October 6, 2026
Japan is rapidly seeking to reshape its role in the global AI landscape, avoiding the risk of becoming a mere consumer of technology in light of the rapid dominance of the United States and China. Since 2025, Tokyo has stepped up its efforts to establish national artificial intelligence capabilities with the slogan “For Japan and in Japan.”
According to an analysis published by “The Diplomat” magazine, Japan entered the technological race late, but it is counting on a huge industrial base, major technology companies, and pioneering expertise in the robotics and semiconductor sectors to bridge the existing gap.
On the other hand, Tokyo faces a major challenge represented by the weak rates of adoption of artificial intelligence locally. Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data for 2024 shows that the use of generative AI among the population reached only 26.7%, compared to 68.8% in the United States and 81.2% in China.
To confront this delay, the government began pumping huge investments into infrastructure and research and development, motivating local companies to innovate independent models instead of relying entirely on American or Chinese technologies. In this context, Dell and Jera announced a strategic project worth $15 billion to establish a 400 megawatt data center near the capital, as part of an ambitious plan to develop between 3 to 4 gigawatts of artificial intelligence data centers and energy facilities over the next five years.
In terms of competition, Chinese superiority is not limited to pumping money only, but rather in building an integrated system that integrates models, infrastructure, and speed of economic deployment, in addition to producing low-cost and highly efficient models.
The analysis believes that Japan’s strategy may not be based on competing with Washington and Beijing in all fields, but rather focusing on sectors in which it has real competitive superiority, such as robotics, advanced manufacturing, the automobile industry, and health care. Tokyo has a qualitative advantage in integrating artificial intelligence into the industrial sector, which allows it to employ its accumulated experience in smart machines and factories to innovate systems directly related to production processes.
These moves are embodied in clear government policies that enhance public spending and encourage private investment, in addition to major companies such as “NTT” and “SoftBank” pumping billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure, noting that “SoftBank” is also linked to the global “Stargate” project.
Despite these efforts, the biggest challenge remains the speed factor. China continues to expand AI applications in its economy without waiting for Japanese infrastructure to be completed, while the United States is attracting the latest talent, investments, and entrepreneurial companies.
The analysis concludes that Japan’s desired goal is not necessarily comprehensive supremacy over China, but rather building a special technological model that achieves financial and technical independence for it, and avoids excessive dependence on abroad. If Tokyo succeeds in combining its industrial strength with its modern investments, it will be able to transform its current backwardness into an advanced competitive position in the near future.
