Please note this is a Short Discount publication. This, the third report in Elsevier's Materials Technology in Japan series, concentrates on magnetic materials as a topic gaining worldwide attention, and each chapter looks not only at current research, but also describes the technology as it is being applied and its future potential. Magnetic–related research is the second largest field of research in Japan after semiconductors, with the estimated number of researchers and engineers engaged in magnetics–related activities currently at 20,000. This research report serves as both a review of research undertaken and developments to date, and a forecast of where the industry is going.