Profile
The Nature Index tracks primary research articles from 178 applied, health, natural and social sciences journals, across many different publishers, chosen by an independent group of researchers. The Nature Index provides absolute Count of primary research articles and fractional Share counts of author contribution to articles. The positions in the table below reflect Japan's position overall, regionally, and in subject areas based on their Share. Each position links to the corresponding table where Japan is listed.
Position by research output Share
Position by research output Share in subject areas
Research
Japan has the following research output in the current window (1 June 2025 - 30 May 2026) of the Nature Index. Click on Count to view a list of articles representing the corresponding Share value.
Overall research output
| Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 6986 | 3985.59 |
Overall Count and Share for 'Japan' based on the 12-month time frame mentioned above.
Research outputs by subject area
Note: Hover over the donut graph to view the Share for each subject.
Leading research topics
In the Current Index (12-month rolling window), Japan published the most articles in these research topics. Learn more about Nature Research Intelligence Topics.
| Topics | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Organic Chemistry | 438 | 375.54 |
| Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry | 472 | 270.61 |
| Physical Chemistry | 414 | 244.29 |
| Quantum Physics | 438 | 214.94 |
| Clinical Sciences | 317 | 177.27 |
| Particle and High Energy Physics | 341 | 176.41 |
| Astronomical Sciences | 354 | 141.23 |
| Biochemistry and Cell Biology | 196 | 131.05 |
| Oncology and Carcinogenesis | 258 | 111.90 |
Share output for the past 5 years
| Subject area or journal group | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 3203.23 | 2987.84 | 3015.83 | 3570.91 | 3885.35 |
| Applied sciences | 477.68 | 402.47 | 413.82 | 699.29 | 737.92 |
| Health sciences | 412.35 | 595.89 | 542.05 | 578.73 | 642.90 |
| Natural sciences | 2307.80 | 1981.81 | 2044.47 | 2233.42 | 2449.68 |
| Biological sciences | 418.68 | 416.34 | 398.25 | 439.89 | 462.07 |
| Chemistry | 1039.58 | 860.11 | 918.26 | 976.82 | 1092.96 |
| Earth & environmental sciences | 183.98 | 166.72 | 146.71 | 171.63 | 209.40 |
| Physical sciences | 665.56 | 538.65 | 581.25 | 645.07 | 685.25 |
| Social sciences | 5.40 | 7.66 | 15.49 | 59.47 | 54.86 |
| Nature & Science | 49.24 | 60.33 | 41.31 | 54.04 | 59.40 |
Country/territory benchmarking
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.
Collaboration
In many cases, the highest quality science comes from collaborating. Nature Index collaborations highlight fruitful collaborations that lead to high quality research around the world. The table and charts below highlight the leading collaborators with Japan.
Collaboration by percentage of Share
Note: Hover over the graph to view collaboration by percentage of Share.
Top 10 collaborators with Japan by Share
Note: Hover over the bars to view details about each institution's Share.
| Collaborating country/territory | Collaborators' Share | Collaboration Score |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America (USA) | 424.83 / 740.37 | 1165.21 |
| China | 361.92 / 800.45 | 1162.36 |
| Germany | 174.90 / 227.63 | 402.53 |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 147.05 / 164.77 | 311.83 |
| France | 115.68 / 121.61 | 237.30 |
| South Korea | 91.49 / 95.53 | 187.02 |
| Taiwan | 93.29 / 66.70 | 160.00 |
| India | 41.06 / 57.36 | 98.42 |
| Singapore | 33.45 / 40.03 | 73.48 |
| Thailand | 25.36 / 14.05 | 39.41 |
View historical country/territory collaboration
Top 10 institutions from Japan by Share
| Institution | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The University of Tokyo (UTokyo) | 1604 | 538.56 |
| 2. Kyoto University | 952 | 325.39 |
| 3. The University of Osaka (UOsaka) | 615 | 202.80 |
| 4. Tohoku University | 828 | 200.90 |
| 5. Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) | 529 | 158.54 |
| 6. RIKEN | 706 | 156.24 |
| 7. Nagoya University | 542 | 155.59 |
| 8. Kyushu University | 430 | 131.63 |
| 9. National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) | 511 | 128.67 |
| 10. Hokkaido University | 402 | 126.48 |
Job finder
Call for Researchers and Experts
F-REI seeks Researchers, Senior Researchers, Experts, and Senior Experts to advance innovative R&D, foster innovation, and support Fukushima's future.
Fukushima Institute for Research, Education and Innovation (F-REI)
Japan (JP) View detailsProfessor in Quantitative Biosciences at the University of Tokyo
The Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (IQB), The University of Tokyo, invites applications for a full professor position.
Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, The University of Tokyo
Tokyo (JP) View detailsTenure-Track Faculty Positions for Physician-Scientists
Tohoku University invites applications for Tenure-Track Principal Investigator (PI) positions in medicine and dentistry.
Tohoku University
Japan (JP) View detailsPostdoctoral in Structural studies of mitochondrial DNA replication
The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large an...
University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg (Kommun), Västra Götaland (SE) View detailsGlobal Leading Talent Recruitment at College of Bio-X, Huazhong Agricultural University
Join HZAU's global faculty team to advance research with competitive benefits.
Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)
Wuhan, Hubei (CN) View detailsView more job listings on Nature Careers.
Latest supplements
Nature Index 2026 Biomedical engineering
From wearable sensors to advanced prosthetics and engineered tissues, biomedical engineering is producing new ways to understand the human body and improve patient care across the board. This supplement takes a look at the opportunities — and challenges — offered by wearable devices, the nations that are making their mark in the field according to Nature Index data, and the scientists who continue to advance the discipline through their research.
Nature Index 2026 Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine has the potential to transform the treatment of chronic and life-threatening diseases. But major challenges remain, such as overcoming immune rejection and ensuring that new therapies are developed using more inclusive data sets. In this supplement, we explore the discoveries that are driving the field, the barriers that could limit its progress, and the teams and institutions that are making their mark.
Numerical information only (in the tables above) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.