Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s new JASM plant in the town of Kikuyo, Kumamoto, on Sept. 13.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/BloombergJapan’s Economic Revival Is Failing to Save Its Vanishing Towns
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After three decades of stagnation in Japan, one of the most visible signs of renewal can be found in a stretch of old cabbage fields on its southernmost main island.
Apartment blocks, hotels and auto dealerships are springing up near a new semiconductor plant set amid farmland in the prefecture of Kumamoto, which has easy access across the seas to China, Taiwan and South Korea. The plant, operated by global chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., launched this year and one more is planned nearby. Wages and land prices in the area are up sharply, as demand feeds into a burgeoning ecosystem of suppliers and related businesses. With jobs opening up, the population is mushrooming.