Japan’s postwar science and technology development path and its inspiration
After World War II, Japan’s science and technology developed rapidly in just a few decades. On the ruins, it has leapt from a technologically backward country to a world technological power, and has achieved world-renowned achievements. This article intends to analyze the path, characteristics and reasons of its development from the perspective of the transformation and starting personnel of Japan's science and technology development after the war, and summarize its successful experience, with a view to providing useful reference for the development of my country's science and technology undertakings. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan gradually formed a national system of imperial despotism and an autocratic political system of imperial bureaucracy and military institutions. Its distinctive feature is that it has a strong military character of foreign aggression and expansion. The nature and characteristics of Japan, a country formed in modern times, determine that its scientific and technological system has obvious colonial, backward and military characteristics. During the long period of preparation for the war before the Second World War and during the war, people's minds were filled with militaristic ideas. Everything was subject to and served the needs of the war, and the development of science and technology was no exception. Therefore, by the end of World War II, the development of Japanese science and technology had completely fallen into misunderstandings, which was mainly reflected in the following aspects.
1. The deformity of the scientific and technological system. From the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War to the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan's science and technology system gradually evolved into a wartime military science and technology system, and used it to standardize the research and formulation of science policies and the popularization of science and technology education. Its purpose was to meet the needs of the war, resulting in The abnormal development of the scientific and technological system. For example, the research and application of Japanese science and technology in the 1930s and 1940s were mostly subordinated to the needs of war, especially in military technology. This can be seen from the growth of army weapons manufacturing: from 1931 to 1945, 100 According to calculations, from 1931 to 1936, Army weapons manufacturing accounted for only 4.800, while from 1937 to 1941 it increased sharply to 39.5%, and from 1942 to 1945 it jumped to 55.70o. On the contrary, the production of civilian products such as fiber, paper, food, etc., in August 1940 compared with the same period of the previous year, dropped by 13. 9 rings, 7. 2 tons, or 39% respectively. The monotonous development of scientific and technological research and application, with products tending to be purely military supplies, has resulted in serious imbalances in the relationship between scientific research and application, heavy industry and light industry, industry and agriculture, etc. The level of social productivity has been greatly reduced, and even regression has occurred.
2. The great colonial nature of technology. Japan is a rising capitalist country and a country that is ambitious in its external expansion. In order to meet the needs of military aggression and expansion, Japan did not do everything possible to conduct independent research and development in the face of backward science and technology. Instead, it tried every means to steal, plagiarize, and imitate Western science and technology. For example, technologies such as side rangefinders, lens quality, binoculars, and cameras were all inherited and developed from pre-war military technologies, and these military technologies were based on completely imitating the technologies of advanced European and American countries. By the end of World War II it had little technological originality of its own. Japanese science historian Mitsuto Yuasa once directly pointed out: "There is a key point in the history of modern science in Japan that must be paid special attention to, and that is the colonial nature of Japanese science and technology. This colonial nature is a huge obstacle to the establishment of an independent science and technology system. , leaving serious sequelae to Japan's post-war scientific and technological development.
3. The strong bureaucracy and academic influence in the scientific field have affected Japan's scientific and technological institutions and scientific research. personnel are completely controlled by feudal military bureaucrats, academics, and plutocrats, causing certain technologies to fall into a narrow, low-level, or even pseudo-scientific status. People with real talents in academia cannot be trusted and reused, and science, technology, and There is a strong bureaucracy and academic power in the field. The power of academic leadership is completely in the hands of a few academics. They ignore the truth and seriousness of science and blindly follow the interests of feudal military bureaucrats, causing Japanese science and technology to completely change. It became a monopoly in the hands of feudal military bureaucrats, capitalists and academics, which brought great disaster to the Japanese country and nation. It was also one of the important factors that contributed to Japan's defeat. On August 1945, the Japanese government accepted the "Potsdam Declaration" announced unconditional surrender. At this time, Japan's technology, politics, and economy were in the same depression. However, after painful introspection, the Japanese faced reality and bravely stepped out of the cycle.
