Japan is really moving forward in fundamental research in physics and electronics:

EE Times - NTT verifies diamond semiconductor operation at 81 GHz: "Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) has developed a diamond semiconductor device that operates at 81 GHz frequency, more than twice the speed of earlier devices. The advance promises to make amplification in the millimeter-wave band from 30 to 300 GHz possible for the first time, NTT claimed. Diamond is expected to be the next generation semiconductor material because of its high thermal conductivity, high breakdown voltage and high carrier mobility. Together, these characteristics makes diamond semiconductors most suitable for high frequency, high power devices."

It seemed like they got a little quiet for a while. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. But as time goes by I'm noticing more and more of the really big news is coming out of Japan. Back in February, Japanese researchers at the NEC Fundamental Research Laboratory demonstrated entanglement of two qubits using quantum dots on a silicon substrate [New Scientist]. I'm not sure whether it counts, but in June a team from Toshiba Research Europe demonstrated quantum cryptography over a distance of 100km in fiber optic cable [New Scientist]. Toshiba is a Japanese company.... Go Japan!