According to a report by the Statistics Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, total R&D expenditures for Japanese fiscal year (JFY) 2005 (April 1, 2005-March 31, 2006) were ¥17,845.2 billion ($156.5 billion), up 5.4% from JFY 2004. Of this, natural sciences R&D made up ¥16,472.1 billion ($144.5 billion). R&D was 3.53% of GDP in JFY 2005, up from 3.41% in JFY 2004. Private companies accounted for 71.4% of total R&D for JFY 2005, up 7.4% from last year. Universities contributed 19.1% to R&D expenditures in JFY 2005, up 4.1% from JFY 2004, and R&D by non-profits and public research organizations made up 9.5% of JFY 2005 R&D spending, down 5.8%. From natural sciences R&D, 14.3% went to basic research, 22.8% was spent on applied research and 62.9% funded developmental research.

Source: National Science Foundation