Science and Technology Policy Japan

The Japanese government plans to have all hospitals accept national ID cards in place of those for standard insurance starting in March 2021, aiming to boost their poor adoption rate and accelerate the country's digital transition.

Japan's offshore wind farm market is set to gain momentum, with legal safeguards and subsidies helping to draw domestic and international participants amid a shift away from fossil fuels.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry plans to require automakers to obtain the government’s permission if they update the programs of systems installed in their vehicles, with the aim to confirm in advance the safety of such expected updates as adding self-driving functions to change lanes on expressways.

The government decided Friday to ban in principle the use of plastic straws and cutlery in its cafeterias and to stop passing out plastic bottles to conference attendees — its latest policy on environmentally friendly procurement.

The government intends to modify the fuel efficiency standards so that electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will also be subject to tax assessments, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

With an eye on helping inbound tourists make payments more conveniently, the Japan Tourism Agency plans to launch a program to promote cashless payments, it has been learned.

The government has basically settled on a plan that aims to have junior high night schools established in every prefecture by fiscal 2022, to create an environment that will enable an expected influx of foreign workers and their families to better assimilate into Japanese society.

Japan will lead the Group of 20 major advanced and emerging economies in focusing on worldwide data governance under the World Trade Organization when the country hosts the G20 summit in June, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday.

The government is preparing a national sweep of some 200 million network-connected devices for cybersecurity lapses ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, an official said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Japan and the United States began sharing fingerprint data among their law enforcement agencies under a bilateral agreement.