In June 2023, an obscure semiconductor materials supplier announced that it was set to be taken over by an investment fund in a $6.4bn deal.

Even many Japanese have not heard of JSR, a company that embodies one of the few areas of the semiconductor industry where Japan retains dominance. It is a leading provider of so-called photoresists — specialist chemicals used for printing circuit designs on chip wafers — to chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel.

But it was the identity of the acquirer that really raised eyebrows. Japan Investment Corporation is a government-backed fund whose investments are overseen by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) — the same interventionist branch of government that dictated and crafted Japan’s industrial policy during its stunning postwar economic recovery.