“The investment will help stabilize advanced memory chip production in Japan,” economy and trade minister Koichi Hagiuda said at a press briefing. “It will contribute to Japan-U.S. cooperations in semiconductors.”
Kioxia, which was spun off from Toshiba, and Western Digital operate a joint flash memory chip plant in Yokkaichi in central Japan.
Japan’s government is also investing in a semiconductor plant being built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) in Western Japan along with Sony and autopart maker Denso.