Established by the Japanese government as part of its Supplementary Budget in 2009, the Funding Program for World-leading Innovative Research and Development on Science and Technology (FIRST Program) promotes world-class cutting-edge research and technology. By giving first priority to research and development, the aims of this program are to improve the mid- to long-term international competitiveness and base strengths of Japan in areas including industry and human security, and reliably return the beneficial results of the R&D to Japanese citizens and society as a whole.
The Tonomura FIRST project is one of the 30 selected from the total of 565 project applications (428 from universities) submitted from throughout Japan.