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Source: Content from the Industrial Times, thank you.
In recent years, Japan has been actively restructuring its semiconductor landscape, launching the JASM wafer fab in Kumamoto and Rapidus in Hokkaido, focusing on advanced process development.
Having observed Taiwan’s semiconductor industry for 20 years, Waseda University professor Akira Nagai analyzes the changes and opportunities brought by Taiwan-Japan semiconductor collaboration from a Japanese perspective.
Before entering academia, Professor Akira Nagai, from Waseda University’s Graduate School of Business and Finance, was deeply impressed by Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.
In 2005, while still working at Sony and responsible for the television business, Nagai visited the Hsinchu Science Park for academic research, studying Taiwan’s unique industrial cluster model and the major semiconductor company TSMC. At that time, he was only in his thirties and relatively unfamiliar with semiconductors, only knowing that “many Japanese electronics companies heavily rely on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.”
Since then, during multiple visits to Taiwan, Nagai had the opportunity to tour TSMC’s Innovation Center, gaining a profound understanding of the foresight emphasized by TSMC’s founder Morris Chang regarding “wafer foundry”. This sparked a strong interest in the chips that are essential for all home appliances and communication products. This passion even led him to dive into academia, and he has now become an authority on Japan’s semiconductor industry, recently publishing a book titled “Semiconductor Reversal Strategy” to explore how Japan can reverse its long-standing decline in semiconductor manufacturing.
Japan’s Focus on Technology vs. Taiwan’s Transformation of Technology into Economic Value
In mid-June, Nagai was invited to speak at the “2025 Taiwan’s Great Future” summit, delivering a keynote on “Analysis of Semiconductor Competitiveness in Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S.” Before the event, he took time to accept an interview with “The Journalist”, providing an in-depth analysis of the opportunities and challenges for both countries in semiconductor development, as well as the competitive and cooperative relationship that still realistically exists under the “Taiwan-Japan friendship”.
Having worked for prominent Japanese companies, Nagai opened by pointing out that over the past 20 years, Taiwan and Japan have chosen two distinctly different paths in industrial development.
“I have observed that many innovations in Taiwan are difficult to replicate in Japan,” Nagai stated with a gentle tone but sharp insight.
In his view, Japan, with its dedication to “technology first”, has achieved global leadership in semiconductor materials and equipment; conversely, Taiwan, led by TSMC, has transformed technology into real economic value. It is difficult to determine which side is superior, but it cannot be denied that TSMC’s leadership in JASM has become the core and hope for Japan’s semiconductor manufacturing revival.
In fact, Japan and Taiwan have had significant differences in their views on semiconductors for many years.
Li Shihui, a professor at National Chengchi University, explains that the differing perceptions are related to Japan’s past global leadership in home appliance products. “At that time, semiconductors were mainly used in home appliances and consumer electronics, and for companies like NEC, Toshiba, and Sharp, semiconductors were just one department within their operations.”
As a part of the company, Japanese semiconductor manufacturing naturally focused on serving its own products. “However, as Japanese home appliances were gradually replaced by those from Korea and China, the semiconductor departments of these companies quickly shrank due to the lack of external customers,” Li pointed out. When Taiwan and Korea established themselves in the wafer foundry industry, Japan’s lack of emphasis on the semiconductor business led to a significant decline in competitiveness.
Japan’s semiconductor industry was merely a department within large companies, rather than an independent profit-making entity, which made “innovation” more challenging.
Original link
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20250622000005-260410?ctrack=pc_money_headl_p02&chdtv
*Disclaimer: This article is original by the author. The content reflects the author’s personal views, and Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it solely to convey a different perspective, not representing its endorsement or support of the views expressed. If there are any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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