Japan Memory Investment Surges East and West: Kioxia Advances 332-Layer NAND in Kitakami as Micron Expands Cleanroom in Hiroshima

apan is witnessing a remarkable resurgence in memory semiconductor manufacturing, with major investments spanning across both eastern and western hubs. Driven by the explosive growth of global artificial intelligence infrastructure, demand for high-capacity NAND flash memory and high-performance DRAM has soared, shifting industry momentum from advanced logic chips toward next-generation memory production facilities.

In eastern Japan, Kioxia Corporation is actively accelerating production preparations at its second manufacturing facility, designated as K2, located at the Kitakami Plant in Iwate Prefecture. Scheduled for full-scale operations starting September 2025, the facility focuses on scaling the company's 10th-generation BiCS FLASH 3D memory technology. Featuring an advanced 332-layer stacked architecture, this 10th-generation design continues to utilize CMOS directly Bonded to Array technology, commonly known as CBA architecture. Kioxia has already commenced sample shipments of 1 Terabit capacity Triple-Level Cell chips, delivering a 59 percent increase in bit density and a 33 percent boost in data transfer speed over previous generations to meet demanding artificial intelligence workload requirements.

Concurrently in western Japan, Micron Technology has officially held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of its cleanroom infrastructure in Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. This expansion strengthens Micron's capabilities in high-density DRAM production, particularly targeting high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence accelerators. As global tech giants construct massive data centers worldwide, the simultaneous expansion by Kioxia and Micron underlines Japan's pivotal role in securing the global semiconductor supply chain.