Country Spotlight: Japan's quest for critical minerals supply security
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Japan's critical minerals security is a topic that often features in Japanese mainstream media outlets. From inking strategic critical minerals pacts with foreign allies to rare earths discoveries in deep water mining, this has been an issue that first came to the forefront in a dramatic fashion more than a decade ago.
In 2010, a diplomatic crisis erupted between China and Japan after a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. The Chinese response was immediate - a de factor embargo on rare earth exports to Japan, exposing Japan's 90% import dependency on Beijing and causing global price spikes.
Since then, Japan has been diversifying its rare earths suppliers, including domestic production as well as recycling. These rare earths are critical in producing everything from electric vehicles and semiconductors to defence equipment.
Most recently in 2026, a Japanese project to secure critical minerals from deep waters off Minamitori Island in the Pacific has identified multiple types of medium and heavy rare earth elements. While the government did not disclose the total amount of rare earth elements collected from the mud samples, it did reveal that medium and heavy rare earth elements such as yttrium, gadolinium and dysprosium accounted for approximately 54 percent of the total extracted from mud samples, while light ones such as neodymium made up the remaining 46 percent. Nonetheless, this deep sea mining has its challenges. Apart from environmental concerns, the cost of extracting rare earths is high, as necessary personnel must be transported to the remote island by airplane or other means.
However, there continues to be this urgency to ensure critical minerals security for Japan. With the development of AI, rare earths have grown in importance in a variety of supply chains. As a result, shortage of critical minerals is starting to affect the broader Japanese economy now.
Yet the restriction of rare earths export from China continues, especially since Prime Minister Takaichi enraged Beijing with comments in November 2025 about defending Taiwan should China invade. In fact, in June 2026, two Japanese employees of a major industrial company were detained in China for allegedly trying to smuggle critical minerals out of the country. News of the detention of the Japanese employees came as China’s commerce ministry stepped up a campaign to stop the smuggling of rare earths, urging citizens to report violators through an internet link or telephone hotline.
It is unclear how successful Japan's efforts to ensure critical minerals security will turn out to be but the weaponisation of rare earths supply chain is a reality that will continue to affect major global economies ahead.
Japan will host the 3rd edition of Critical Minerals Japan Conference and Exhibition from 9-10 Sep 2026 in Tokyo. Find out more at https://www.criticalmineralsjapan.com