Japan’s technology news in the second quarter of 2023 gathers items spanning Japan’s growing semiconductor focused partnerships with Taiwan alongside Japan’s domestic chips industry, Japan’s moves to safeguard space as a security domain, NTT telco’s moves to protect supply chains from cyber-attacks, and more.
The monthly links below, for April, May & June, each provide you with Q2 2023 technology news from Japan, linking from the headlines to the articles behind them in full, and free of charge.
in June 2023 | in May 2023 | in April 2023
• Plus: Asia’s tech news today / weekly newsletters >
Australian Strategic Policy Institute: Critical Technology Tracker
Japanese Technology News
quarterly: June 2023
- China’s TuSimple tests autonomous vehicles in Japan via local subsidiary, noteworthy when considering Japan’s ageing demographic means 45.2% of transportation sector drivers are over 50
- Japan: All Nippon Airways, Japan’s largest airline, launched ANA GranWhale NFT Marketplace with subsidiary, ANA Neo, initially offering 2 Boeing 787-themed collections
- Japan: Taiwan’s TSMC reportedly mulling a second plant in Kumamoto Prefecture in addition to one currently under construction
Japan: “…export restrictions on 23 types of chip-related equipment…are set to disrupt China’s semiconductor self-sufficiency plan…The measures require specific permission for…23 types of items…”
“The measures require specific permission for the export of 23 types of items to any country not on a list of 42 ‘friendly’ markets, according to the insiders and a list seen by the Post.”
“For China, it would be a de facto ban, similar to US export curbs announced in October 2022, dealing a heavy blow to Beijing’s push for greater self-sufficiency in chips.”
- Japan: A brief intro to the 5 startups presenting at the Japan–US Innovation Awards Symposium at Stanford University, working in Web3 solutions, metal printing and more
- Japan: Animoca Brands partners Mitsui trading firm for Web3 in Japan, gaining access to Mitsui assets spanning industrial and consumer firms, partner and customer networks
- Japan Post Bank unveils plans to invest $7BN into the country’s startups, using nationwide postal network of 24000 outlets to scout for promising businesses
- Japan adopts its first space security blueprint, aiming to better utilize the frontier for defense purposes over the next 10 years, responding to increasing military use of space by China and Russia
World Economic Forum: Quantum Readiness Toolkit
- Asia-Pacific Society for Cellular Agriculture and Japan Ass’n for Cellular Agriculture ink MOU to develop markets and regulatory structures
- Japan’s military reportedly now testing Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service, potentially adopting the tech next fiscal year
- Japan and European Union partner to exchange information on subsidies and other supports given to semiconductor firms, also coordinating with the US to manage supply chain issues
“This is part of a coordinated effort by Tokyo and Brussels along with Washington — with which both sides already share this information — to build stronger, more stable chip supply chains, amid the risk of trade with China being cut off as relations fray.”
“The shared information will help the partners figure out how much of a given type of chip needs to be produced where to meet demand in an emergency.”
- France’s L’Oréal launches North Asia Big Bang Beauty Tech & Innovation Challenge, focusing on new beauty products and experiences for and in China, South Korea and Japan
- Indo-Pacific: Japan, Australia and US ink agreement on $95M undersea cable project to connect East Micronesia island nations
CSIS: Mapping semiconductor supply chains – Indo-Pacific’s importance
Japanese tech news
quarterly: May 2023
- Japan sees rise in cyber-attacks, believed to originate from one source, in approach to May G7 Summit, set to host leaders of UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, and the European Union
- ICYMI: NATO to open Japan liaison office to facilitate consultations with security partners South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, in part looking at cyber-defence
The liaison office will enable discussions with NATO’s security partners, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, with geopolitical challenges from China and Russia in mind, the media outlet reported.
“NATO has offices and liaison arrangements with a number of international organisations and partner countries, and allies regularly assess those liaison arrangements to ensure that they best serve the needs of both NATO and our partners,” she said.