This "reality" is first manifested by the various "misunderstandings" mentioned above, secondly by the severe shortage of funds, talents, equipment, etc. due to the devastating blow and damage to the national economy caused by the war, and finally by the fact that the development of science and technology is restricted by the The powerful left-right power of the occupying power (the United States) faces the problem of national self-esteem on the specific development path. Faced with this reality, as soon as the war ended, Japan, with the "help" of the United States, immediately took measures to restore the normal development of science and technology. First, almost all heavy industry sectors were stopped and restructured, and wartime industrial control laws were abolished. As a result, most of the heavy industry sectors such as steel, shipbuilding, automobiles, and artificial petroleum were closed or compressed, and 404 departments formerly under the Ministry of the Army and Navy were Military factories and 505 heavy and chemical factories were placed under the control of the occupying forces and underwent mandatory transformation. Secondly, many research institutions used to serve the war were reorganized and their research projects and contents were replaced. For example, the original Central Aviation Research Institute was merged into the Railway Technology Research Institute, the Aviation Research Institute of the University of Tokyo was dissolved and reorganized into the Institute of Natural Sciences, etc. Third, disband relevant scientific research leadership institutions and eliminate fascist militarist elements within them. In September 1945, the occupying authorities disbanded the Institute of Technology, which was the central organization leading the country's scientific and technological work. In October 1945, some militarists including Tenghara Xiaohei, Yaju Hideji, Matsumae Shigeyoshi and others were purged. In short, during the early post-war transition period, due to the promotion of the Japanese people, the mandatory orders of the occupation authorities, and the efforts of the Japanese government, the old Japanese science and technology system completely collapsed in terms of organization, personnel, and various legal institutions, and the new science and technology system The system was gradually established. Since then, Japanese science and technology has embarked on a path of healthy development. In the process of post-war scientific and technological development, Japan adopted many methods and measures to encourage scientific and technological development based on domestic and foreign situations in different historical periods, and thus showed its own characteristics.
First, make full use of the original "energy". Before the end of World War II, Japan's military scientific research and technology reached a certain level. After the war, through the efforts of the occupation authorities and the Japanese government, it quickly turned to use military technology and equipment for civilian science and technology, and achieved relatively ideal results. At the same time, before the end of the war, due to the needs of the spear war, the Japanese government attached great importance to the cultivation of military technical personnel and the improvement of the scientific and technological awareness, technical level and cultural quality of the entire people, paying attention to strengthening "technical training for young people, and popularizing science and technology education in society" , to make national life scientific." ③ Therefore, after the war, Japan was able to make full use of its original talent advantages, the people’s traditional spirit of perseverance, advanced scientific and technological awareness, strong desire to compete, and high cultural quality to vigorously promote the reform of the scientific and technological system and accelerate the development of science and technology. .
Second, establish a sound and powerful national academic leadership institution. After the collapse of the wartime military science and technology system, with the advocacy of the occupation authorities and the support of the Japanese government, Japan began to establish a new, democratic, national academic leadership institution. In January 1947, a meeting of the founders of the academic research system was held. In August of the same year, the "Academic System Reform Committee" was formed to study and discuss the issue of establishing a national academic leadership agency. In the same year, an American academic delegation arrived in Japan to guide the reform of Japanese academic institutions. After more than a year of preparations, in January 1949, Japan formally established the first national, government-led academic leadership organization, the Japan Academic Conference, to lead the development of domestic scientific research. The organization is very large, consisting of 210 members headed by the president, with 7 departments and numerous committees. In June 1956, the country established the Department of Science and Technology, which is responsible for assisting the government in formulating guidelines and policies for scientific research, and cooperating with provinces and competent departments to lead national scientific work. In 1959, the government established the "Science and Technology Committee" as the government's highest leadership and advisory body for the development of science and technology. It is directly led by the head of the government. Its task is to formulate national scientific research general policies and long-term scientific research planning goals. Daily work is carried out by the "Science and Technology Committee". The "Technology Agency" and the "Academic Committee" are in charge. These three powerful academic leadership institutions have played a major role in the development of Japan's science and technology industry after the war, in terms of organization, goal planning and ensuring smooth development.
