Education Ministry to Create 7 Semiconductor Specialization Centers; Universities across Japan Partnering with Companies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, February 4, 2025

The education ministry will begin developing about seven education centers across Japan, starting in fiscal 2025, toward promoting the training of semiconductor specialists.

Its plan is to establish a partnership network centered on a university in each region, which will serve as a core entity, together with other higher education institutions, including technical colleges, as well as related neighboring companies.

To prepare for fast-growing semiconductor demand, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry intends to underpin the semiconductor industry across Japan to build a staple microchip supply.

The ministry intends to allow cooperation across prefectures, in order to build a regional educational center network.

The core university will jointly develop a training program with other higher education institutions, including other universities and technical colleges.

The ministry intends to involve experts not only from a regional semiconductor manufacturer but also from related material and equipment manufacturers, while offering student internship programs.

The ministry plans for participating educational institutions jointly open their vocational training courses and classes to the public.

The ministry will publicly call for applications from institutions and companies planning to participate and select center locations within fiscal 2025. It will provide ¥60 to ¥100 million per center for expenses related to the dispatching of instructors and operational costs. It has included ¥600 million for related expenses in its fiscal 2025 budget.

Demand for semiconductors has been growing fast due to factors such as the wide use of AI.

In Japan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) began mass production in Kumamoto Prefecture last December, and Rapidus Corp., which aims to domestically produce next-generation semiconductors, will also begin mass production in Hokkaido in 2027.

Yet, there is a labor shortage.

According to a Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) estimate, an additional 43,000 personnel specializing in semiconductors will be needed over the next 10 years.

As semiconductor production is directly related to industry competitiveness and national economic security, the government has concluded that it is necessary to focus more on talent development in this sector.

Besides the development of educational centers, from fiscal 2025 the ministry also plans to offer financial support to each participating university, such as financing electronic circuit design equipment.

As for related expenditures, the ministry had ¥1 billion included in the supplementary budget approved at the extraordinary Diet last year and is ready to extend subsidies to about 10 schools of up to ¥100 million each. The ministry will also call for a shared use of equipment owned by each university.