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Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

bbc.com

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Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#301

Post by numpad0 »

BoxedEmpathy wrote: post #222
numpad0 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Traditional threat to Hokkaido is Soviet tank battalions, not Chinese. It's roughly due east to Vladivostok and to south of Sakhalin island. Unless Russian Federation actually falls and these regions change hands into hostile entities, it should be okay. And there will be more important things to worry than continuing economical chip production if that happens.

“We have no choice but to cut off that dirty neck that has lunged at us, without a moment’s hesitation. Are you ready?” -Chinese Consul-General in Osaka, Xue Jian, directed at Japan Is that not a threat?

Japan's also like, long as the distance between Warsaw to Barcelona. Or to Gibraltar if you include islands south to Okinawa. And Hokkaido is an "island" that's about as big as the entire Czech Republic. Is investment in a French chip factory considered risky because it's practically right in front of Russia... not really no?

The Chinese threat is also being handled by rapid rearmament. JSDF has been like, dual-fast-tracking lots of things including MRBMs for operational capabilities in 2026-27 timeframes.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#302

Post by jack_tripper »

alephnerd wrote: post #283
tdeck wrote: post #265

Why are all the comments here so weird? It's like people saw (but didn't read) an article entitled "Man Opens a Taqueria in his Hometown" and the only responses are 1) Why didn't he open it in my hometown? This location isn't convenient for me. 2) Wouldn't it be better for someone else to open a taqueria instead? My cousin is looking for work. Shouldn't we be putting resources into helping him open a restaurant inste…

Usually around now (6am PST), HN tends to be dominated by Western (and some Eastern) European commentators. I've noticed they tend to have a weird mix of orientalist sentiment along with a "Europe should be able to do this too" sentiment (though in a lot of cases, this is moreso sentiment than reality).

>I've noticed they tend to have a weird mix of orientalist sentiment along with a "Europe should be able to do this too".

Is it wrong for people in Europe to wish for more cutting-edge/high-margin opportunities in their back yard, especially given the currently atrocious state of the job market?

Like you read news how TSMC's cutting edge chips are made in Taiwan and US fabs, then you looks at European fabs and the most cutting edge are 16/12nm.

People are seeing the lag with their own eyes and wish for some change.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#303

Post by keepamovin »

tdeck wrote: post #282
zawaideh wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many bases does china have around the world? How many does the US?

Imagine if China built one base in Mexico or the Caribbean. People would be treating it like a declaration of war. Meanwhile the US builds a ring of military bases in countries surrounding China and that's not supposed to be seen as bellicose in any way.

That's because the US was founded on a unique constitution to empower individuals against tyranny, then defeated (with Russia, mind) the Nazis in world war II, bootstrapped the UN, went to the moon, and ushered in an era of global leadership and peace, along with unmatched soft power (films, news, etc). Camelot, shining city on the hill. China had a bloody communist revolution, then got rich (in part by breaking deals and ripping off IP) - also through hard work. America is porous, "Shortbus", "anyone can make it", American dream. China is ethnonationalist, and has a sense of ethnic and cultural supremacy that is not inclusive of "outsiders". That's why it's a problem, and, rightly, seen/intuitied to be a problem, more so than the US (despite US' many failings/misteps, etc).

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#304

Post by MangoToupe »

noduerme wrote: post #208
MangoToupe wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taiwan intends to violently and militarily resist if it comes to that I sincerely wonder if the people who live there agree. I sure as hell wouldn't put up much fight if china tried to invade my country; just the opposite. If anything I wonder if voluntary unification is on the table in today's climate

Unification, in this case, means surrendering all rights to privacy, all rights to free expression, everything. The fact that you wouldn't fight being occupied and forced to be a slave doesn't speak highly of you, but I must admit it's an honest statement, and it's true that a lot of people might feel the same way. A majority of people everywhere are cowards, collaborators and sycophants. But they're along for the ri…

> rights to privacy, all rights to free expression, everything.

