Twenty-Eight Bets Worth ¥370 Trillion: Japan Draws Up Its Investment Shortlist

Japan has narrowed a long wish list to a shortlist. At Friday’s meeting of the Council for Japan’s Growth Strategy, chaired by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the government presented 28 priority products and technologies that are meant to anchor public and private investment totalling more than ¥370 trillion, according to reports by Jiji.

The 28 were chosen from 62 candidates spread across 17 strategic fields, with selection based on their expected economic spillover. The list ranges widely: semiconductors, vertical and physical AI, data centres, biopharmaceuticals, quantum computing, shipbuilding and the refining of critical minerals all made the cut.

Takaichi framed chips as the centrepiece, saying large-scale, strategic investment support is essential to build a domestic semiconductor supply chain. The next step is an implementation plan due by the end of the year, with the coming five years designated as a period of intensive investment.

Why minerals sit next to microchips

Critical-mineral refining may look like the odd one out beside AI and quantum, but the timing explains it. Japanese companies are worried about stable supplies of rare earths after China tightened controls on exports of dual-use goods to Japan amid the diplomatic dispute that followed Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks a year ago; 40 Japanese companies have in principle been barred from receiving such shipments. Building refining capacity at home is the long-term answer that a stockpile cannot provide.

A shortlist is not yet a budget. How much of the headline figure comes from the state, and how much depends on companies following the government’s lead, is the question the year-end plan will have to answer.