The authors describe the main features of two recently established joint research laboratories for optoelectronics in Japan: the Optoelectronics Joint Research Laboratory, which existed from 1981 to 1986, and the Optoelectronics Technology Research Laboratory, which was established in 1986. The laboratories were established to make technical breakthroughs in materials technologies for future optoelectronic devices, specifically the optoelectronic integrated circuit. The background, organization, purpose, activities, and merits of this kind of joint research activity are discussed. In such laboratories, researchers on leave from member companies work together toward the same objective within a specific time period. The first trial of such a joint venture in Japan, in the late 1970s, was in the field of silicon large-scale integrated circuits. The change of emphasis from shorter-term to longer-term targets reflects the growth of the semiconductor electronics industry in Japan, but also results from experience with such an unusual form of joint laboratory. It is concluded that a joint laboratory works most effectively when new technological concepts are being explored, which may open up future markets. Focused in this way, a joint laboratory could lead the industry in those aspects of technology that precede competitive device development.>