Ministry Of International Trade And Industry Research Articles

Industrial dynamism and the creation of a “virtuous cycle” between R&D, market growth and price reduction: The case of photovoltaic power generation (PV) development in Japan

In light of the global environmental consequences of CO 2 emissions resulting from energy use, systems options for the rational use of energy, particularly of energy efficiency improvement and renewable energy technology, have become crucial. Despite its leading efforts in developing extensive renewable energy, Japan has not necessarily achieved comparative advantage in this field owing to inherent resource constraints for renewable energy. One of the exceptions is photovoltaic power generation (PV). PV is considered to be a “footloose” renewable energy which is expected to overcome Japan's own geographical disadvantages as a technology breakthrough. MITI (Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry) initiated PV development under its Sunshine Project (R&D Program on New Energy) aiming at maximizing these advantages by: (1) encouraging the broad involvement of cross-sectoral industry, (2) stimulating inter-technology stimulation and cross-sectoral technology spillover, and (3) inducing vigorous industry investment in PV R&D, leading to an increase in industry's PV technology knowledge stock. An increase in this technology knowledge stock contributed to a dramatic increase in solar cell production. These increases led to a dramatic decrease in solar cell production price, and this decrease induced a further increase in solar cell production. An increase in solar cell production induced further PV R&D, thus creating a “virtuous cycle” between R&D, market growth and price reduction. This paper, on the basis of an empirical analysis of Japan's PV development, demonstrates the industrial dynamism of this “virtuous cycle” as a policy initiative.

A National Project on mesoscopic simulation in Japan

The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) launched “Platform for Designing High Functional Materials Project” (Doi Project) in FY1998 based on funds provided by Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. Purpose of Doi Project is to develop programs to simulate changes in the state of materials in mesoscopic region and an integrate environment (materials design platform) to realize “seamless zooming” simulation across the micro-meso-macroscopic regions. We plan to develop the following simulation programs, • Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation; • Dynamic mean field simulation; • Dispersion system simulation. Now sixteen researchers from twelve industries and two postdoctoral researchers work under Professor Masao Doi of Nagoya University. The period for research and development shall be four years from FY1998 to FY2001. And the budget in FY1998 is about $3 million. The background, the organization and the outline of Doi Project is described.

The Australia–Japan Partnership in the Asia‑Pacific: From Economic Diplomacy to Security Co‑operation?

Australia and Japan have been acclaimed as taking joint initiatives in establishing regional economic institutions such as the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum. This article seeks to establish why both countries have been able to forge a partnership in an Asia-Pacific economic community. The article identifies three elements of the partnership in institution-building: shared interests in building institutions of regional economic cooperation; power complementarity between the two countries compensating for their respective diplomatic shortcomings; and a corps of influential policy personnel working for regional economic co-operation. The article then looks at the partnership moving towards defence and security co-operation. Introduction Australia--Japan relations have developed to the extent that they have evolved into a partnership in the Asia-Pacific region based on shared interests and common identity, as Prime Minister John Howard declared during his visit to Japan in September 1996. Significant achievements of the partnership have been the joint initiatives in creating regional economic institutions, such as the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (PECC) in 1980 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in 1989. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser said of such endeavours by the two countries: APEC[ldots]is a creation of a great deal of painstaking effort and diplomacy over about 20 years. The move for such an organization has been driven by politicians in Japan and Australia, by the business community in both countries and also by linkages between universities. [1] After resolving 'bilateral trade disputes over beef and sugar in the 1970s, Japan and Australia worked together in organizing the Pacific Community Seminar at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra in September 1980, an event which is now regarded as the first PECC meeting. This was the earliest example of the success of the Australia--Japan partnership in contributing to the Asia-Pacific region at the governmental level. Yuichiro Nagatomi, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira's chief policy assistant, attributed the success of the seminar partly to three strong and long-established ties among Australian and Japanese leaders: Ohira and Foreign Minister Saburo Okita, Okita and seminar chairman John Crawford, and Crawford and Prime Minister Fraser. [2] The origins of the PECC can be traced to Ohira's Pacific Basin Co-operation Concept, and the idea of setting up a nongovernmental seminar stemmed from an agreement between Fraser and Ohira in Canberra, in January 1980. The Australian and Japanese sides p roceeded with frequent consultations and co-ordination at both governmental and academic levels, culminating in the ANU's successful organization of the seminar. Both countries were also co-operatively engaged in developing the APEC initiative which Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced in Seoul in January 1989. The actual creation and the circumstances of the announcement of the initiative were at the instigation of Hawke and his advisers in the Prime Minister's office, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) came to play a major role in developing and promoting the idea after the Hawke announcement. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) had floated a proposal for economic ministers' regional meetings in mid-1988 and the DFAT expressed strong interest in the idea, which urged co-ordination between the two countries. A MITI delegation visited the regional countries to sound-out reactions for its proposal and Hawke's initiative in March 1989, which laid the groundwork for the Hawke proposal's relatively easy acceptance when an Australian delegation later visited the regional countries in April--May 1989. Although MITI's p roposal was eventually subsumed into the Hawke initiative, MITI took the position that the establishment of APEC amounted to success of its own proposal. …

