— Latest update: October 2023 —

In the semiconductor market, Asian countries dominate 66.0% of it, where Japan (8.3%) is ranked fourth behind Taiwan, China and South Korea. Nowadays, the Japanese industry approaches the consequences of a market that has been shrinking for three decades, a global chip shortage because of COVID-19 and global geopolitical tensions. 

Jeita.or.jp. n.d., 世界半導体市場統計（WSTS)
Seaj.or.jp., Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan, 2023

Therefore, the Japanese government has been strengthening its national economic security by trying to reduce geopolitical competition to avoid losing access to items essential to semiconductors, which are qualified as the "rice of the industries". In its strategy for economic security, according to Institute Montaigne, Japan is searching for partners to secure this industry, among which Europe has already been named.

The Japan Times, TSMC's Japan plant was seen as a win, but its future is more complicated, 2021
Institut Montaigne, Racing for the New Rice - Japan’s Plans For its Semiconductor Industry, 2021

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