Third, establish scientific research institutions extensively and recruit scientific and technological talents. A distinctive feature of Japan's scientific and technological development after the war is that the research institutions at the central level have a wide range of types, a reasonable structure, and a large number of talents. It is strong and plays a leading role in the development of science and technology.
By the beginning of 1973, there were six research institutions affiliated with the Science and Technology Agency, with 1,656 scientific researchers, and the scientific research budget for 1972-1973 reached 89 billion yen. ④In addition, various provinces, universities, and private business units have established numerous scientific research institutions. For example, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has established the Institute of Industrial Technology, which includes 13 scientific research and laboratory institutes. The research areas include metals, mechanics, space rockets, atomic energy conversion, chemistry, automation control, etc. The Ministry of Finance has the Finance Research Institute, the Post Ministry has the Radio Wave Research Institute, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has the Statistics and Mathematics Research Institute, the Labor Health Research Institute, etc. Universities are important bases for basic scientific research in Japan. In the early 1970s, there were more than 880 colleges and universities in Japan, and many universities had established scientific research institutions. Among private enterprises, scientific research institutions also account for a large proportion. According to statistics in 1972, 75% of large companies with assets of more than 1 billion yen have their own specialized research institutions, and 44% of companies with assets of less than 1 billion yen have their own Specialized research institutes (offices) 0 Statistics in 1980 show that Japan has 972 scientific and technological research institutes, of which 688 are national, prefectural and special statutory. In addition, larger public organizations and private companies have their own specialized research departments, and their number cannot be accurately counted. ⑤ In terms of natural sciences, Japan has 26 scientific and technical personnel per 10,000 people, ranking third after the former Soviet Union (56 people) and the United States (28 people), and higher than Germany (16 people) and France (13 people) People).
Fourth, investing heavily in developing science and technology is an important way to develop science and technology. The Japanese government and people have fully realized this and made great efforts since 1961/ From 1962 to 1972/1973, the total national allocation for scientific research and technical experimental design work increased from 59.3 billion yen to 374 billion yen, an increase of about six times; the government also allocated funds to universities and national research institutions for orders (scientific research Project) subsidies also increased from 11.8 billion yen to 83.8 billion yen. ⑧In the 1980s, Japan further proposed the slogan and policy of "building a nation through technology", and the government also significantly increased investment in scientific research. , Japan's expenditure on scientific research reached F J180 billion, accounting for 2.% of the gross national product. In 20o0'D, the government approved a budget of 52.2 billion yen for the "Science and Technology Agency". For the first time, it exceeded the 500 billion mark. ⑧The above does not include large-scale scientific research projects directly participated by the state, such as artificial satellites, launch vehicles, large-scale electronic computers, etc. In addition, the total investment in scientific and technological research by private enterprises is higher than that of the state. It is still large, accounting for 7,000 of the total national scientific research funding. For example, Hitachi's scientific research funding in 1984 was 210 billion yen, accounting for 7.30% of its sales revenue. The largest research and development expenditure was reached by the chemical industry Kefa Company. Total sales revenue is 14.70 million. In high-tech industries such as electronics, new materials, and bioengineering, Japanese companies' research and development expenditures exceed their equipment investment, and it is not difficult to find that Japan's technology investment leads the world. There are at least two major characteristics: First, in general, scientific research funding in general countries is mainly allocated by the state, while Japan mainly relies on the use of state functions to mobilize private enterprises and various social forces to raise funds, which not only provides enough for the development of science and technology The funds are guaranteed, and the enthusiasm and interests of private enterprises are skillfully mobilized and taken care of, thus making Japanese science and technology enter the ranks of the world's first-class level. Secondly, the absolute number of Japanese scientific research funds is not large compared with other developed countries, but it is still a small amount. Its technical level has reached world-class level, which shows the importance of rationally raising and using funds.
