Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida went to the TSMC Kumamoto plant for the first time on the 6th to visit. In addition to exchanging opinions with TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, he also expressed condolences for the Hualien earthquake that occurred in Taiwan on April 3. The Japanese government has positioned semiconductors as an important material to ensure economic security. Through this visit, Kishida intends to emphasize the government's supportive attitude towards the domestic supply chain.
This Saturday (April 6), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida inspected the TSMC Kumamoto factory. To ensure the stable supply of chips, the Japanese government has promised to provide more than 1 trillion yen (about 7 billion US dollars) in support for this new factory. He said in his speech, "I believe that this project will have a positive domino effect, which is not only crucial for the semiconductor industry, but also has an impact on other fields, such as electric vehicles and electronic products, and so on."
The semiconductor factory of TSMC in Kumamoto, Japan opened at the end of February, and founder of TSMC, Morris Chang, attended the opening ceremony. Officials such as Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito Ken and Governor of Kumamoto Urashima Ikuo were also invited to attend. This is TSMC's first factory in Japan. TSMC announced earlier in February to increase capital to expand the second factory, which is scheduled to start operating at the end of 2027, and Toyota Motor will also take a stake. It is reported that TSMC is also considering building a third or even a fourth factory.
When inspecting the Kumamoto factory, Fumio Kishida also expressed condolences and concerns for the strong earthquake that occurred in Taiwan a few days ago. A strong earthquake that has not occurred in 25 years occurred in Taiwan on April 3, resulting in 12 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries.
On Tuesday this week (April 2), Japan announced that it would provide up to US$3.9 billion in subsidies to chip start-up Rapidus, in the hope that it would become an important company in the chip industry. Under concerns about the tense relationship across the Taiwan Strait, Japan is competing with the US and Europe to attract chip manufacturers with huge subsidies in response to a possible AI revolution.
Forty years ago, Toshiba of Japan and NEC dominated the chip market. Over time, chips from South Korea and Taiwan have taken up the market, and Japan's global market share has dropped from more than 50% to about 10%.
TSMC is currently building its second factory in the United States and has also announced plans to build its first factory in Europe. However, geographically closer to Taiwan, Japan is undoubtedly an ideal place for investment.
