Japan’s Innovation Engine: How JIRCAS and NARO Are Shaping the Future of Sustainable Food Systems

Japan’s agricultural innovation landscape is booming. Across the country’s research ecosystem, two institutions stand out – the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) on the global stage, and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) at home. Their work shows how steady scientific investment translates into practical advances with real-world impact, and how a national research system can feed directly into international progress.

JIRCAS and the power of international collaboration

JIRCAS has spent decades building scientific partnerships across Asia and beyond. Its Technology Catalog Contributing to Production Potential and Sustainability in the Asia-Monsoon Region (Version 4.0) captures this work in a way that is unusually concrete: a suite of technologies tested in environments shaped by heavy rainfall, humid climates and rice-based farming systems. The catalog features technologies from JIRCAS, NARO, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and Japanese universities as a single aggregated resource.

The value of the catalog goes far beyond its pages – it reflects Japan’s commitment to sharing solutions that have been tested, refined and prepared for adaptation across the region. Following years of R&D and field partnerships, these innovations are now scaling, much of it framed within the broader cooperation agenda: the ASEAN-Japan MIDORI Cooperation Plan, an ASEAN-Japan initiative focused on advancing sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture.

At a time when countries are grappling with climate volatility, labor shortages and soil degradation, JIRCAS is positioning its research as part of a wider regional strategy: tested tools, shared openly, ready for tailoring to different contexts.

National innovation that travels

While JIRCAS looks outward, NARO drives Japan’s internal research engine – an engine whose outputs often drive change well beyond Japan’s borders.

Some of its most interesting work comes from animal health research that demands precision and resilience.  In recent years, NARO scientists have developed simple and highly sensitive detection kits for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus that can be used in the Asia–Monsoon region.

Given the importance of initial disease control during FMD outbreaks, rapid first-line on-site testing is useful for containing highly contagious FMD. The detection kit is expected to prove useful not only in Japan, but also in countries with limited social infrastructure and large areas of national land.

Rice research offers another window into this ecosystem. NARO’s methane-reduction methods – including mid-season drainage techniques that temporarily lower water levels to curb methane formation – sit alongside JIRCAS-led approaches such as alternate wetting and drying combined with biogas effluent, which reduces emissions while maintaining yields. These techniques differ in design but share a common aim: cutting greenhouse gases in paddy systems without undermining productivity.

Individually, these look like incremental improvements. Together, they tell a story about national research shaped by a global lens: reducing emissions, conserving water, and creating climate-ready production systems.

Why Japan’s innovation model matters

Countries are searching for ways to turn scientific insights into actionable policies. Japan offers a clear, practical lesson: innovation systems deliver more when national science and international engagement reinforce each other.

What stands out in the Japanese experience is consistency and coherence. JIRCAS invests long-term in partnerships and field research; NARO does the same in domestic R&D and technology development. Innovations are documented clearly; methods are trialed rigorously; results are shared. This is not a flashy approach, but it is extremely effective.

The path ahead

Japan’s research institutions continue to move fast. Digital agriculture, advanced breeding, low-emission livestock systems, and climate-smart paddy technologies are all expanding research frontiers. The next step – already underway – is strengthening the loop between national advances and international uptake. JIRCAS’s 2025 international symposium reinforced this momentum, bringing recent research into sharper focus and strengthening collaboration across the Asia–Monsoon region.

The UN Food Systems Coordination Hub’s focus on making research accessible for decision makers also creates space for new strategic partnerships. A core part of its mandate is strengthening the interfaces where science, policy and civil society meet, including the meaningful engagement of youth in shaping and implementing National Pathways. Japan provides a model of how national research systems can connect effectively with regional and global platforms – an approach the Hub is well placed to support and amplify.

"Our mission is to ensure that agricultural innovations developed in Japan or through international research partnerships are disseminated to help address common challenges in the Asia–Monsoon region. The Technology Catalog is more than a list of technologies – it is a platform for collaboration, application, and scaling solutions for sustainable food systems."

—Yasuro FUNAKI, Green Asia Project Leader, JIRCAS

Japan’s combination of steady national research capacity and open, outward-looking collaboration provides a credible model for food-systems transformation. It shows how science moves from lab to field, from one country to many, and why long-term investment in innovation remains one of the most important tools countries have as they navigate the future of food.