Considerations of Islanding and Self-Excitation Problems of Induction Generators

Islanding of induction generators for wind power generation systems causes a variety of problems and must be prevented islanding in especial. In Japan, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) revised "technical requirements for distributed generators in the distribution systems" in 1998. The technical requirements do not require islanding detection systems for the wind power generation systems consist of the induction generators. However, if reactive power of the induction generators and capacitors of the distribution systems are closely matched, islanding detection by conventional relays become difficult because of self-excitation of induction generators. In this paper, islanding phenomenon of the induction generator, so called the self-excitation, is studied by analytical procedures. The analytical procedures and related simulation results, using Electro-Magnetic Transients Program (EMTP) and Transient NetworkSimulator (TNS), are described.

Development of a 1 MJ cryocooler-cooled split magnet with Ag-sheathed Bi2223 tapes for Si single-crystal growth applications

A project to develop a high-temperature superconducting split magnet for Si single-crystal growth applications began in October 1997 and is scheduled to be completed for three years. The project is being executed on the basis of collaboration between Toshiba Corp., Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. and Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. Ltd., and is partially funded by Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. The purpose of this project is to confirm the energy-saving performance and high reliability of a large HTS split magnet (1 MJ) using Bi2223 tapes. This split coil system is composed of 2 coils, each consisting of 18 pancakes, and the total length of HTS tapes is approximately 80 km. The magnet is to be cooled to below 20 K by a highly efficient GM-type cryocooler in order to make overall current density of the magnet close to the density of metal superconducting magnets. In the first year of this project, a conceptual design was established and R&D of the fragile HTS tapes was carried out. In the second year, the design, fabrication, testing and evaluation of an experimental magnet, incorporating pancake coils of the same size as those of the actual magnet, has been accomplished. This work will contribute to the improvement of the design and fabrication of the full-scale magnet in the final year of this project.

Current status of the fuel cell R&D programme at NEDO

The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is a semi-governmental organisation under the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). It works to coordinate the funds, personnel and technological strengths of both the public and private sectors, and is a major driving force behind Japanese fuel cell developments.

Start-up, testing and operation of 1000 kW class MCFC power plant

The MCFC Research Association has been conducting R&D of the 1000 kW class MCFC Power Plant under contracting research with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as a part of the New Sunshine Program, promoted by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). The plant consists of four 250-kW stacks, a reformer, two cathode gas recycle blowers, a turbine compressor, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The power plant is the first Japanese practical external reforming pressurized type MCFC power generation plant intended for large-scale commercial plant in the near future. The construction of the 1000 kW MCFC power plant started in autumn of 1995 on Kawagoe test station in Kawagoe Thermal Power Station of Chubu Electric Power, which is located in the prefecture of Mie, Japan. The construction and installation of the plant progressed very well, and process and control (PAC) testing of the power plant (not including fuel cell stacks and inverters) was carried out through March–November of 1998. After the PAC test, the cell stacks and inverters were installed in the test site; currently, the power generation test has just started. This paper describes the outline of the plant, the status of the test and the future schedule.

The yen for success.

The yen for success.

Electric-drive vehicles for peak power in Japan

Electric-drive vehicles (EDVs), whether based on batteries, engine-electric hybrid, or fuel cells, could make major contributions to the electric utility supply system. Computer-controlled power connections from parked EDVs would provide grid power from on-board storage or generators. Kempton and Letendre conclude that, in the United States, battery EDVs can be cost-effective as a source of peak power ( Kempton and Letendre, 1997) or as spinning reserves (1999). This option is even better matched to urban Japan, where vehicles are typically parked throughout peak electrical demand periods. Using Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) forecasts for the number of zero emission vehicles in 2010, we estimate the maximum potential power from EDVs in the Kanto region (which includes Tokyo) at 15.5 GW, 25% of Kanto's 1998 peak demand. This paper calculates the cost to provide power from five current EDVs — both battery and hybrid vehicles — and compares those costs to current purchase rates for independent power producers (IPPs) in Japan. Battery characteristics are calculated from current manufacturer-provided data as well as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) projections. Given current vehicle battery costs and current utility purchase rates, no vehicles would be cost-effective peak power resources. Given CARB projections for batteries, the Nissan Altra is cost-effective as a utility power source. Using projected IPP purchase rates for peak power and CARB battery projections, the Nissan Altra and Toyota RAV4L EV are cost-effective. The net present value to the electric grid could be near 300,000 yen ($US 2500) per vehicle. If utilities take advantage of this opportunity to purchase peak power from vehicles, it would make the electric grid more efficient, enlarge the market for EDVs, lower urban air pollution, and facilitate future introduction of renewable energy.

