Japan's contribution to science is immense. Not that long ago, a group of Japanese organic chemists invented reactions known as cross-coupling reactions (and improved the already existing ones, giving them greater depth and use) which were revolutionary and made it possible to do synthesis of very complicated molecules - medicines, different farmaceuticals making their production elegant, going faster (meaning fewer steps in order to produce desired molecule) and cheaper. The reaction involved metals like paladium, Pd and some of them a non-metal boron. These reactions enabled connection of such structures in one step only.
Akira Suzuki, Ei-ichi Negishi and Kenkichi Sonogashira will be always remembered. Suzuki and Negishi won Nobel Prize in 2010.
The synthesis of Vancomycin (an antibiotic) using intermolecular Suzuki coupling is shown bellow.