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Britain’s science minister, William Waldegrave, arrived in Tokyo last
weekend to sign an Anglo-Japanese accord on scientific exchanges. He is
following up on a visit last September, when Britain and Japan agreed to
increase cooperation on science and technology.

‘The initiative was launched by the Prime Minister last year,’ said
Waldegrave. ‘This is the result. The Japanese have a respect for our basic
science and the fact that we welcome them as full partners when they come
to the UK.’

The agreement calls for more scholarships, exchanges of scientific personnel
and collaborative research efforts between Britain and Japan. One area targeted
by the new agreement is so-called ‘soft’ science, including fields such
as man-machine interfaces. A joint workshop will be held in the subject
this autumn.

‘We don’t have targets in mind,’ said Waldegrave. ‘But we do have the
objective of getting Japanese firms into research and development as well
as manufacturing.’