B211 解体コンクリート廃棄物の再利用技術開発

Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) has been developing decommissioning techniques, implemented under a contract with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), to verify and improve the performance of the key decommissioning techniques. One of main themes is on concrete recycling techniques, which deals with high quality aggregate retrieval from concrete waste, high efficient usage of the by-product powder to recycling products, and effective usage of radioactive concrete to filling material for waste form. This paper describes progress and accomplishment on the concrete recycling technique development which started in 1996,

Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG)

A satellite borne FTIR called IMG(Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases) was developed by JAROS (Japan Resources Observation System Organization) deputed by MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry). It was installed on ADEOS (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite) which was launched on Aug. 1966 by NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan). IMG is a very high spectral resolution (0.1cm −1) spectrometer that covers a wide range of infrared spectrum (3.3 – 15 μm). With these features, IMG could detect and monitor spatial and vertical distribution of greenhouse effect gases such as CO 2, CH 4, O 3, etc. over the entire Earth. Unfortunately, ADEOS stopped its operation on 30, June 1997, but about 8 months of data have been collected. IMG sensor characteristics and some of the initial scientific results are described.

Management background, corporate governance and industrial restructuring: the Japanese upstream petroleum industry

Japanese upstream companies have consistently underperformed private independents. A recent audit by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) underlines the magnitude of financial losses and the necessity for sectoral restructuring. MITI's proposals involve refocusing rather than redefining upstream policy, including recognition that official intervention should be reduced in favour of greater control by the more successful local production companies. Some commentators claim the proposed reforms do not go far enough. The ultimate success of MITI's initiatives, it is claimed, depends upon changes in prevailing corporate governance arrangements and the progressive replacement of existing senior managers with those having superior professional or technical qualification. These changes have not been directly mandated by Japanese authorities. On the other hand, MITI's proposals do imply a redisrtribution of corporate oversight in favour of greater market control, a major step in the direction of increased operational and financial efficiency.

MITI Minister Kaoru Yosano on reviving Japan's competitive advantage

Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has made significant contributions to the country's economic development and growth in the post-World War II period through its industry policy and control. However, Japan's prolonged economic recession has battered the country's industries and its competitiveness has dropped significantly since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. The World Competitiveness Yearbook 1999 of the International Institute for Management Development ranks Japan's competitiveness as 16th, a dramatic decline from its top ranking a decade earlier. In order to improve the country's industrial competitiveness, the government of Japan has formulated an overall industry revival plan, “Strategies for Reviving the Japanese Economy.” It also has established several specialized advisory committees, such as the Competitiveness Commission and the Economic Strategy Council. which report to the prime minister. Kaoru Yosano played a leading role in Japan's economic ...

Testing techno-globalism in ministry of international trade and industry R&D consortia

In 1989, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) opened all its R&D consortia to foreign participation on more liberal terms than those offered by publicly sponsored consortia in the USA and the European Union. MITI calls this policy 'techno-globalism'.This article assesses MITI's techno-globalism with case studies of the ministry's two most controversial international consortia-the Real World Computing Program and the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Initiative.The article argues that MITI learned from mistakes made in research consortia during the 1980s and is adapting to its diminished leverage over Japanese firms with consortia that offer greater flexibility in organization and research goals.The article also examines the structure of contemporary consortia in terms of techno-nationalism. It contends that Richard Samuels' notion of techno-national ideology fails to capture the nuances across MITI's international consortia which cover a range of technologies and forms of collaboration.These programs are not the efficient mechanisms for indigenizing foreign technologies that techno-national ideology suggests. Moreover, internationalization is not simply a token gesture. MITI has limited itself to a strategy of international co-operation across all programs-not just ones where Japan trails the state-of-the-art. In 1989, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the ministry most closely associated with Japan's post-war industrial policy, opened all its large-scale research programs to

Development of lithium secondary batteries for electric vehicles and home-use load leveling systems

The Lithium Battery Energy Storage Technology Research Association (LIBES) has been conducting R&D on large-scale lithium secondary batteries for use in electric vehicles and home-use load leveling systems as part of the New Sunshine Program by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) under a contract with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) since FY 1992. The R&D by LIBES, which is in Phase 2, has developed several hundred Wh class prototype cells of 4 types and 2 or 3 kWh class modules of each type connecting those cells in series. At the same time, LIBES member companies are conducting studies on supporting technologies for the above R&D, on the evaluation test, and on next-generation lithium secondary battery technology development. Here we describe the current results and status of LIBES's R&D as well as those technological aspects.

