TSMC has to delay its Japanese expansion plans because it’s creating too much road traffic

Every government wants to attract foreign investment — particularly in a strategically important industry like semiconductors. But to do that, you need to create favorable domestic conditions to get that capital, like skilled workers and tax breaks. In Japan’s case, that includes wider roads.

The island nation’s bid to rejuvenate its chip production is running into traffic problems. At a shareholders’ meeting in Taiwan on Tuesday, TSMC CEO CC Wei said the foundry giant is delaying the expansion of a second plant in Japan because the company’s presence has “created too big an impact on the local traffic,” turning a 10- to 15-minute drive into “almost an hour.” He added that the company has told the Japanese government that delays in construction will continue until morale traffic improves.

The plant is located at Kikuyo, in the Kumamoto Prefecture. (In Pokemon terms, this would effectively be a semirural area outside Mauville City in the Hoenn region.)

The CEO continues to expect a record profit for TSMC this year, even as the strength in the Taiwanese dollar has been a drag of more than three percentage points on its operating margin.