Japan’s ministry of trade and industry wants to introduce tax incentives that would encourage start-up companies to spend more on research and development, amid concerns that the country’s technological competitiveness is waning.

Japanese industry leaders such as Sony, Canon and Toyota allocate healthy chunks of their yearly budget to R&D expenditures. Canon, for example, has allocated Y360bn ($3bn, €2.3bn, £1.5bn) to R&D in the current fiscal year.