The research domain of software agents is attracting considerable interest and investment. Software agents – also referred to as "intelligent agents" and "autonomous agents" - represent an emerging computing paradigm for the development of distributed systems in networked environments. Agents are attractive in part because they seem to address several of the shortcomings of the client/server model of computing. They also have potential in application domains that are viewed as strategic growth sectors, such as information retrieval in loosely structured information environments (the World Wide Web, for example), electronic commerce, and collaborative computing systems (groupware).
This report provides an overview of R&D activity in Japan in the field of software agents. Included are a discussion of the key identifying characteristics of software agents; a comparison of mobile agent frameworks with the paradigm of client/server computing; a review of R&D work in mobile agent frameworks at four Japanese companies: IBM Japan (Aglets), Toshiba (Bee-gent and Plangent), Fujitsu (Kafka), and Mitsubishi Electric (Concordia); an overview of trends and issues in multi-agent systems research; a review of research activity in multi-agent systems at five Japanese universities: JAIST, Kyushu University/Nagasaki University (joint project), Nagoya Institute of Technology, and Tokyo University; and a section of summary and perspectives.