Taiwan‑Japan materials push

Taiwan and Japan are widening their semiconductor partnership from chipmaking into the chemicals and wafers that advanced factories need upstream. (digitimes.com) The push centers on materials used before a chip is etched and packaged: silicon wafers, photoresists and specialty chemicals that fabs consume in large volumes. Japan remains unusually strong in those layers of the supply chain; the United States International Trade Administration, citing Brookings Institution data, says Japan holds about 53% of the global silicon wafer market and 50% of photoresists. (trade.gov) Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council has been building the policy scaffolding for that tie-up through multiple Japan programs. A 2025 joint call with the Japan Science and Technology Agency covered “Nanoelectronics and System Integration for Artificial Intelligence,” and a separate 2026-2028 call listed electronics, power devices and optical devices for artificial intelligence systems. (jst.go.jp) (ord.ntu.edu.tw) Taiwan is also funding materials work at home. A National Science and Technology Council call for fiscal 2026-2028 sought proposals under the Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program for “Key Technologies for Integrating Next-Generation Semiconductor Materials and Devices,” with applications due February 23, 2026. (announce.yzu.edu.tw) The timing reflects how concentrated the materials business has become as chipmakers move to smaller process nodes and tighter tolerances. In 2023, Japan’s controls on exports of fluorinated polyimide, hydrogen fluoride and photoresist to South Korea showed how a dispute over a few chemicals could ripple through the electronics supply chain. (mofa.go.kr) (korea.net) It also lines up with a rebound in wafer demand. SEMI said worldwide silicon wafer shipments rose 5.8% in 2025 to 12,973 million square inches, even as industry revenue slipped 1.2% to $11.4 billion. (prnewswire.com) Japan’s research institutions are already tied into that effort. The National Institute for Materials Science said in January 2025 that five Taiwan-Japan projects were approved under its 2025-2027 add-on bilateral program with the National Science and Technology Council. (nims.go.jp) The same pattern is showing up in energy hardware, where chip materials and power electronics overlap. In October 2025, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute and Mitsubishi Electric said they would develop megawatt-class power conversion systems using Mitsubishi’s power semiconductor modules for renewable energy applications. (energytech.com) For Taiwan, the practical goal is to keep adding suppliers and research partners before the next bottleneck hits. For Japan, it is a way to turn long-held strength in materials into a larger role in the next round of chips and clean-energy equipment. (digitimes.com) (trade.gov)