Nature Index 2018 Japan

Continuing decline in Japan’s research performance bodes ill for the country’s ambition to become a ‘super-smart’ society.

Efforts to improve Japan's scientific status include top-down institutional change, but tradition is hard to break.

A graphic representation shows how Japan’s production of natural-science papers has fallen but some institutions shine.

A push for more Japanese women of science.

Osaka University bets on commercial-academic collaborations to survive.

Japan's vision of a high-tech, 'super-smart' society relies on sustained investment to arrest scientific decline.

Across the scientific fields, Japanese researchers are bringing together the virtual and real worlds.

An institute’s work on warning and mitigation systems for catastrophic events is a national priority.

With permanent academic jobs scarce, young researchers on temporary contracts are nervous about the future. The government wants industry to utilize their talents.

International collaborations are rising, but not enough to put Japan on the international researcher circuit.

Gakushuin University is the top-ranking institution when assessed on the quality of its research in the natural sciences.

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at nature.com/nature-index/