Japan leads with 23 Nobel Prizes, but its technological strength has been overtaken by China, causing the committee to be embarrassed!
On October 6, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Japanese scientist Shimonoseki Shifumi and his two colleagues. This increased Japan's total number of Nobel Prizes to 30, of which 23 are in scientific categories. In contrast, China only won one scientific Nobel Prize 10 years ago.
Behind these impressive award numbers lies an undeniable fact: The Nobel Prize is a seriously lagging indicator, reflecting research levels from two to three decades ago. This indicates that the committee's evaluation criteria need to be upgraded.
As of 2025, Japan has already won 26 Nobel Prizes, just one step away from its goal of 30. This achievement is the result of the research funding and talent accumulation during Japan's economic boom in the 1980s and 1990s.
The average lag time for scientific Nobel Prize achievements is 22 years. The 2025 award-winning achievement of Shimonoseki Shifumi, "the discovery of regulatory T cells and their role in peripheral immune tolerance," was first published in 1995. In other words, this award is a recognition of Japan's research level nearly 30 years ago, not its current scientific strength.
According to data from the Nature Index, China has maintained the top position globally in 2024 annual data and has expanded its lead. Specifically, China's share reached 32,122, an increase of 17% compared to 2023. More surprisingly, eight out of the top ten global research institutions are from China.
The reversal in the comparison of Sino-Japanese technological strength is due to a huge gap in research investment. In terms of annual R&D funding, China has more than three times that of Japan, and the number of researchers is the highest in the world, exceeding that of Japan by more than three times. Although the Nobel Prize is the highest recognition for major scientific discoveries, its lag makes it difficult to fully reflect a country's current technological strength.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1845292476344320/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.