In two key areas, multimedia and object-oriented databases, we can expect to see future export of Japanese database products, typically integrated into larger systems. Support for academic research is relatively modest. Nevertheless, the senior faculty are well-known and respected, and communicate frequently and in depth with each other, with government agencies, and with industry. In 1988 there were a total of 1,717 Ph.D.'s in engineering and 881 in science. It appears that only about 30 of these were academic Ph.D.'s in the basic computer sciences.
Industrial research is well supported.
Support services are marvelous in terms of hardware, and researchers are encouraged to publish. The number of industrially grounded Ph.D.'s is roughly equal to the number of academic ones. The Japanese government, overall, seems to have less influence on database research directions than is perceived by outsiders. The funding supports some laboratories and projects, but academic researchers have considerable flexibility in choosing the directions for government- sponsored research. The level of government funding for industrial laboratories is relatively low and does not influence market-driven priorities.