❓Can Japan Rise Again in Shipbuilding?
⚓10 key realities explain whether Japan’s $6.5B push is revival… or wishful thinking.
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🔥 Greetings, Maritime Mavericks!
Japan once led the world in shipbuilding — producing legendary tankers, bulkers, and oceangoing workhorses with unmatched precision.
Then something changed.
China scaled faster.
South Korea mastered specialization.
Japan… fell quiet.
Now Tokyo is making a move.
Japan plans to double production by 2035, backed by more than $6.5 billion in public–private investment, with a goal that goes beyond economics:
preserve maritime independence
secure industrial capability
and protect national security
This isn’t nostalgia. This is survival.
1️⃣From #1 in the world… to 13%
2️⃣ The $6.5 Billion Revival Plan
3️⃣ LNG Carriers: Japan Wants Back In
4️⃣ A US–Japan Shipbuilding Partnership
5️⃣ Technology Upgrade — or Die
6️⃣ The Workforce Problem
7️⃣ Cost Disadvantage vs China & Korea
8️⃣ Japan’s Ship Types Are Too Narrow
9️⃣ The Delivery Data Doesn’t Lie
🔟 The Real Battle: Industrial Ecosystems
Let’s break down what’s really happening — and whether Japan can pull off the comeback of the century.
1️⃣From #1 in the world… to 13%
In the 1970s–80s, Japan was the world leader in shipbuilding.
But today, the picture is very different:
Japan accounts for only 13% of new ship output measured in *CGT (*a shipbuilding metric that reflects how much real labor and complexity goes into construction).
Meanwhile, China controls 50% and South Korea 29%.
Japan’s share of the global orderbook is only 8% — while China commands 61%.
💡 Japan isn’t just behind… the gap is massive.