“Practical cooperation includes a wide range of areas, including cyber defence, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, non-proliferation, science and technology, and human security,” she said.
- Japan: Sumitomo trading house preps to begin sales of insect-based feed for farmed fish in Japan later this year, with sights on generating 30,000 tonnes of insect feed by 2030
- Japan’s Sumitomo partners Vodafone for new ‘Economy of Things’ business, aiming for ecosystem within which vehicles, devices and machines interact and transact via secure digital platform
World Economic Forum: Social implications of the Metaverse
- Japan: NTT – Nippon Telegraph & Telephone – to roll out service to protect small auto parts manufacturers from supply chain freezing cyberattacks, with recent survey finding 72% have yet to prepare
- Japan: Genesia Ventures VC raises $110M for 3rd fund with broad investment thesis, spanning as-a-service solutions, media and entertainment, robotics and more
- Japan’s SkyDrive announces first orders for airborne car, featuring a range of just 10 kilometers, seeing use-case as an air taxi
- Japan, Ukraine, Iceland and Ireland formally join NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Estonia, gaining cyber-focused knowledge-sharing
Japan: The people powering Japan’s startup ecosystem
- ICYMI: IBM and Google pledge $150M support to quantum computing research at University of Chicago and University of Tokyo, with Google also providing hardware access
- Japan: Estonia’s Auve partnered by SoftBank’s Boldly for MiCa self-driving buses, focusing on serving rapidly-aging communities
- Japan: Panasonic partners Marubeni group to supply businesses with electric commercial vehicles and recharging, seeing opportunity in electrification of Japan’s logistics industry
- South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group to launch $36.5M fund to invest in tech startups from Japan and Korea
CSIS: Pulling back the curtain on China’s maritime militia
Japanese technology news
quarterly: April 2023
- Japan: China’s Alibaba Cloud to open blockchain ‘laboratory’ in Shibuya to focus on Japanese game devs working in Web3
- Japan to restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning with US advanced chip controls
- Japan sets goal of trebling semiconductor sales to $112BN by 2030, alongside subsidies to semicon firms to build plants or expand existing facilities in Japan
- Japan: An intro to Farmship, agri-tech startup using AI to assess growth and potential of – for now – spinach seedlings, aiming to boost yields and efficiency by weeding out poor growers
- Japan: Mizuho Financial Group and Line message app abandon digibank plans for smartphone-based Line Bank, beaten to market by competitors
World Economic Forum: Global Risks Report 2023
- Japan: OpenAI considering Japan office following talks, with gov’t evaluating possibilities of AI use in reducing government worker workloads
- Japan: Gov’t Web3 project team publishes white paper laying out recommendations to boost the country’s crypto industry, proposing tax reforms, clearer accounting standards and a DAO law
- Japan: ispace market debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange a stress test, with shares slow to sell whilst world’s first commercial lander orbits the moon for April 26th moon landing
The Escalating Global Risk Environment for Submarine Cables
- SoftBank Group, owned by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, to sell SoftBank Ventures Asia VC arm to The Edgeof, investment firm owned by his youngest brother, Taizo
- Japan: Government to provide $31.4M to fund access to cloud-based quantum computing services to local companies
- Japan’s 3 largest financial groups jump on generative AI bandwagon, aiming to adopt AI-powered chatbots to boost efficiency on internal tasks before developing task-specific implementations
- Japan: An overview of the country’s growing cybercrime challenges
- Japan: Luup e-scooter and e-bike firm raises $30M with city ‘ports’ focus, seeing opportunities later in infrastructure, providing a hub network for drone and delivery robots
- ICYMI: Quad countries – US, Australia, India and Japan – to build system enabling each government’s cyber body to share information on cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure
CSET: Mapping emerging technologies and their supply chains
ASIA’S TECH NEWS: DAILY & e-newsletters
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