Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce some characteristics of the historical as well as current situation of nanotech research and development in Japan in particular, including regulations, and to discuss how ethical issues of nanotechnology should be addressed or how the ethics of nanotechnology should be constructed to fit the situation. The first part will center around the strength and weakness of Japan’s nanotech R&D (research and development) and new circumstances which nanotechnology has prompted in Japan and alongside which nanotechnology has arrived (especially interdisciplinarity). The following prescriptive argument will, based on the descriptive account, question how to address ethical issues of nanotechnology, taking into consideration the nature of nanotech R&D, namely continuity, uniqueness, international dimension and political intervention, citing the example of the pharmaceutical industry. I will argue that international cooperation in the form of mutual reference to, replication of and the integration of guidelines and regulations, can enhance cost-effectiveness to ensure the comprehensiveness of regulatory measures.

Key-words:

Nanotechnology, Japan, Science, Technology, Research policy, Drug industry, Government financing, Health hazards, International aspects.