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"There's a perception that what Japan does is import all its technology and turn around and export the products," says Maria Papadakis of the National Science Foundation's International Studies Group. But a recent NSF report on R&D funding that Papadakis authored supports her opinion to the contrary, namely that, in Japan, "there's a lot more innovation than the country is given credit for." The NSF report focuses on how and where Japan spends its R&D dollars, what funding goes to its own scientists, and what technology it imports. According to the foundation, Japan spends about the same percentage of total R&D funds on basic research as does the United States: 13% for Japan, 12% for the U.S. (These figures are based on statistics for 1985, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available.) In Japan, imported know-how appears to be playing a decreasing role in the whole manufacturing sector: In 1975, for example, an index of the amount of technology imported stood at 11 for manufacturing, while 10 years later it had dropped to 5. The decline was even more pronounced in specific industries. For the rubber industry, the index of imported technical know-how went from 13 to 4. The petroleum and coal industry dropped from 18 to 8, and in general machinery manufacturing (not electronics like computers), the index fell from 20 to 6. "One misconception that constantly comes up in the press, even among people who ought to know better, is that an unusually high percentage of Japanese R&D is done by industry," says Papadakis. "A frequently cited figure is 80%." However, she says, this impression comes in part from Japanese reports that combine research in private schools with research in industry. After these data are untangled, it turns out that only 67% of Japanese R&D support came from industry in 1985, a share in line with U.S. industry's 73%. Of course, some Japanese industries have indeed invested startling sums in R&D, Papadakis says. For example, in 1985 three areas of research actually got more in absolute dollars (or yen) in Japan than they did in the U.S.: nonferrous metals (117% of U.S. commitment), ceramics (162%), and iron and steel (292%). BIOMEDICINE Effects of Phyllanthus amarus on hepatitus B virus. $572,354 from the National Cancer Institute plus $1.3 million from Fujirebio (a Tokyo pharmaceutical company) to Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia: B. Blumberg, I. Millman, P.S. Venkateswaren Toward construction of Genetics and Plant Biology Building. $150,000 from Genentech, South San Francisco, matched dollar-for-dollar by Kresge Foundation, Troy, Michigan, and $112 million from the State of California (the state requires that $47 more million come from private sources) Training grants in surgical oncology research. $2.5 million from the National Cancer Institute to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center ($1.4 million to general surgery, $700,000 to gynecology, $461,000 to thoracic surgery) ETHOARCHEOLOGY Hunting and bone modification among Okiek Hunter-gatherers. $20,000 from the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, Pasadena, Calif. to Washington University; F. Marshall Scholarships and educational support. $46,000 from Chevron U.S.A.'s College Relations Program to Texas A&M Research Improvement in Minority Institutions Program. $3.8 million divided among 14 schools: Alabama A&M University, Normal; California State University, Los Angeles; Chicago State University; City College - CUNY; Howard University; Lehman College - CUNY; Meharry Medical College, Nashville; New Mexico State University, Las Cruces; North Carolina A&T State University; North Carolina Central University, Durham; Texas A&I University, Kingsville; Texas Southern University, Houston; University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras; Wayne State University, Detroit

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