The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government regards technological innovation as a pillar of Japan’s economic growth strategy, believing that technological development will give an advantage to the nation and Japanese companies.

This is the second installment in a three-part series examining Japan’s aim to regain its status as a manufacturing power.

Self-driving cars are quickly gaining on the day they will get their driver’s license.

Naoki Suganuma, 38, a Kanazawa University lecturer, recently test-drove a self-driving car at a driving school in Kanazawa. The car negotiated a training course there that resembles real city streets.

The experimental vehicle was a modified ordinary car attached with three sensors on the roof and its front.