６-Best:Major Projects

Research Institutes

Facilities for Research

Including two of the five “Key Technologies of National Importance,” Hyogo-Kobe is home to a wealth of public and private research organizations,making the area a world-class research hub both in quantity and quality.

Kobe Area
Through the formation of the “Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster,”R&D bases and companies in the field of advanced medical technology have been converging on Kobe Port Island,a manmade island floating offshore of Kobe City Center. In addition,the ultra high-speed computational system,supercomputer Fugaku,began full-scale operations in March,2021, and is conducting state-of-the-art research activities in fields including drug development and manufacturing.

Harima Science Garden City
Located in the south-western region of Hyogo, Harima Science Garden City is home to a cluster of nanoscale analysis and research facilities, most notably the world’s largest synchrotron radiation facility, SPring-8(Super Photon Ring-8 Gev).SPring-8 is used not only for academic research, but also for industrial use by companies,which accounts for approx. 20% of the total use. SPring-8 is expected to produce a synergetic increase in capability when used with SACLA, the X-ray Free Electron Laser(XFEL) facility that began operation in March 2012 as a national key technology project.