Members of the nation's largest scientific group, The Science Council of Japan, reaffirmed their commitment Tuesday to continue opposition to military research in universities and academic institutions despite a massive increase in the government's fiscal 2017 defense research budget.
"We have to ensure the continuity of sound academic research," Atsushi Sugita, a political science professor at Tokyo's Hosei University who heads the council's exploratory committee, told a news conference at the council's headquarters in Tokyo.
The group has concluded that lifting the ban could be interpreted as a license for a range of purposes, which may eventually become uncontrollable, Sugita said.