Over the past few decades, the number of Nobel Prizes awarded to Japanese scientists has increased dramatically. They received 18 Nobels in the Natural Sciences category, gaining an international reputation for their scientific and technological capability. But in recent years, Japanese science and technology has become less competitive in the international arena. And Japan's budget for research has not kept pace with those in the United States and China, casting a dark cloud over the future. But Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka is once again making waves with his ground-breaking research, after 16 years of relative obscurity as a company employee. How has Tanaka continued to innovate? We look into the struggle to keep Japan at the forefront of science and technology.