Fifth, one of the important ways for the rapid development of Japanese science and technology after the war is to actively introduce foreign advanced technology. The introduction of advanced foreign science and technology is also the most prominent feature of Japan's scientific and technological development. In the 1940s, Japan's technological equipment level lagged behind major European and American capitalist countries by about twenty years. After the war, when its national strength recovered, the Japanese government The introduction of advanced foreign technologies, known as the "absorptive strategy", was an unswerving national policy. In terms of specific methods, it mainly focused on purchasing the most advanced foreign technologies, especially the patent rights of basic technologies. From 1950 to 1972***. 11,786 items were introduced, with an average annual growth rate of more than 30%. Expenditures on technology introduction accounted for about 45% of the total funds for research and development activities.
The active introduction of foreign advanced technology not only solved the problem of Japanese industrial modernization, but also shortened the time for Japanese industry to catch up with the world's advanced level, allowing Japanese industrial products to reach the world's advanced level in a short period of time. However, the cost of introducing technology is heavy. In terms of funding, not only do you have to pay for patent rights, but you also have to spend a lot of money to purchase the right to use patent materials (i.e., patent royalties). Japan is the country that spends the most money on patent purchases in the world. Even so, the Japanese government and enterprises still endured huge sacrifices and desperately introduced technology. This was mainly due to the fierce economic competition after the war and the reality of rapid technological development. Japan's far-sighted politicians and entrepreneurs clearly realized that time has become a decisive factor in defeating competitors, so they resolutely decided to take the road of introducing technology and gain little time. According to statistics, Japan relies on its own strength to master the technology of new products. It takes an average of three years from the beginning of research to production, while it only takes one and a half years to use foreign technology. Japan has become one of the world's technological powers in less than two decades at the expense of money.
Sixth, focus on localization. The "localization" policy is a very clear goal that successive Japanese governments have pursued after the war. When introducing technology and equipment, we should not act blindly, but pay attention to the decomposition of the price of the latecomers, and not individual improvements or comprehensive reforms, so as to create new technologies and new products with Japanese characteristics. "The No. 1 machine is imported, the No. 2 machine is made domestically, and the No. 3 machine is exported." This is what the Japanese say and do. For example, in order to save energy, Japanese iron companies introduced two different types of blast furnace top-pressure power generation equipment around 1975: the French hand-held internal flow method and the Soviet Union's dry axial flow method. Japan analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of these two types of equipment: it believed that although the efficiency of the French equipment was low (75%), its structure was resistant to dust; although the efficiency of the Soviet equipment was high (830o), it required preheating and the turbine often failed due to dust accumulation. Stop functioning. After four years of research and reform, the relevant Japanese technical departments have developed Japanese-style "wet axial flow isolated top-pressure power generation equipment", which does not require preheating and can operate continuously for half a month to twenty days. Variable injection technology enables the blast furnace operating rate to be adjusted. This improved equipment quickly became a hot commodity in the international market. It can be seen that the transformation of Japanese science and technology from complete transplantation and imitation to individual improvement and comprehensive reform, until the localization of technical products, is a major feature of Japan's technological development, which keeps Japan's technological level at a high level. In addition to the above-mentioned technological development paths There are many distinctive methods for the development of Japanese science and technology, such as making full use of "advanced scientific and technological awareness" to achieve one generation of application, one generation of preparation, and one generation of research; focusing on using "fist" scientific research results in various periods to drive the rapid development of several industries. 1. Promote scientific and technological progress in various fields. In the more than twenty years since the Second World War, Japan has re-emerged from a technologically backward country to become one of the world's technological powers. This was due to many factors.
