ABSTRACT
In Japan, hardly anyone is satisfied with the degree or systems of co-operation between universities, their related institutes, and industry. This, however, should not be taken to mean that academics and their research do not contribute significantly to technological developments in Japan. Superimposed on the basic Mombusho research system is a new spirit of co-operation and entrepreneurial activity by the Japanese professor towards industry. For so long Japanese industry has thrived in the position of challenger; it is now in the unenviable position of being forced into the lead in many sectors, often against its own will. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s preference is obviously for a ‘technology-based’ nation described in its ‘Vision of the 1980s’. Economic survival was the major motivation in Europe for pushing industry closer to the educational community.
