According to a report by China’s media outlet Jiwei, Japanese officials recently released a photo of a meeting with Chairman Mark Liu of TSMC. Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, updated his personal X account on the 1st of the month and posted a photo of the meeting. In his post, he mentioned the meeting with Mark Liu and the progress at the Kumamoto factory.

“We had a meeting with Chairman Mark Liu of TSMC,” wrote Yasutoshi Nishimura on X. “TSMC, in collaboration with Sony and Denso through their joint venture JASM, is constructing a factory in Kumamoto as a critical national initiative to revitalize Japan’s semiconductor industry. Cooperation in Kumamoto is making progress, and Japanese materials and equipment manufacturers, along with other related companies, have announced new investments. We will continue to collaborate for future innovations.”

The JASM Kumamoto factory, which began construction in 2022, started using its office building in August of this year. Hundreds of employees have been gradually moving in, and from October, machinery and equipment will be progressively installed. The earliest small-scale trial production is expected in the second quarter of 2024, with full-scale production by the end of the year. The monthly production capacity will reach 45,000 12-inch wafers, and TSMC is not ruling out the possibility of expanding with a second Kumamoto factory.

Sources confirm that a group of TSMC equipment-related engineers has recently quietly arrived in Japan. They have received orientation materials officially starting work at the TSMC Kumamoto factory.

Industry sources suggest that TSMC is on track to achieve its goal of starting production at the Kumamoto factory by the end of next year, and possibly even ahead of schedule.

台湾のマーク・リュウTSMC会長と会談しました。熊本におけるTSMCとソニー・デンソー合弁会社JASMの工場建設は、日本の半導体産業の再興に向けた重要な国家プロジェクトです。熊本では、日本の素材・装置メーカーなど関連企業が続々と新しい投資を表明するなど連携が進んでいます。今後も将来のイノベー… pic.twitter.com/zAIYxiDESa

— 西村やすとし NISHIMURA Yasutoshi (@nishy03) October 1, 2023

(Photo credit: TSMC)