First of all, objective factors such as the promotion of the post-war world political and economic situation, the support of the occupying power (the United States), low expenditure on military science and technology, and lack of natural resources played an important role in the development of Japan's science and technology. effect. The Second World War was a war of unprecedented scale in human history. Its significance went far beyond the war itself and had a profound impact on the development process of human history. Through this war, many countries have realized that economic strength plays a vital role in a country's political strength and even overall national strength. On the other hand, the unprecedented catastrophe caused by the war has also raised unprecedented and acute problems for all countries, namely, vigorously developing the economy and restoring national strength. To develop the economy, we must vigorously improve the level of science and technology. "Technology to build a nation" has become a common consciousness in all countries around the world. Therefore, after the war, the climax of the new technological revolution set off throughout the world. Japanese science and technology continues to develop under the impetus of this political and economic situation. 2. After World War II, for its own political and economic purposes, the United States, as an Allied Power, implemented a separate occupation of Japan and began to carry out reforms and assistance to Japan in various aspects, including science and technology. As early as August 1947, the United States sent a scientific information investigation team to Japan to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Japan's scientific and technological status and help it formulate development plans and measures. Since then, large-scale assistance has been provided in terms of science and technology funding and technical personnel. Under the names of the "Occupied Areas Relief Fund" and the "Occupied Areas Rehabilitation Fund", it has provided Japan with US$2.3 billion in aid and loans.
Stimulated by "US aid", Japan's economic recovery has driven the development of science and technology. The United States has always been Japan's largest partner in Japan's future introduction of science and technology and development of its technology market. After the war, compared with the major capitalist countries in Europe and the United States, Japan had its own outstanding feature in the use of scientific research and development funds, that is, the least amount of scientific research funds were spent on military affairs. The new constitution adopted by Japan after the war clearly stipulates that it will not use force as a tool to implement national policies, forever renounce the power of war, and will not use war as a national policy. This has special significance for the demilitarized development of Japan's economy and science and technology. In terms of the use of scientific research and development funds, the major capitalist countries in Europe and the United States (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany) all spend a considerable part on military science research, while Japan's expenditure in this area only accounts for 2.4 of its total scientific research funds. %. This gives Japan more funds, manpower, and financial resources to engage in the development of civilian science and technology.
Japan is an island country with a narrow territory, dense population, and lack of resources. Its own conditions have serious flaws. 50-100% of its resources such as oil, iron ore, raw coal, natural gas, and wood rely on imports. . In the early 1970s, Japan's resource imports accounted for 120o of world resource trade. In history, Japan has invaded and expanded many times, and one of its purposes was to plunder overseas resource producing areas. The end of World War II declared this road no longer passable. Therefore, the "fatal flaw" of poor resources has visually forced Japan to take the path of developing science and technology. It can be said that Japan has no choice but to become a technological power.
Secondly, fundamentally speaking, the development of Japanese science and technology is due to the strong scientific and technological awareness and bold and feasible ideas demonstrated by the broad mind and perseverance of the Japanese government and business people. promoted by policy measures. There are at least the following points worthy of our attention here.
First, put the entire national economy in the turbulent waves of the world, sail into the ocean of the world's powerful competitive market, and gradually reform the system domestically. The state encourages enterprises to enter the world market. Economic take-off depends on technological progress, and technological innovation is the driving force for rapid economic development. Therefore, when the Japanese government takes major measures such as investing heavily in developing science and technology, introducing a large number of foreign advanced technologies, and establishing extensive scientific research institutions, it can win over the people, especially the Japanese government. Receive active support from the enterprise so that various measures can be implemented smoothly. The growth of Japan’s export trade can provide a glimpse into its technological development. In the 1960s and 1970s, the average annual growth rate of export trade was 16.9%, of which industrial products with high technological content accounted for a large proportion, reaching 94.8000 in 1970.
