Ground Truth
The ACCJ launches its AI Futures Series with a look at infrastructure, energy, and economic security.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us. With each passing day, it seems that more of the tools we use are infused with the technology, more people and businesses are relying on it, and demand is forcing rapid reflection on how we work and how we feed AI’s thirst for resources.
American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) members and guests gathered on September 3 at the office of President’s Circle member Cisco Systems G.K. for the first in a series of signature events focused on the technology.
The first session of the AI Futures Series examined the physical and policy foundations that AI requires to scale in Japan.
ACCJ Digital Forum Co-chairs Shuichi Izumo and Ken Haig welcomed attendees and thanked sponsor Aflac and Cisco’s fellow President’s Circle members KKR and Eli Lilly Japan K.K. for their support of the event.
In his opening remarks, ACCJ President Eric John emphasized the importance of the infrastructure behind AI adoption—from semiconductors and data centers to telecommunications and energy.
“The resilience and security of this infrastructure will directly impact Japan’s ability to innovate and compete,” he said.
“The ACCJ strongly supports the Government of Japan’s ambition to make Japan the easiest country in the world for developing and utilizing AI,” he continued. “However, getting the policy balance right will be critical: protecting transparency and security while ensuring that regulation supports, rather than constrains, innovation and the adoption of new technologies.”
Bringing the Pieces Together
The discussion began with a panel moderated by ACCJ Governor Rebecca Green, who is also a partner and APAC technology industry lead at ERM. Offering their perspectives were:
- Nanako Tanaka, country director of government affairs and policy at GE Vernova
- Quint Simon, vice president of public policy for Asia-Pacific at Amazon Web Services
- Junichi Kitamura, director of government affairs and country lead at Micron Memory Japan K.K.
The group represented a range of elements critical to AI infrastructure: semiconductors, the cloud, and power generation. These areas are often discussed in separate rooms, and the goal of the first AI Futures session was to bring them together and highlight how they are interdependent when building a resilient AI supply chain that keeps up with demand and positions Japan as a leader in the field.
“If there is to be a prosperous path forward for AI in Japan, it must be charted by sharing lessons learned, presenting a common industry position, and engaging local governments jointly rather than company by company.”
A Question of Scale
The conversation opened on the sheer size of the moment. Global capital commitments to AI infrastructure now run into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually from hyperscalers alone. Hyperscalers are companies that provide cloud computing resources so businesses can access computing power, storage, and other services on demand.
That astounding investment total does not include outlays for AI labs and colocation providers. According to the panelists, the semiconductor market is on a trajectory that few forecasters anticipated even two years ago, driven in large part by demand for the memory that feeds data-hungry processors. The impact of such demand can be felt by everyday consumers in the rising prices of computers and smartphones caused in part by memory shortages.
Much of this investment has so far been concentrated in the United States. The open question, and the one the panel returned to repeatedly, is how much of the next wave lands internationally, and how much of that share can Japan secure.
The panel was clear that Japan enters this competition with genuine advantages: a strong rule of law, robust intellectual property protection, and a policy environment widely regarded across the region as forward-leaning. These all weigh in its favor, as does the depth of the US–Japan relationship itself. For investors evaluating assets with 15- to 20-year horizons, Japan’s reputation for deliberate, predictable policymaking is an asset rather than a liability.
Where the Friction Lies
But there are challenges. Energy cost and availability surfaced as the single most cited obstacle, followed closely by the state of the grid. Permitting regimes and technical regulations designed for traditional, non-IT facilities add further delay. So does the fragmentation of responsibility for critical infrastructure across prefectures, municipalities, and private utilities, which leaves companies negotiating with multiple parties on questions that elsewhere have a single owner.
Underlying all of it is a mismatch in timescales. Japan has a reputation for being slow-moving. The same deliberateness that reassures long-term investors becomes a liability on project timelines. Industry investment cycles turn over every two to three years, while transmission lines, water infrastructure, and land rezoning move at a pace of five, 10, 15 years or more. The discussion turned to jurisdictions where central government builds enabling infrastructure ahead of committed demand, and contrasted that with a chicken-and-egg dynamic over who takes the first risk.
Talent emerged as a related constraint. Decades of retreat from semiconductor manufacturing have left a generational gap, in engineers and in the professors who train them. This is compounded by shortages in construction labor and specialist trades.
On energy specifically, the discussion converged on two priorities: modernizing the grid, including transmission and interconnection, and expanding the role of nuclear power alongside renewables. Early nuclear power purchase agreements and colocation projects were noted as encouraging signals.
Trust as Infrastructure
Even if all these obstacles can be overcome, winning over everyday people is a must if Japan is to succeed in AI. Community opposition to data centers has become a live political issue in parts of the United States, and while Japan remains comparatively quiet, panelists asserted that social license should be treated as infrastructure in its own right.
Concerns vary sharply from site to site. While energy and water consumption are at the top of the list in news coverage surrounding AI pushback, noise from the construction and operation of data centers, as well as the impact on aesthetics and biodiversity, are also big concerns. The consensus was that industry, not government, must lead here, through transparency, listening, and evidence-based engagement with communities where they wish to operate.
That led to the conclusion: the need for collective action. If there is to be a prosperous path forward for AI in Japan, it must be charted by sharing lessons learned, presenting a common industry position, and engaging local governments jointly rather than company by company. The ACCJ, panelists agreed, offers a natural platform for such work.
In her closing remarks, ACCJ Executive Director Laura Younger expanded on the goals of the chamber’s exploration of AI:
“As we developed the AI Futures Series, we really wanted to look at AI through three different lenses as part of one broader conversation. Tonight we began with the foundations. We looked at infrastructure, energy, and security. In the next session, we are going to start looking at application, what it means for business, and then we are going to broaden the lens even more and to what AI actually means for society, for people—really defining what it means to be human.”