Prediction of biodegradability from chemical structure: Modeling of ready biodegradation test data

AbstractBiodegradation data were collected and evaluated for 894 substances with widely varying chemical structures. All data were determined according to the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) I test protocol. The MITI I test is a screening test for ready biodegradability and has been described by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guideline 301 C and European Union (EU) test guideline C4F. The chemicals were characterized by a set of 127 predefined structural fragments. This data set was used to develop a model for the prediction of the biodegradability of chemicals under standardized OECD and EU ready biodegradation test conditions. Partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis was used for the model development. The model was evaluated by means of internal cross‐validation and repeated external validation. The importance of various structural fragments and fragment interactions was investigated. The most important fragments include the presence of a long alkyl chain; hydroxy, ester, and acid groups (enhancing biodegradation); and the presence of one or more aromatic rings and halogen substituents (retarding biodegradation). More than 85% of the model predictions were correct for using the complete data set. The not readily biodegradable predictions were slightly better than the readily biodegradable predictions (86 vs 84%). The average percentage of correct predictions from four external validation studies was 83%. Model optimization by including fragment interactions improved the model predicting capabilities to 89%. It can be concluded that the PLS model provides predictions of high reliability for a diverse range of chemical structures. The predictions conform to the concept of readily biodegradable (or not readily biodegradable) as defined by OECD and EU test guidelines.

Executive forum: Japan's 'credit crunch' and its consequences for venture finance

This paper has three objectives. First, it describes the effects of the Japanese financial crisis ('credit crunch') on the small firm sector of the economy. Second, it explains why alternative sources of equity finance for new ventures have not emerged. Third, the paper outlines some policies that have been introduced recently to assist start-up ventures in Japan. One of the most important policies is that of facilitating risk capital through equity for start-up ventures to revive the Japanese economy from the current severe recession. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is trying to use every possible means, from nurturing business angels to restructuring the over-the-counter (OTC) market. Nevertheless there are strong concerns that the policies need a long time to take effect in Japan due to a lack of investors with enough experiences to invest in start-up ventures.

Retrieval of Tropospheric Carbon Monoxide Profiles from High-Resolution Interferometer Observations: A New Digital Gas Correlation (DGC)Method and Applications

Abstract Global tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) distributions can be retrieved from observations by spaceborne gas correlation radiometers and high-resolution interferometers. The Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) is a gas correlation radiometer designed for tropospheric CO and CH4 remote sensing. It is being developed at the University of Toronto and the National Center for Atmospheric Research for launch on the EOS/AM-1 platform in 1999. Spaceborne high-resolution interferometers with troposphere CO remote sensing capability include the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse gases (IMG) instrument and the Troposphere Emission Spectrometer (TES). IMG was developed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. It was on the ADEOS-1 spacecraft launched in October 1996. TES is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for launch on the EOS/CHEM-1 platform in 2002. For the purpose of testing the MOPITT data processing algorithms before launch, a new digital ...

Development of Hot Dry Rock Technology at Hijiori Test Site: Program for a Long-Term Circulation Test

Since 1985, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has continued the development of hot dry rock power generation in Hijiori Hot Dry Rock test site, Yamagata prefecture, Japan, as part of the Sunshine Project and succeeding New Sunshine Project sponsored by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), a branch of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). The objective of this project is to identify the feasibility of a Hot Dry Rock power generation system in Japan. Thus, the research and development being undertaken at Hijiori HDR test site is aiming to establish hot rock drilling technology, logging borehole technology for evaluating the state of the rock around the well, hydraulic fracturing technology for creating artificial fractures in rock, fracture mapping technology for surveying the reservoir area, and. reservoir evaluation technology for predicting reservoir longevity.

Structural aspects of the Asian financial crisis

The “Asian Miracle” has been attributed to a number of factors, including macro‐economic stability, high levels of saving and investment, and the accumulation of skilled human resources, but the strategy of rapid economic development that has been pursued in these countries has left some structural vulnerabilities. Kazuyuki Motohashi, currently Assistant Director, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), analyzes the structural factors behind the current account deficits of the respective countries, and the lack of market discipline in the governance system in both the public and private sectors. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author, and do not represent the views of either MITI or the OECD.