The prototype reactor Monju, upon which construction began in 1985, started generating electricity in August 1995. Research is also in progress in Japan on nuclear fusion. In 1985 the JT-60, a tokamak testing device on a par with the United States' Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor and the European Union's Joint European Torus, was built. In March 1993 the JT-60 reached a plasma state that set a world record in terms of plasma temperature, particle density, and containment time. Other areas in which the development of new energy sources is being pursued include coal liquefaction and gasification, thermal power generation, and solar batteries.
Research also continues on energy- saving technology.
Japan had launched 58 satellites for various uses, including weather observation, communications, broadcasting, and earth observation. In February 1994 the first H-2 was successfully launched into space. The launching of an H-2 rocket. In December 1990 Akiyama Toyohiro, a journalist with the Tokyo Broadcasting System, became the first Japanese to go into space when he participated in a flight by the Soyuz satellite launched by the Soviet Union. Mori Mamoru, a former associate professor at Hokkaido University, followed in his footsteps in September 1992 by joining the flight crew of the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour .