Kumamoto adds semiconductor faculty as Japan courts global investors

Kumamoto Prefecture, which attracted a TSMC factory, plans to establish a semiconductor faculty at its prefectural university to train specialized talent. As Japan pours resources into reviving its semiconductor industry through industry-academia partnerships and corporate investment, overseas investors are taking growing notice of the sector.

According to Kyodo News, Kumamoto Prefecture will establish a semiconductor faculty with 60 students at Kumamoto Prefectural University in April next year. The prefecture, which already hosts a TSMC factory, aims to cement its standing as a key semiconductor cluster by cultivating specialized talent and deepening ties between the university and local chipmakers.

Foundry startup Rapidus is also stepping up its workforce efforts. The company previously hired only technical staff with semiconductor backgrounds, but plans to open its new-graduate recruitment next year to liberal arts majors as well, seeking talent for sales, human resources and accounting. Rapidus has been broadening its hiring pool, moving beyond the experienced workers in their 50s it initially recruited to now include engineers in their 30s and 40s. The company is set to begin full-scale mass production of 2-nanometer chips next year and aims to pursue an initial public offering around 2031.

Japan's push to revive its semiconductor industry as a national priority — backed by bold investment in production processes and talent development — has drawn the attention of overseas investors.

The Nikkei reported that while AI-driven stocks have paused in global equity markets, overseas investors continue to show strong interest in AI-related companies in Japan.

At a Japan equity conference Bank of America is holding in Tokyo for overseas investors, all 20 companies that received the most meeting requests were AI-related firms. At an investment conference UBS held in Osaka late last month, overseas investors similarly concentrated their meeting requests on Japanese semiconductor materials, equipment and components companies such as Murata Manufacturing and TDK.

NAND flash memory chipmaker Kioxia has drawn particular investor attention. Last month the company announced it would invest more than 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion) to build a new semiconductor factory in Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan, signaling an aggressive push to reclaim leadership in the NAND market.

Kioxia's share price has fallen as much as 50 percent from its peak, and the prevailing view among investors is that it remains undervalued — adding to its appeal. The company's forward price-to-earnings ratio over the next 12 months stands at around 4.2 times, well below that of US rivals Micron Technology (about 6 times) and SanDisk (about 7 times).

Meanwhile, Japan is steadily rebuilding the industrial base it lost to South Korea and Taiwan since the 1990s. The Takaichi Sanae government has committed to more than 370 trillion yen in combined public and private investment across 17 strategic sectors by 2040, of which 68 trillion yen is earmarked for the semiconductor industry.