During the 90s the idea was established that Japan represented the future. Whoever traveled there found bullet trains, cities covered in neon, technological culture on every corner and a very visible contrast between tradition and innovation. In the early 2000s, cell phones with cameras and humanoid robots arrived, further reinforcing that image of a country ahead of its time. Three decades later, that perception is still alive in the collective imagination, but it no longer fully reflects the Japanese technological reality.
Japan retains important capabilities, but has been losing ground for years. It controlled about 50% of global semiconductor production four decades ago and in 2019 it represented only 10%. In artificial intelligence, it fell from fourth to ninth place after the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. According to the Global Innovation Index 2025, it ranks 12th, and in digital competitiveness it falls to 31st, affected by a lack of specialized talent.
Japan seems determined to return to the global technology board
Japan is deploying several initiatives to reposition itself technologically, and one of the most relevant is its future national quantum network. The plan contemplates a 600 kilometer fiber optic infrastructure which will connect Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe, and will have an operational environment for testing in 2027. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technologies will lead the project together with Toshiba, NEC and telecommunications providers. The network will transmit quantum keys using photons, in states that allow attempts to intercept information to be detected.
The quantum bet cannot be understood without considering the risk that comes. IBM and Xanadu predict that error-correcting quantum computers will be functional before 2030, which could make current encryption systems, including RSA and elliptic curve algorithms, obsolete. In 2024, researchers at Shanghai University breached SPN encryption using D-Wave technology, while Google warned that 2,048-bit RSA keys could be decrypted in less than a week with advanced quantum resources. That’s why NIST has begun publishing post-quantum cryptography standards to protect digital infrastructure.
Building the network is just the first step. Japan has experience in quantum research, but lacks large-scale operating environments and will need to resolve issues such as signal stability, deployment costs and system governance. Equipment installed will be needed every so often to maintain the range and quality of the encryption, which makes the operation more expensive and requires specialized personnel. However, These challenges also represent opportunities to develop new capabilities, train talent and demonstrate that the country can compete again in advanced infrastructures.
The international map shows that Japan is not starting from zero, but it is not leading either. China has a terrestrial quantum network of more than 10,000 kilometers that connects around 80 cities, and the European Union is working on its own infrastructure that covers several countries. The difference is in the approach: Japan aspires for its network to function as an operational national infrastructure, with the capacity to scale and become a strategic asset.
The potential of this project goes beyond its technical scope. Japan seeks for this network to become a symbol of technological autonomy and a platform from which to build international agreements. With its own technology and operational experiencecould offer solutions to other countries and reinforce its role as a digital security provider. In a scenario where secure communications will be considered critical infrastructure, being prepared can be a way to regain relevance without competing in all sectors at the same time.
Images | Chris Bahr | Jesus Esteban
In WorldOfSoftware | Japan’s great technological delay: how it went from being a pioneer in the sector to being frozen in time
