International joint research: current situation and challenges for the Japan-Russia collaboration in the field of agriculture

International communication has sharply increased between educational and research institutions in the various sciences between Japan and Russia amidst globalization’s rapid progress. Niigata University has been deliberately increasing collaboration with counterparts in the Russian Far East in the field of agriculture. However, literature comprehending current trends and issues of the bilateral joint research is insufficient. It implies strategical evaluation of the existing projects’ efficiency and allocation of future collaboration tasks and funding. This study aimed to grasp the actual situation of Japan-Russia international joint research and its implications for agriculture. The authors used the Web of Science database aggregated by Clarivate Analytics to evaluate the general condition of research output and international joint research in both countries, fields of bilateral co-authorship, and Niigata university collaborative projects’ results in terms of publication output in agricultural sciences. Results demonstrated steady efforts to promote international joint research in both countries. However, in terms of the research field, the bilateral relations are strongly manifested in materials science and physics, where the co-authorship rate is high. Agricultural sciences remain insignificant in bilateral cooperation. The number of co-authored publications has slightly increased due to the projects run by the Niigata university from 2015, both in Russian student enrolment and joint research specializing in agriculture. Therefore, the present study concluded that further profound qualitative and quantitative research on factors fostering bilateral collaboration, including international students’ role, is needed.