Mitsubishi Heavy buys shipyard land in Shimonoseki buildout
The 100 billion yen investment will construct a hull-block factory backed by 40 billion yen in Japanese economic security subsidies to relieve bottlenecked berths.
Japan
All coverageMaterials, equipment, robotics and the economic-security agenda reshaping Japanese industry.
FANUC debuts welding and painting robots for FABTECH 2026
The lineup introduces an 11-kilogram collaborative welding arm alongside multi-robot coordinated systems designed to ease…
Hitachi and FANUC Launch Physical AI Pact to Automate Plants
The partnership integrates Hitachi's HMAX Industry platform and custom edge chips into FANUC robots, targeting commercial…
Panasonic develops humanoid robot batteries at Osaka lab
The Japanese electronics group is directing cylindrical cell research and factory AI toward bipedal machines, while confirming no…
Japan Display sells Mobara fab to Shinko for chip packaging
The transaction yields an estimated 51.4 billion yen extraordinary gain for the display maker as Shinko converts the site into an…
Rapidus forms 17-firm design alliance to back 2nm chip ramp
The Japanese foundry partnered with Synopsys, Cadence and domestic design houses to build an IP library and reduce client…
Kawasaki Heavy advances 2030 target for AI humanoid robots
The machinery maker plans to integrate domestic AI platform Noetra into its 30-kilogram payload Kaleido model, accelerating…
Fanuc previews 11-kg welding cobots for shipyards at Fabtech 2026
The CRX-3iA joins a wave of portable arms entering heavy fabrication, following HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' deployment of 35…
Japan leads India FDI with $5.7 billion as factories expand
Ministry data shows Tokyo supplied 28.8% of New Delhi's $19.81 billion first-quarter equity inflows as automakers and component…
Japan Prefectures Woo Taiwan Chip Vendors With Site Grants
Regional governments across Kyushu are preparing dedicated industrial parks to house supply chains feeding TSMC’s planned $17…
Talga advances Japan graphite anode pacts for Swedish output
The Australian developer moved closer to binding contracts with Mitsubishi Chemical, Dainen and Hanwa as Japanese manufacturers…
Imabari Shipbuilding wins two Aframax tankers from Carlova by 2030
The Greek shipowner reserved delivery slots in late 2029 and 2030, turning to Japanese yard capacity as South Korean builders…
Mitsubishi Heavy buys Shimonoseki site in $638M yard plan
The group signed a contract on Oct. 2 to acquire 14.5 hectares for a new hull block plant, backed by up to 40 billion yen in…
Hitachi and Fanuc form physical AI alliance to run factories
The partnership pairs HMAX Industry software with industrial robots across Hitachi plants before commercial deployment to…
Air Liquide invests €170M to expand Japan chip gas capacity
The French industrial gas supplier will build on-site cryogenic units in southern Japan under a long-term contract, bringing its…
Fanuc and Yaskawa Expand US Robot Plants to Meet AI Factory Push
The Japanese automation leaders are committing over $270 million to new Michigan and Wisconsin campuses as North American…
Japan urges China to expedite rare earth export approvals
Japanese delegates in Beijing raised administrative export delays as Chinese magnet shipments to Japan fell 17.1% in August…
AMT Deploys FANUC CRX-30iA Cobots for $120,000 Palletizing
The 30-kilogram payload cells eliminate safety fences in logistics and food packaging lines while offering operational payback…
METI Pools Factory Machine Data to Train Physical AI Models
Tokyo coordinates with DMG Mori and Komatsu to assign unified IDs across 1,600 tools, targeting 100 terabytes of shop data to…
Japan confronts rare earth magnet squeeze under China curbs in August
China shipped 212 tons of permanent magnets to Japan in August, rebounding 90.3% from July but remaining 17.1% below 2025 levels…
Japan's AIRoA unveils domestic general-purpose robot roadmap for AI
A 20.5 billion yen state project aims to replace Chinese hardware with domestic dual-arm manipulators and compile one million…
FANUC India links industrial robots to Niral Networks private 5G
The partnership validates an on-premises wireless architecture achieving 5.6-millisecond latency and 700 Mbps throughput across…
Sojitz and NRS agree to build Tata fab chemical supply chain in India
The Japanese trading house and logistics specialist signed a pact on Sept.