Surely rights to more substantial things like healthcare make this quite an easy decision. Freedom to criticize a government doesn't matter if you can't force the government to actually give a shit about anything

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#305

Post by jack_tripper »

anonzzzies wrote: post #211
tonyhart7 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think chinnese already made their own "ASML"

With very bad results. I was walking a fab in China a few years ago: all machines are German, Japanese and Dutch. I asked why they don't have Chinese ones: the cto said they exist for the German and Japanese machines but they break much faster so it is not worth it and the asml machines are not there at all in any type of competitive form. It will happen, just not yet I guess.

>the cto said they exist for the German and Japanese machines but they break much faster

Japanese cars would also break down much faster than US made cars in the 1950s, but eventually they figured out reliability and overtook US competition. What are the odds Chinese companies can repat this playbook?

They're also a critical player in supplying small drone parts to both sides in Russia Ukraine war. Maybe not the most reliable parts, but the scale is insane.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#306

Post by YouAreMammon »

MangoToupe wrote: post #143
SllX wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now there is no non-violent path to achieving that because Taiwan intends to violently and militarily resist if it comes to that. Probably with the aid of America, although I’m a lot less certain of that than 5 year ago, and it’s looking like it’s a lot more likely to be with the aid of Japan as well. Also a success by the PRC would still result in the political destruction of the Republic of China and the subj…

> Taiwan intends to violently and militarily resist if it comes to that I sincerely wonder if the people who live there agree. I sure as hell wouldn't put up much fight if china tried to invade my country; just the opposite. If anything I wonder if voluntary unification is on the table in today's climate

[flagged]

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#308

Post by mapt »

tdeck wrote: post #265

Why are all the comments here so weird? It's like people saw (but didn't read) an article entitled "Man Opens a Taqueria in his Hometown" and the only responses are 1) Why didn't he open it in my hometown? This location isn't convenient for me. 2) Wouldn't it be better for someone else to open a taqueria instead? My cousin is looking for work. Shouldn't we be putting resources into helping him open a restaurant inste…

Of course. On just one avenue - The Japanese auto industry is huge, and practically everything in a car has some kind of chip in it. The chip industry isn't just CPUs and GPUs, cars use numerous fairly small, primitive chips you could make using 20-year-old process nodes. The "Comparative Advantage" of global trade specialization has its limits. During COVID, international ports shut down frequently and challenged JIT process inventory levels. Raising inventory levels the next time is one way to deal with that, but so is encouraging some minimum level of domestic production.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#309

Post by haspok »

MangoToupe wrote: post #299
n4r9 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I sincerely wonder if the people who live there agree ... I wonder if voluntary unification is on the table One of the benefits of a free democratic society is that you can ask; and people vote according to their preferences. A recent study suggests ~13% of the public support unification with China: https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250214-TPO... . Taiwan's politics are dominated by the KMT and DPP…

> Perhaps you have an unusual opinion? I live in the US. I think it's pretty obvious the PRC is more competent in every way than our own government is. And from what I've seen of the ROC parliament, it is also an embarrassment to their own people

> I live in the US. I think it's pretty obvious the PRC is more competent in every way than our own government is.

Yes, and you wouldn't be able to express your political opinion (like you do here on HN or anywhere else) if you were living in China. People living in the US tend to overlook that minute detail.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#310

Post by mikkupikku »

keepamovin wrote: post #239
mikkupikku wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is "we"? Japan doesn't have much choice, they either do things even though they are next to China, or ..what? Maybe its time for people to stop being paralyzed by fear and invest in their future. If China is such a severe threat to Japan, then invest more in the JSDF. Yes, China is powerful and has an aggressive stance, but that's no reason to give up without a fight. Japan and South Korea together can very nearl…

This is more of a humorous take. We already have trouble with one chip nexus is right next to China, and now we build another one? "ha ha". We is humanity. The collective we probably doesn't want a lever of the future controlled by a totalitarian communist ehnostate. But yes, I agree Japan, Indonesia (as was intended), etc should wise up.

"We already have trouble with one chip nexus is right next to China, and now we build another one? "ha ha". We is humanity."

Your "whole humanity 'We'" isn't who's investing in chip industry in Hokkaido. It's Japan.

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