By the end of their 138th Zoom meeting, the group of Japan’s leading experts in the world’s most critical technology finally had their plan: a blueprint for the country’s biggest industrial comeback in more than half a century.
The secret project, presented to the country’s prime minister in 2020, was designed to create, out of nowhere, a world-leading semiconductor manufacturer. Japan was once the leader in this $600bn industry but surrendered that position to rivals in the US, South Korea and Taiwan. Now it wants its crown back.
“I explained to [then prime minister Shinzo] Abe-san that this was the most important project for Japan since the Meiji period,” says Atsuyoshi Koike, a veteran chip industry executive who led the group, referring to the transformational epoch in the 19th century that vaulted the country into the modern world.