National Research Institutes Renewing to Independent Administrative 

Corporations

---To Contribute to Science and Technology in the New Era ---

Dr. Masatoshi Okada

Director-General, National Research Institute for Metals, Science and Technology Agency

   In the 21st century, scientists receive difficult tasks to attain sustainable societies under constraints 

of environment and resource, and national research institutes are about to renew themselves to 

independent administrative corporations (IAC) which improve efficiency and flexibility. The missions 

of IAC's should be widely discussed from a new viewpoint, involving universities and industries.  The 

three sectors should cooperate and play each characteristic role, eliminating duplication of investments.  

Material research fields have become highly specialized and simultaneously have created various 

crossover fields.  Both high specialty of each institute and mutual cooperation are requisite.  The 

renewal of national institutes would become effective, only if relationships with universities and 

industries be well coordinated.

Environment-Conscious Steel Products

Dr. Jun KAWAI, 

General Manager of Technical Development Planning Division, Nippon Steel Corporation

   In recent years, Japan's steel industry has positioned globalenvironmental compliance as an important 

objective in corporate activities and has taken various initiatives to contribute to the sustainable 

development.

   These environmental initiatives can be considered in three main categories: 1) reduction in CO2 

emissions and energy consumption; 2) promotion of recycling and zero-waste ; and 3) environmental 

protection and environmental improvement.   Based on this concept, steel industry has promoted the 

development of various environmentally friendly products to meet the requirements of diverse consuming

industries.  Here are introduced the initiatives launched in the development of environment-conscious 

steel products (eco-products).

Overview of the National Institute for Environmental Studies and its relevance 

to materials research 

Dr. Yuichi Moriguchi

Head, Resources Management Section, Social and Environmental Systems Division,

National Institute for Environmental Studies

   Historical overview and current state of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) are

 introduced. The NIES was established in March 1974 in Tsukuba science city as a governmental

research institute under the Environment Agency of Japan, and re-structured in July 1990 to broaden 

its research scope and to cover global environmental studies and nature conservation studies. The 

NIES tackles with various environmental issues ranging from pico-grams of toxic chemicals to giga-tons 

of CO2 or solid wastes.  Research activities on life-cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis 

(MFA) are also introduced, as examples of the area of research relevant to material research.

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