Latest News

Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (President: Ken Koarai, “JRC”), SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer: Eiichi Yonekura, “SKY Perfect JSAT”), the Graduate School of Engineering at The University of Tokyo (Dean: Yasuhiro Kato, Professor: Akihiro Nakao, “The University of Tokyo”), and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (President: Hideyuki Tokuda, “NICT”) have successfully demonstrated dynamic switching of backhaul paths and QoS control in a 5G network environment that integrates a geostationary (GEO) satellite link, low earth orbit (LEO) satellite links, and terrestrial links. This achievement paves the way for the construction of highly reliable satellite-5G networks capable of flexibly responding to diverse services and network conditions.

Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”), NEC Corporation (“NEC”), and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (“NICT”) have successfully conducted the world’s first demonstration of multiplexed transmission of quantum key distribution (QKD) signals and key generation within a system environment designed for the IOWN all-photonics network. IOWN, developed by NTT, Inc., is a next-generation information processing and communications infrastructure that delivers ultra-high speed, low power consumption, and low latency.

Scientists strengthen brain cell connections to enable gift-giving courtship behavior in fruit flies.

Researchers in Japan have genetically transferred a unique courtship behavior from one fruit fly species to another. By turning on a single gene in insulin-producing neurons, the team successfully made a species of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) perform a gift-giving ritual it had never done before. The study, published in the journal Science, represents the first example of manipulating a single gene to create new neural connections and transfer behavior between species.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.) the Advanced ICT Research Institute, ASTRODESIGN, Inc. (President and CEO: NANBA Toyoaki), and Fujikura Ltd. (Director, President and CEO: OKADA Naoki) have developed a multi-core fiber cable consisting of eight 4-core, standard cladding diameter multi-core fibers, and they have successfully implemented it for the first time as an ultrahigh-capacity data transmission unit in a real system handling uncompressed 8K video.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.), in collaboration with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (Sony), has developed the world's first practical surface-emitting laser that employs quantum dot(QD) as the optical gain medium for use in optical fiber communication systems.

A joint research team from Nagoya University Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, the University of Oslo Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology conducted ionospheric tomography analysis using data from Japan's ultra-dense GNSS observation network. They clarified, for the first time, the 3D characteristics of ionospheric electron density fluctuations, spatially and temporally evolving, immediately following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake of 2024.

An international research team led by the Photonic Network Laboratory at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.), and including Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Electric, President: INOUE Osamu) have set a new world record in optical fiber communications, achieving data transmission at 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,808 kilometers (roughly equivalent to the distance from Sapporo to Fukuoka, from Missouri to Montana or from Berlin to Naples).

A research group led by Prof. Yoshinao Kumagai of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, in collaboration with Mr. Junya Yoshinaga of TAIYO NIPPON SANSO CORPORATION, Assistant Prof. Shogo Sasaki of Nara Women’s University, Prof. Takeyoshi Onuma of Kogakuin University, Prof. Masataka Higashiwaki of Osaka Metropolitan University / National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Dr. Yuzaburo Ban of TAIYO NIPPON SANSO ATI CORPORATION, has successfully developed a technique for precise control of n-type conductivity in high-speed growth of β-Ga₂O₃ homoepitaxial layers using their proprietary low-pressure hot-wall MOVPE method.

A research group led by FUJINO Misako and HARUNO Masahiko at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.), has demonstrated that experiencing active flight in VR allows individuals to predict that they can transition to a safe state even if they fall from a height, thereby reducing fear responses. This discovery challenges the traditional understanding that fear extinction necessarily requires repeated exposure to fear-inducing stimuli.

A research team led by Dr. TANAKA Toshiko and Dr. HARUNO Masahiko at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.), investigated how avatar-mediated communication affects human decision-making. They discovered that participants were more likely to take risks when facial expressions (such as admiration or contempt) were displayed by avatars than when the same expressions were shown on real human faces. This increase in risk-taking was found to result from a more favorable valuation of the "uncertainty" of facial feedback in the avatar condition.

Tokyo, 31.3.2025 - In a bold step toward revolutionizing network technologies, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) in Germany launch the Optical Testbed Dataspace (OTDS). OTDS is a pioneering platform designed to accelerate the development and testing of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models for optical networks. It fosters global collaboration by enabling international partners to securely share and aggregate testbed data from diverse environments, pushing the boundaries of network optimization and automation.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) has revealed, through fMRI-based brain activity analysis, that multiple regions in the human cerebral cortex flexibly represent numerical quantity. This finding comes from research by HAYASHI Masamichi (Researcher (Tenure-Track)) at Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), part of NICT’s Advanced ICT Research Institute, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s graduate student KIDO Teruaki (NICT cooperative visiting researcher), and Prof. YOTSUMOTO Yuko.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, President: Hiroshi Yamakawa) and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: Hideyuki Tokuda) have successfully completed the commissioning and the initial calibration & validation　 for the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), which was jointly developed by JAXA and NICT, onboard Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) (Nickname: “Hakuryu”).

As neuroscience progresses, ethical, legal, and sociological issues (ELSI) in neuroscience are not only expanding, but also becoming more complex. This conference will be an in-person international meeting with participants from not only the field of neuroscience, but also internationally recognized leaders and promising young researchers from fields related to ELSI in neuroscience, such as ethics, law, and sociology.