Japan was euphoric last week after Japanese scientists won Nobel Prizes on two consecutive days — first in medicine and then in physics.
But the nation's chances of bagging the coveted awards in science fields in 10 to 20 years, and the overall outlook for scientific research in Japan, are grimmer than ever, experts warn.
On Oct. 5, Satoshi Omura, 80, a professor emeritus of Tokyo's Kitasato University, won this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on parasitic worms, which led to the development of a drug that combats debilitating diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people in the developing world.