Fujifilm plans $83 million chip materials plant in India
The phased investment in Gujarat will supply chemical inputs to Tata Electronics' commercial wafer fab from fiscal 2028 under…
Semiconductors
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Shinko Electric to Convert Former iPhone Display Plant Into AI Chip Substrate Site
The Nagano-based packaging substrate maker said Oct. 13, 2026 it will repurpose a shuttered display line for AI accelerator…
Shinko buys Japan Display plant to build advanced packaging hub
The 373,483-square-meter Mobara factory will yield a 51.4 billion yen gain for JDI while giving Shinko flip-chip substrate…
Murata completes Vietnam inductor plant for power components
The 3-billion-yen facility in Dong Nai expands passive component manufacturing outside China as electric vehicles and server…
Batteries & EV
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Suzuki selects BYD LFP battery cells for inaugural Japanese mini EV
The procurement decision equips Suzuki's e SKY kei car with a 26 kilowatt-hour pack, intensifying cost competition against…
Suzuki launches Japan's cheapest mini EV using BYD batteries
The 2.12 million yen e SKY undercuts domestic rivals and presses Japanese cell makers as lithium iron phosphate chemistry…
Panasonic Energy opens Osaka battery hub for advanced cells
The 24,500-square-meter Kadoma facility consolidates 500 engineers to cut development lead times by 15% as the supplier prepares…
Robotics
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Omron agrees to acquire US industrial computer maker OnLogic for $675M
The all-cash buyout of the Vermont PC maker gives the Japanese automation group edge computing hardware to run physical…
Hitachi and Fanuc unite on physical AI to automate factories
The Japanese manufacturers will combine edge chips and robot arms at Ibaraki test sites ahead of an external commercial rollout…
Harmonic Drive pitches integrated actuators for robot joints in 2026
The motion specialist focuses on modular strain wave units as parent firm Harmonic Drive Systems projects ¥68.0 billion in annual…
Shipbuilding
More →Mitsubishi Heavy buys shipyard land in Shimonoseki buildout
The 100 billion yen investment will construct a hull-block factory backed by 40 billion yen in Japanese economic security…
Imabari Shipbuilding wins two Aframax tankers from Carlova by 2030
The Greek shipowner reserved delivery slots in late 2029 and 2030, turning to Japanese yard capacity as South Korean builders…
Mitsubishi Heavy buys Shimonoseki site in $638M yard plan
The group signed a contract on Oct. 2 to acquire 14.5 hectares for a new hull block plant, backed by up to 40 billion yen in…
Energy & Minerals
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Mitsubishi Materials taps Vietnam tungsten to counter China curbs
The Japanese refiner began commercial shipments from Masan High-Tech Materials on Oct.
Idemitsu Kosan Produces Recycled Naphtha at Chiba Refinery
The Japanese refiner integrated a 20,000-ton chemical recycling unit to crack plastic waste into crude oil substitute, closing…
Iwatani and Cosmo approve 50 billion yen Chiba hydrogen hub
The joint venture will restore an idled 80-ton daily generator and build a liquefaction unit at Cosmo Oil's refinery, creating an…
Trade & Policy
More →Japan leads India FDI with $5.7 billion as factories expand
Ministry data shows Tokyo supplied 28.8% of New Delhi's $19.81 billion first-quarter equity inflows as automakers and component…
Japan urges China to expedite rare earth export approvals
Japanese delegates in Beijing raised administrative export delays as Chinese magnet shipments to Japan fell 17.1% in August…
Japan offers U.S. chip investment to win semiconductor tariff relief
Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa met Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to protect Japanese chip suppliers using Tokyo's $550…