- Are there any other things to give up? Tachibana "Japan gave up military space technology as a national policy a long time ago. But with the launch of an information-gathering satellite, I think the de facto standard was established that a military-related space program is acceptable if it is purely defensive. An information-gathering satellite is basically an all-purpose surface surveillance satellite, and so I think it does not violate the national policy of peaceful use of space. But there is a subtle gray zone between space technology for military attack and that for defense, so from now on this should be discussed. "Another important issue is the future direction of Japanese aircraft technology. Before the Second World War, Japanese aircraft technology was at the top level in the world, but it was dismantled miserably (aircraft research was forbidden) after Japan lost the War, by the occupation policy. With the end of the occupation, Japanese aircraft technology was reactivated, but has never reached the same level as before. The pre-eminent Japanese aircraft industry ended up as auto manufacturers and heavy-industry companies, and did not come back as worldwide aircraft manufacturers, for a few, who barely manage to manufacture aircraft. Japanese aerospace technology has various distortions in it, and most of them can be attributed to the blank period during the occupation policy. That's the reason Japanese universities' aerospace engineering is poor, and why Japan's aerospace industry is as weak as an industry. We have established JAXA, but JAXA alone cannot change the Japan's aerospace future. For the activation of Japanese aerospace technology, universities and industries should join JAXA and work together as a community for co-existence and prosperity. "The most important area to activate is manpower. Especially for future areas such as aerospace technology, we need highly intelligent and energetic manpower generated by taking in and using the young generation's ambition, not just any manpower attracted with high pay. University is something indispensable to creating and fostering aerospace engineers, and that ultimately promotes new blood in the field. ISAS was a half-university organization, so its budget was limited, but it gathered quality manpower widely and cheaply, and then made world-class accomplishments. So, it is a challenge for JAXA how much of those ISAS advantages it can inherit, or, in other words, more comprehensively speaking, how well it can construct the relationship with universities. "Examining the depth of America's huge aerospace industry, I find the depth of the human-resource supply capacity in universities fundamental to it. Moreover, there is a depth of funds from the nation. And in the national budget, there is the matter of the percentage of military funds, for example, for DARPA. "Without a huge amount of national funds, it's not just that high-tech megatechnology such as aerospace technology cannot be developed further; it is difficult even to maintain the status quo. We need legitimate reasons for the infusion of huge national funds into the aerospace industry. The reason Japanese aircraft technology was at a worldwide top level was that it was maintained there for the legitimate purpose of national defense, like in the US today. Through military channels, the biggest national resources (funds, human resources, materials, information, and related technologies) could be poured into aerospace research. "After the War, Japan lost the legitimate reasons for national defense, and stopped pouring national funds into research. This is the biggest reason for the plunge of Japan’s aerospace technology." |
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