Japan’s technology news headlines in Q1 of 2023 covered items across diverse fields and subjects including satellite communications, Japan’s growing concerns over Indo Pacific security, Nissan’s moves into the Web3 and NFT space, the country’s developing semiconductor alliances and strategy, and many more.
Hit the headlines in the bullet points below to read each Japanese tech news item behind the headline, in full, online and free.
January 2023 | February 2023 | March 2023
We also deliver a weekly email newsletter, capturing the week’s tech news headlines from across Asia Pac and the Indo-Pacific.
Subsea Communications Cables and Responsible State Behaviour
tech news: March 2023
- Japan and New Zealand to fast-track talks on intelligence-sharing to strengthen security ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, in part also aiming to boost Pacific Islands engagement
- Japan: Major firms including Fujitsu, Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi Corp partner to create ‘Japan Metaverse Economic Zone’, using Open Metaverse Infrastructure to enable interoperability between platforms
- Japan: Rapidus Corp, formed by 8 major Japanese firms, unveils plan to build its first next-gen semiconductor chip plant in Hokkaido
- Japan: Gov’t to establish permanent flight routes over coastal area of Fukushima Prefecture for testing drones and flying car technologies
- Japan: Fomm startup to launch service converting gasoline vehicles into EVs, alongside battery-swap service, potentially accelerating adoption in the country
- Japan: Warpspace backed by insurance major, with satellite communications network using optical signals instead of electromagnetic signals, consuming less power and enabling higher data transmission volumes
“With over 10,000 satellites already traveling in low Earth orbit, demand in medium Earth orbit is forecast to grow. The market for medium-Earth-orbit satellite payloads will grow 7.4% in 2028 from 2021, according to India-based Data Bridge Market Research.”
- Japan: Country’s first domestically-built quantum computer to become available for use by corporations and universities later this month for research projects
- Japan: Marubeni trading house inks agreement with France’s Ynsect around nutrient-rich mealworm larvae for use as alternative feed for fish commonly farmed in Japan
- Japan’s Nissan automaker files Web3-focused trademarks, indicating plans for virtual goods such as clothes, cars, trading cards, tickets, and an NFT marketplace for trading and minting
- Japan lifts export controls on South Korea relating to materials for semiconductor and display production, following Seoul’s withdrawal of WTO litigation
- Japan to gain from critical minerals trade agreement with US with electric vehicles tax credit for Japanese automakers on EVs made with metals processed in Japan
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co reportedly planning 2nd facility in Japan to produce more-advanced 5 and 10 nm chips, with the first likely to be producing by December 2024
Deloitte: 2023 Semiconductor Industry Outlook
tech news: February 2023
“A key constraint of Japan’s startup ecosystem for decades had been the lack of labor market dynamism, with Japan’s top talent locked into lifetime employment arrangements at large firms and with traditional employers. Now, however, a strong positive feedback loop has developed in which greater human capital flows further drive accelerated labor market dynamism. This is fueling Japan’s startup ecosystem as it matures.”
- Japan: Government to restrict exports of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, most likely primarily impacting China, following amendment to foreign exchange law
- Japan’s NTT Docomo and Rakuten Mobile set for R&D information-sharing on Open RAN with UK enterprises and institutions
Japan: “…the country plans to encourage its industrial giants – long at the forefront of chips, cars, batteries and machines – to invest in startups and pique technological progress at home…”
- Japan: 20 startups selected for JETRO x Techstars Startup City Acceleration Program, working in social media, blockchain-based novels as NFTs, health-tech and more
- Japan: Central bank to launch a CBDC pilot to test a ‘digital yen’ in April, although only simulated transactions will occur during the pilot stage
- Semiconductor alliance of Taiwan, the US, Japan and South Korea held its first video meeting of senior officials last week, focused on supply chain resilience
ASPI: A proposal for an Indo-Pacific hybrid threat centre
tech news: January 2023
- Japan: Toyota supplier, Denso, looks to Taiwanese partners in move to reshape auto supply chains, seeing the need to limit dependence on Chinese components
- Japan and US boost defense cooperation with MOU on shared standards for gov’t-procured software, protecting critical infrastructure, reducing risks to socioeconomic activity and confidential info
- Japan: Foreign Ministry to launch AI-backed system to collect and analyze fake information on social media and other platforms, aiming to track how foreign actors try to influence public opinion
“Disinformation campaigns are part of what is called cognitive warfare — which involves manipulating public opinion and sowing dissent through social media and other channels. Given its potential reach, it is increasingly considered a sixth domain of conflict after land, sea, air, space and the cyber realm.”
- Japan’s NTT Corp enters US Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative to boost cyber defense and reduce risk to critical infrastructure
- 1.3M Japanese customers of Aflac and Zurich insurance companies had personal information leaked following hack of at third-party service provider
- Animoca Brands Japan subsidiary invests $780K in Psychic VR Lab, XR firm incorporating NFTs
- West Japan Railway to deploy tests of facial recognition-operated ticket gates at 2 Osaka train stations
“According to the company, the face recognition machines to be installed at both stations will starting operations on March 18 and use a camera mounted on the ticket gate to read the user’s face and match it with a pre-registered photo.”
- Japan to remove a key limit on overseas investments by domestic venture funds dedicated to backing startups, in a bid to attract more foreign investors into the sector
- Pegasus Tech Ventures VC firm partners Japan’s Denka chemical and life sciences major for $100M fund to focus on startups in renewable energies, EV batteries, chips and health-tech
- Need To Know Now — Need To Know Now, Jan 28th: Fertilizer, Myanmar, AI, EVs and cyberwarfare
- 4 of Japan’s major telecoms corporations partner Uzbekistan’s state-owned telco for infrastructure development project, including data centers in 3 cities
Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Asia Pacific Region
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