Makiyama Jin on Semiconductors and Japan's Survival Strategy

Author Makiyama Jin discusses semiconductor geopolitics, the damage done by egalitarian education, and the role of activist investors — through the lens of his new novel “Chips”.

• TSMC is effectively a nation-state; the real stakes of a Taiwan conflict are semiconductor dominance, not military victory
• Japan’s semiconductor competitiveness has been reduced to materials alone — integrated electronics makers spun off their fabs after the 2008 financial crisis
• Egalitarian education destroyed the culture of letting exceptional talent run ahead. Kids who are fast runners should be allowed to keep running.
• The weakening of banks and media has created a vacuum that activist investors are now filling
• The generation that read Hagetaka (his activist-investor novel) is now approaching 40 and starting to drive the PE and activist industry
• Kasumigaseki bureaucrats wait for applications to land on their desks; they don’t visit the front lines or have the instinct to identify growth industries
• His character Washizu is portrayed not as a crusader for justice but as a realist who moves purely to survive
• Makiyama is planning a startup and a crowdfunding campaign, declaring he will eliminate the word “anyway, it’s hopeless” from this country

2026-04-08 · Watch on YouTube

Japanese page: 真山仁が語る半導体と日本の生存戦略