By TAKAHIRO TAKENOUCHI/ Staff Writer
December 2, 2025 at 18:21 JST
Kazuhito Hashimoto, president of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, chairs a Cabinet Office panel on Dec. 1 to discuss information security in scientific research. (Takahiro Takenouchi)
The government has drafted its first guidelines to screen researchers’ backgrounds and restrict access to sensitive information in advanced technology fields to prevent the overseas leakage of critical research data.
A Cabinet Office expert panel met on Dec. 1 to approve the draft guidelines, which will be formally announced later this month.
Starting in April, government-funded projects in designated high-risk programs will be subject to the new checks.
While the guidelines carry no legal force, they are expected to shape how universities and agencies manage sensitive research in areas including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum information science.
Under the new guidelines, principal researchers, students and senior researchers from partner institutions will all be subject to screening.
The investigation will focus on several key areas, including any links to foreign companies identified by the economy ministry as security risks and a researcher’s record of past misconduct.
It will also check for the receipt of foreign government funding or scholarships, as well as review the academic background.
Depending on the findings, restrictions may be placed on access to sensitive information.
At the same time, the guidelines emphasize that no discriminatory treatment based on nationality, race, religion or cultural background will be permitted.
Kazuhito Hashimoto, chair of the expert panel and president of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, acknowledged the tension between the new measures and the principles of scientific research.
“Part of the initiative conflicts with the premise of science, which values freedom and openness,” he said. “But it is unavoidable to advance international collaboration.”
According to Hashimoto, countries including the United States, Britain and France have already tightened similar risk-control safeguards in recent years.
Japan’s lack of a similar framework raised concerns in planning international joint research projects.
As the first regulation of its kind, challenges are expected to arise across institutions and Hashimoto stressed the importance of addressing them as they emerge.
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