Past, present and future of tribology in Japan

The technology, engineering and science of tribology developed during the 1st Industrial Revolution in Europe were introduced to Japan after 1868 and learned in the following 80 years. After the establishment of JSLE in 1956, Japanese tribologists supported world top class products and quick growth of Japanese GDP in the following 70 years. JSLE/JAST organized big 10 international conferences of tribology in the past 40 years. Various new approaches in basic research have been challenged and results were presented at JAST spring & fall meetings with more than 400 presentations per year in the past decades. In the coming age of depletion of resources reserves in the world, Japan is facing to the needs of creating sustainable and healthy lifestyles supported by renewable energy & materials. Breakthroughs in tribology are now required for the technology of health and sustainability to realize a new society of such lifestyles in the near future. Japanese tribological achievements in the past 150 years and near future needs in tribology are briefly described in this paper with those viewpoints and aspects.