Japanese Media: China Attracts an Increasing Number of Outstanding Japanese Scholars

According to a report by Japanese media outlet "Nishi Nippon Shimbun" on May 26: Outstanding Japanese researchers are actively and voluntarily relocating their research groups to China, as China has now ranked first globally in the number of significant academic papers—a ranking widely regarded as a barometer of scientific and technological innovation capability.

Previously, China mainly recruited retired Japanese researchers. However, in recent years, younger scientists have begun flocking to China in search of ample research funding and superior research environments. Meanwhile, Japanese universities are facing increasingly severe challenges, with annual budget cuts. Japan is no longer the optimal choice for top-tier researchers.

"Since research funding applications are approved, why not come?" In the spring of 2024, Dr. Naoi Tsuda, a 76-year-old leading expert in hematology and hematopoietic stem cell biology, accepted an invitation from a friend to take up a new position at the Tianjin Campus of Peking Union Medical College. During his tenure at Kumamoto University and Keio University, he spent countless days tirelessly preparing grant proposals, struggling daily just to secure research funding from national and private institutions. Due to lack of maintenance funds, many laboratory instruments were in disrepair.

In China, the research environment is entirely different. Researchers are equipped with the latest devices—each costing around 50 million yen (approximately 2.2 million RMB)—dedicated to leukemia and lymphoma studies, along with dedicated staff responsible for equipment maintenance and management.

Dr. Tsuda said: "In Japan, basic research is indeed valued, but securing funding remains extremely difficult. When allocating research funds, one must recognize that not every study yields results. Japan once had this awareness."

"Although competition in China is intense, it offers high salaries and housing support. Most importantly, I am satisfied with the research environment that allows me to focus solely on science."

Dr. Tsuda firmly stated: "I will not return to Japan."

According to a report by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Research Institute, China ranked eighth in the number of important academic papers in the 2000s, but by the 2020s, China's total number of published papers had risen to first place worldwide.

Maiko Okajima, an environmental materials scientist conducting research at Jiangnan University in China (age 55, from Kumamoto Prefecture), said: "Last summer, I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a young Japanese researcher locally. He graduated from Japan’s most prestigious research institution and was considered someone with a promising future in Japan—but he came to China through an open recruitment process."

Okajima added: "China has become a nation recognized by outstanding researchers."

She herself and her lab moved to China in the summer of 2023 from her previous university in Japan. Unlike Japan, where funding is typically limited to two or three years, China allows flexible use of ten-year budgets, enabling the planning of large-scale research projects. Thanks to the robust research infrastructure, her motivation to conduct research has significantly intensified. She remarked: "I should have come to China earlier."

How does Japan view the current trend of talented researchers continuously leaving the country?

Professor Tomohiro Marukawa of the University of Tokyo’s Department of Chinese Economic Theory does not see this as an issue, stating: "Scientific achievements are made public through academic papers accessible to the world. Regardless of where they are published, they contribute to humanity as a whole."

Yet, there are differing voices in Japan, expressing concern about the cultivation of future generations of researchers.

Professor Masaharu Oba of Kyushu University lamented: "The mutual understanding and emotional connection formed through collaboration with excellent researchers during actual work profoundly influence the education of the next generation. The loss of such talent from Japan is a tremendous tragedy, deeply saddening."

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866222156380170/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author.