Academic Research on Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Exports, FDI, and productivity: Dynamic evidence from Japanese firms, Kimura, F., & Kiyota, K. (2006). Exports, FDI, and productivity: Dynamic evidence from Japanese firms.Review of World Economics,142(4), 695-719. This paper examines the relationship between exports, foreign direct investment, and firm productivity. The paper aims to show that firms that retain a presence in foreign markets, either by exports or foreign direct investment, show the highest productivity growth, which contributes to improvements in national productivity. Design of prototype humanoid robotics platform for HRP, Kaneko, K., Kanehiro, F., Kajita, S., Yokoyama, K., Akachi, K., Kawasaki, T., ... & Isozumi, T. (2002). Design of prototype humanoid robotics platform for HRP. InIntelligent Robots and Systems, 2002. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on(Vol. 3, pp. 2431-2436). IEEE. This paper presents a prototype humanoid robotics platform developed for HRP-2. In this paper, the mechanisms and specifications of developed prototype humanoid robotics platform, and its electrical system are introduced. Intangible investment in Japan: Measurement and contribution toeconomicgrowth, Fukao, K., Miyagawa, T., Mukai, K., Shinoda, Y., & Tonogi, K. (2009). Intangible investment in Japan: Measurement and contribution to economic growth.Review of Income and Wealth,55(3), 717-736. Following the approach ofCorrado, Hulten, and Sichel (2005, 2006), this paper measures intangible investment and examine the contribution of intangible capital to economic growth in Japan. The study finds that the ratio of intangible investment to GDP in Japan has risen during the past 20 years and now stands at 11.1 percent, which is lower than the ratio estimated for the U.S. in the early 2000s. The formation of international production and distribution networks in East Asia, Ando, M., & Kimura, F. (2005, August). The formation of international production and distribution networks in East Asia. InInternational Trade in East Asia, NBER-East Asia Seminar on Economics, Volume 14(pp. 177-216). University of Chicago Press. This paper claims that the international production and distribution networks in East Asia present distinctive characters in their significance in the regional economy. The paper starts from reviewing crucial changes in policy framework observed in the developing East Asian countries a decade ago and sketching the theoretical thoughts explaining the mechanics of international production and distribution networks. It also examines the micro data of Japanese corporate firms to take a closer look at the nature of networks through the pattern of FDI after analyzing overall trade patterns of the major East Asian countries. Economicanalysis of university-industrycollaborations: the role of new technology based firms in Japanese national innovation reform, Motohashi, K. (2004).Economic analysis of university-industry collaborations: the role of new technology based firms in Japanese national innovation reform(No. 04001). In this study, quantitative analysis of university industry collaborations (UICs) is conducted in case of Japan by using the dataset from RIETI's UIC Survey and METI's Basic Survey on Business Structure and Activities. Focus is placed on comparing new technology based firms (NTBFs), to large firms in terms of the characteristics of UIC activities and the impact of UICs on R&D and production productivity. A new LCIA method: LIME has been completed, Itsubo, N., & Inaba, A. (2003). A new LCIA method: LIME has been completed.The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,8(5), 305-305. Vertical intra-industry tradeand foreign direct investment in East Asia, Fukao, K., Ishido, H., & Ito, K. (2003). Vertical intra-industry trade and foreign direct investment in East Asia.Journal of the Japanese and international economies,17(4), 468-506. This paper set out to measure and examine vertical intra-industry trade patterns in the East Asian region and compare these with the results of previous studies focusing on the EU, to which such analyses so far have been confined. The study develops a model to capture the main determinants of VIIT that explicitly includes the role of FDI based on the supposition that VIIT is closely related to offshore production by multinational enterprises. The Japanese energy sector: current situation, and future paths, Takase, K., & Suzuki, T. (2011). The Japanese energy sector: current situation, and future paths.Energy Policy,39(11), 6731-6744. In this article, the authors describe the current status of and recent trends in the Japanese energy sector, including energy demand and supply by fuel and by sector. The paper then discuss the current energy policy situation in Japan, focusing on policies related to climate change targets, renewable energy development and deployment, liberalization of energy markets, and the evolution of the Japanese nuclear power sector. The final section of the article presents the structure of the Japan LEAP. Application of technology roadmaps to governmental innovation policy for promoting technology convergence, Yasunaga, Y., Watanabe, M., & Korenaga, M. (2009). Application of technology roadmaps to governmental innovation policy for promoting technology convergence.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,76(1), 61-79. This paper evaluates the events which led the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in Japan to walk down the technology roadmapping route. This paper depicts the governmental agency's objectives, activity details and ways of applications of technology roadmaps and roadmapping in Japan. The paper aims to discuss the usefulness and effectiveness of technology roadmaps and roadmapping in a wide range of knowledge sharing. Two-dimensional fragmentation in East Asia: Conceptual framework and empirics, Kimura, F., & Ando, M. (2005). Two-dimensional fragmentation in East Asia: Conceptual framework and empirics.International Review of Economics & Finance,14(3), 317-348. This paper proposes the concept of two-dimensional fragmentation and empirically analyzes the international production/distribution networks in East Asia. The paper suggests that policy environment in East Asia has an important role in reducing service link cost due to uncontrollability as well as physical distance.