The nation's largest and most powerful group of scientists has started discussing lifting its decades-old ban on defense-related research as the government seeks more collaboration with civilians in the development of weapons technology.
The move comes as the Defense Ministry, under the "proactive peace" policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is pushing for the development of dual-use technology by funding research that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
It also comes on the heels of a report concluded this month by the national defense committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which recommended drastically increasing the ministry's annual budget for dual-use grants to ¥10 billion from the current ¥600 million.