Building Japan's Semiconductor Workforce

Regional consortia

The consortia link chipmakers and suppliers with universities, technical colleges and local governments to train engineers and technicians and to attract students to the industry. The timeline below follows the map in a METI Kyushu Bureau report from October 2025.

Kyushu: the first consortium

The Kyushu consortium was established in March 2022 and is run jointly by METI's Kyushu Bureau and the Kyushu semiconductor and digital innovation association (SIIQ). The first regional consortium; 155 member organizations from industry, academia, government and finance as of October 15, 2025. Kyushu is also where JASM, TSMC's Kumamoto fab company, operates. The consortium's work is organized around developing and securing semiconductor talent, strengthening business ties between large chipmakers and local companies, and promoting exchange with overseas industry.

See the Kyushu semiconductor region for the fabs and suppliers the consortium serves.

Sources

1. METI Kyushu Bureau: Kyushu semiconductor human resource consortium, secretariat report (Oct 17, 2025, Japanese)
2. METI Kyushu Bureau: establishment of the Kyushu semiconductor human resource consortium (Mar 29, 2022, Japanese)

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