Headline, September 10 2024/ JAPAN : ''' LOST TECHNOLOGY LOOP '''

JAPAN : 

''' LOST TECHNOLOGY LOOP '''

'' IN THE FUTURE - THE WORLD WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS :

Those that can supply semiconductors and those that only receive them,'' said Akira Amari, who previously led the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

! THOSE ARE THE WINNERS AND THE LOSERS !

MICHAEL CRICHTON'S 1992 THRILLER, '' RISING SUN,'' with its dark depiction of Japan's ruthless economic warriors, ruled the best-seller lists alongside nonfiction titles that warned of the financial and technology juggernaut created by Japan's powerful government trade ministry.

In a 1990 survey, nearly two-thirds of Americans said Japanese investment in the United States posed a threat to American Economic Independence.

It turned out that anxiety about Japan Inc, peaked just as the country began a long economic slide after the collapse of real-estate and stock market bubbles.

NOW, after a period of stagnation that Japan's economy ministry refers to as '' the lost three decades. '' Tokyo is engaged in a multibillion-dollar industrial policy to jump-start the lackluster economy and recapture its position as a tech innovator.

This time, Japan is working with technology leaders in the United States and other countries - a collaborative approach that decades earlier would have been unthinkable.

But even as Tokyo is pursuing less inward-looking policies, the political storm over a Japanese led acquisition of U.S. Steel illustrates how the United States is increasingly moving to protect other key industries from foreign influence.

Tokyo's industrial policy focus today is on advanced forms of technologies ranging from batteries to solar panels, but the priority is reclaiming a bigger share of the global semiconductor industry, for which the Japanese government earmarked more than $27 billion over the past three years.

'' In the future, the world will be divided into two groups : those that can supply semiconductors and those that only receive them,'' said Akira Aimari, a senior official in Japan's ruling party who previously led the Ministry of  Economy, Trade and Industry. '' Those are the winners and the losers.''

Based on the lessons learned over the past few decades, Japan is trying out a new playbook when it comes to chips, Mr. Amari said. ''Now we are collaborating with international partners from the very start.''

Although other nations are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to gain an edge, Japan's efforts stand out because of its history of using industrial policy to develop quickly after World War II.

'' It doesn't have to start from a scratch,'' said Alessio Terzi, an economist at the European Commission. '' This is already something that sets it apart from other countries.''

The centrepiece of Japan's new industrial push is taking shape at a year-old construction site on Hokkaido, its northernmost island. This area is better known for champagne powder skiing and in winter, lush carpets of flowers in summer and volcanic hot springs.

Across open pastures and not far from the Chitose airport is the rough outline of Rapidus Corporation's new semiconductor plant, still surrounded by a sprawling exoskeleton of scaffolding.

The factory, financed in part by billions of dollars of government money, is being developed by an unusual collaboration between Rapidus, a start-up Japanese chip maker, and the American tech company IBM.

It will produce the so-called 2-nanometer chips, a technology that IBM pioneered at its lab Albany N.Y.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on semiconductors and the future continues. The World Students Society thanks Patricia Cohen and River Akira Davis.

With most respectful dedication to the '' Rising Sun,'' the future Tech Giants from Japan and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world - and for every subject : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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