Second, focus on strengthening national education Work. The development of science and technology requires a large number of high-quality scientific and technological talents. They are the source of new ideas, new concepts, new theories and new discoveries. Cultivating and bringing up scientific and technological talents is the key to the development of science and technology, and education is an important way to cultivate talents. Precisely because after the war, successive Japanese governments realized the relationship between the development of education and the development of science and technology, Japan began to carry out educational reforms just after the war. Abolish militaristic education, reform the education system, implement measures such as liberalization of school education and democratization of education administration, and continuously expand investment in education. Japan’s education funding increased from 1,598.8 billion yen in 1950 to 72,243.9 billion yen in 1972, an increase of nearly 50 times. Among government administrative expenses, education funding has remained at around 20% for a long time, which is higher than the United States ((15 Yo), the former Soviet Union ((160o)); the United Kingdom (1300), and the former West Germany ((1200)). Due to the high emphasis on education, Japan It has trained a large number of skilled workers and technicians who have mastered modern science and technology knowledge. In the 1960s, approximately 8 million junior technicians and managers who graduated from junior high school and high school served in various departments, mainly in the industrial sector. It has cultivated a large number of outstanding mid-level and senior scientific and technological and management talents. From 1951 to 1973, the number of short-term college graduates increased by nearly 150 times, the number of formal university graduates increased by 15 times, and the number of master's degree graduates increased from 3,000 to 12,000. , 26 people per 1,000 people are engaged in research in various natural sciences. As a result of attaching great importance to education, the cultural quality and scientific awareness of Japanese people have been greatly improved. All of these have played a positive role in the development of Japanese science and technology. From the perspective of developing science and technology, Japanese education has at least two characteristics: First, it attaches great importance to school education and technical education.
It is reflected in attaching great importance to the popularization rate of education, vigorously developing higher education, and forming a complete school education structure and system from low to high, thus promoting the improvement of the cultural quality of the whole people. Second, we should focus on educating the whole people about science and technology awareness, continuously improve the education and training system for "technological breakthrough talents", and jointly cultivate the specialized talents needed by various industries through schools, enterprises, society and other aspects.
Third, technology and production are closely integrated. Science and technology are productive forces. This is an idea widely recognized in Japanese business circles and society. "The survival of enterprises depends on scientific and technological progress" has long become common knowledge in the business world. Therefore, Japan has attached great importance to the close integration of science and technology and production from the beginning, so that science and technology can be transformed into productivity in a timely manner to serve economic construction. Various industrial enterprises have widely established scientific research institutions and invested huge sums of money in scientific research, obtaining indispensable science and technology for the development of enterprises. Scientific research institutions are the source of new technologies and new products for enterprises, and enterprises are the testing ground for scientific achievements. As soon as promising scientific and technological achievements come out, they can be quickly transformed into powerful material productivity. One generation of application, one generation of preparation, and one generation of research is a successful path for Japan to combine science and technology with production and achieve healthy development of science and technology. It ensures the correct development direction of science and technology, and also promotes the rapid transformation of scientific and technological achievements into productive forces.
Through the above analysis of the transformation, start, approach, and reasons of Japan's scientific and technological development after the war, it is not difficult to see: after the war. The development of Japanese science and technology has gone through an arduous and tortuous road. This road is full of the Japanese's visionary courage, solid and meticulous, step-by-step work attitude and realistic spirit. The development process of science and technology has also provided us with some inspirations and lessons worth thinking about. First, it is easier for our country's science and technology to fight and grow in the world's science and technology tide. The goal of developing science and technology is always focused on the forefront of the world. surpass the world's advanced level; secondly, attach great importance to the development of education, strive to cultivate various scientific and technological talents, improve the cultural quality and scientific and technological level of the whole people, and enhance the national scientific and technological awareness; thirdly, when science and technology are backward, we must dare to sacrifice the immediate local interests, vigorously introduce foreign advanced technology, pay attention to "localization", and establish a strong strategic awareness of scientific and technological competition of "input is for output"; fourth, closely integrate science and technology with production, so that it can be transformed into productivity in a timely manner; fifth , according to the national conditions of the country, take a scientific and technological development path suitable for the country. The above points are important for us to speed up the pace of reform, implement "rich country through science and technology", "strengthen the country through science and technology", and further deepen the concept of "science and technology is the primary productive force". All are worth learning from.