Sience and technology

Japan is a leading nation in the fields of scientific research, technology, machinery and medical research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a US$130 billion research and development budget, the third largest in the world.[57]

Some of Japan's more important technological contributions are found in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery, industrial robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and metals. Japan leads the world in robotics, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots used for manufacturing.[58] It also produced QRIO, ASIMO and Aibo. Japan is the world's largest producer of automobiles[59] and home to six of the world's fifteen largest automobile manufacturers and seven of the world's twenty largest semiconductor sales leaders.

Japan has significant plans in space exploration, including building a moonbase by 2030.[60] The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) conducts space and planetary research, aviation research, and development of rockets and satellites. It also built the Japanese Experiment Module, which is slated to be launched and added to the International Space Station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2007 and 2008.[61]