Growing a Japanese Science City: Communication in Scientific Research

The future of basic scientific research in Japan is foreshadowed in the developments at Tsukuba Science City. This planned scientific community is vital to the basic research effort in Japan: 45% of Japan's public sector researchers work at Tsukuba and 48% of the nation's research and development budget is spent there. Outside Japan, Tsukuba is prestigious yet inside Japan Tsukuba remains a controversial social scientific experiment. Growing a Japanese Science Cityexplores the political and economic motivations behind the construction of Tsukuba, looks at how plans changed during the process of implementation, and examines the ways in which scientific reseach is conducted at Tsukuba today. Its history, its failures and successes need to be understood by governments and businesses looking into long-term strategies for planning scientific research and economic growth.