on Jan. 16 an interim set of proposals calling for maintaining reservations about military research, which the council has disavowed since the end of World War II.

Members of the panel, which has been reviewing the high-powered council's ban on military search, remain divided over the issue, and members of the public will have a chance to express their opinions at an academic forum scheduled for February. The SCJ is looking to release its conclusions at its general meeting in April.

The interim report states that "recognizing the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the arguments for and against conducting military research at universities and other institutions are separate issues. More than distinguishing between civilian and military technology, it is difficult to draw a line between technologies for defense versus offense." Furthermore, "to maintain the healthy development of scholarships, we hope not just for increased budgetary support for national universities, but also ample capital for civilian research."

In response, several SCJ members pointed out that "the definition of 'military research' is vague," and worried that "focusing only on the health of Japanese academia going forward will leave questions of our nation's peace and security solely up to politicians." As such, the panel agreed to make some alterations to the report.

After World War II, Japan's scientific community reflected on its wartime cooperation with the military and issued a declaration vowing not to participate in research for military purposes. Whether to repeal this declaration was not mentioned in the interim report.

"Opinions differed, so I would like to present these views side-by-side as a basis for further debate," commented panel chairman and Hosei University professor Atsushi Sugita.

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The core issues presented in the SCJ interim report:

- The question is whether university research bodies that hitherto have restricted military research should participate in such research going forward?

- Recognizing the SDF is a separate issue from the question of whether or not military research should be done at universities.

- Industry-academic collaboration cannot be discussed in the same terms as military science-academic collaboration, in which secrecy is considered vital.

- The Ministry of Defense's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA)'s system for promoting defense technology research entails a high degree of government intervention.

- Increased funding for civilian research is highly desirable for the healthy development of scholarships.