ABSTRACT
President Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank recently coupled knowledge with prosperity and public policy: “[K]nowledge is the foundation of productivity and competitiveness, and the backbone of good public policy (Kuroda 2007).” This chapter examines the challenge of integrating Japan’s national innovation system into regional investment. Will Japan choose to keep innovation at home or to integrate innovative resources across the region? If knowledge is the backbone of regional public policy, integrating the region into Nikkei knowledge networks is the key to Japan’s “soft power” in the New Asia.
