Chips in Japan: Industrial policy, decline and renewal

FEATURED NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY

========== The Future of Semiconductors ==========

Chips in Japan: Industrial policy, decline and renewal

Joseph NEGRINE (The Australian National University) / Christopher FINDLAY (The Australian National University) / Shiro ARMSTRONG (Non-Resident Fellow, RIETI)

Japan, once the global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, has re-entered the centre of global industrial policy debates as it attempts to rebuild domestic chip capabilities in an era of escalating geopolitical rivalry, supply-chain fragility and rapid technological change. This paper examines Japan’s semiconductor trajectory over the past half-century: from global dominance in the 1980s, to steep decline in the 1990s and 2000s, to its current large-scale industrial policy interventions.

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