FEATURE | Japan sets sail on rare earth hunt as China tightens supplies

Long-term projects

Since the 2010 scare, the Japanese government and private companies have built stockpiles of the minerals, though they do not disclose volumes.

At a New Year's party for Japan's mining industry on Wednesday, several executives said they were better prepared than before to cope with the potential disruption, citing Japan's diversification efforts and stockpiles.

But Kazumi Nishikawa, Principal Director of Economic Security at the trade ministry, said the government had to continually remind companies to diversify their supply chains.

"Sometimes, you know, some event happened, then the business reacts, but the event finishes, the business forgets. We have to maintain continuous efforts," Nishikawa said on the China Talk podcast this week.

The Minamitori Island project, into which the government has sunk 40 billion yen ($250 million) since 2018, is also a long-term play.