ABSTRACT
In 1987 a new research institute arrived to attack several problems in Japanese bioscience at one stroke: it was well-funded, it had a mandate to pursue basic research, and it pledged term employment for every member of its research staff, from technical assistants to its director, Osamu Hayaishi. The Osaka Bioscience Institute (Osaka Baiosaiensu Kenkyujo), also known as OBI (pronounced Oh Bee Ai in Japanese), was initiated by Osaka's metropolitan government. OBI is a valuable vision of the possible and a glimpse of what Japanese scientists want, but OBI also illustrates the problems associated with isolated efforts at organizational reform.
