Nature Index 2017 Japan Vol. 543 No. 7646_supp ppS1-S40 In this Supplement Nature Index 2017 Japan Nature Index 2017 Japan tables Institutional Profiles (Advertisement features) Visit natureindex.com Japan’s status as a science superstar is vulnerable. Nature Index 2017 Japan reveals that although the country is still among the upper echelons of global research, its output has continued to slide.

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It is a shame that Shinya Yamanaka’s recent Nobel prize had to be tainted by the shenanigans of Hisashi Moriguchi, the University of Tokyo project scientist who fabricated a story about having used Yamanaka’s fêted technology on induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to treat patients who had heart failure. The poor quality of journalism that led to the story being so widely reported was not an isol

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The Japanese authorities have done well in releasing copious amounts of crude data on the nuclear crisis. But it is imperative for the data to be provided in more meaningful and user-friendly ways. One month after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, there is still no clear picture of the further hazard posed by the wrecked nuclear reactors and spent fuel ponds at the Fukushima nuclear power plan

With changing demographics, a tight economy and increasing competition, Japan could slide from the top ranks of research nations. Drastic action is needed. In May last year, Japan's science and education ministry issued a white paper that sounded an alarm for science and technology: because of increasing international competition, especially from China, and a declining young work force at home, Ja