Japan should learn from Taiwan? Experts say Taichung’s drone mission may reveal an unexpected reality

A delegation led by Taichung Economic Development Bureau Director-General Chang Feng-yuan (張峯源) recently visited Japan Drone 2026, one of Japan's largest drone exhibitions, seeking opportunities for industrial cooperation, technological exchange, and international market development.

The visit forms part of Taichung’s broader effort to strengthen its role in Taiwan’s emerging drone industry. Officials met with Japanese companies, industry organizations, and technology developers, while promoting Taichung’s manufacturing capabilities and exploring potential avenues for collaboration in the rapidly expanding unmanned aerial systems (UAS) sector.

Yet beyond the official itinerary, interviews with academics and industry leaders suggest a more nuanced picture of Taiwan–Japan drone relations. Contrary to conventional assumptions, several experts contend that Taiwan currently enjoys advantages in drone manufacturing and supply-chain integration, while Japan’s most valuable lessons may lie in policy design and long-term market cultivation.

Taiwan’s drone industry may be ahead of Japan’s

According to Chen Yu-hua (陳宥樺), an associate professor at Akita International University in Japan, Taiwan’s drone industry entered the field earlier and has developed more mature capabilities than its Japanese counterpart.

“Taiwan’s drone industry developed earlier and is more mature than Japan’s,” Chen told TCN. “There are many areas in which Japan can learn from Taiwan.”

He noted that Taiwan’s drone sector has largely been driven by national security considerations. Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, Taipei increasingly recognized the strategic importance of deploying large numbers of affordable and expendable unmanned systems capable of offsetting the numerical advantages of a potential adversary.

In this framework, government demand has effectively guaranteed a domestic market for Taiwanese manufacturers. Defense procurement, Chen told TCN, has become a principal engine behind the industry’s expansion.

Chen added that Japan’s motivations for drones are more diverse.Tokyo has also drawn lessons from the battlefield experience of Ukraine, but economic security concerns play an equally important role.

Japanese policymakers have become increasingly wary of the country’s dependence on Chinese-made drones and see the establishment of a non-red supply chain as strategically necessary, particularly amid growing concern over regional contingencies involving Taiwan.

Moreover, Japan views drones not only as defense assets but also as tools for addressing demographic challenges.

“As Japan’s population ages and labor shortages worsen, drones can increasingly be used for disaster response, firefighting, environmental monitoring, and other public services,” Chen explained to TCN. “That means domestic demand for Japanese-made drones is likely to grow over time.”

Sustainability may be Japan’s greatest advantage

For all of Taiwan’s technological strengths, Chen said Japan’s development model may ultimately prove more sustainable.

Where Taiwan’s drone sector remains heavily dependent on defense spending and national security priorities, Japan’s industry benefits from multiple sources of demand spanning public services, economic security, regional revitalization, and commercial applications.

This broader foundation could make Japanese manufacturers less vulnerable to political fluctuations or changes in government priorities.

“The key question Taiwan must consider,” Chen said, “is how to create a larger domestic market beyond defense applications.”

His observation touches on a challenge increasingly discussed within Taiwan’s drone ecosystem: how to transition from a sector propelled primarily by geopolitical urgency into one supported by enduring commercial demand.

Chen also pointed to differences in educational and hiring cultures that may shape the long-term development of the drone industry and its talent pool.

Chen stated that in Taiwan, many young people spend additional years pursuing graduate degrees before entering the workforce, resulting in a comparatively later start to their professional careers. In Japan, by contrast, most university students transition directly into employment after graduation, with many beginning job interviews during their final years of study.

As a result, Japanese youth may gain exposure to emerging industries such as drones at an earlier stage, Chen said. Japanese firms also generally place less emphasis on whether a candidate's academic discipline directly matches a specific position, preferring instead to hire promising graduates and train them internally.

This approach allows graduates from humanities, social sciences, or business backgrounds to enter drone companies and contribute to the sector's growth. In Taiwan, Chen said, employers often place greater weight on specialized academic qualifications, potentially narrowing the pool of talent available to the industry.

Taiwan’s real strength lies beyond the drone itself

Industry practitioners contend that Taiwan’s greatest advantage is not necessarily the aircraft platforms themselves.

Stacy Yu (游沛文), CEO of Carbon-Based Technology, a Taichung-based manufacturer specializing in the design, development, and production of UAS, said that Taiwan’s competitiveness stems from the ecosystem underpinning drone production.

“Taiwan’s strength is not the drone product alone,” Yu said. “It is the entire supply chain and system behind it.”

Yu added that the precision components, semiconductors, sensors, and chips required for advanced unmanned systems are areas in which Taiwan already possesses world-leading expertise.

Combined with the island’s dense industrial clusters, Yu said, manufacturers can achieve levels of integration and production efficiency that are highly competitive and difficult to find elsewhere in the world.

Yu pointed to Taiwan’s long-standing reputation as a global manufacturing powerhouse, noting that countries across Europe and Japan have actively sought cooperation with Taiwanese firms.

“They want to learn Taiwan’s manufacturing know-how,” she said. “Some even hope Taiwanese companies can export entire factory models and operational expertise.”

Her assessment underscores growing international recognition that Taiwan’s drone ambitions are closely linked to capabilities built over decades in electronics manufacturing and semiconductor production.

International cooperation remains a missing piece

Despite these advantages, some observers believe Taiwan has yet to fully capitalize on international partnerships.

Professor Cheng Cheng-ping (鄭政秉), a Taiwanese academic with previous experience in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, told TCN that Taiwan’s engagement with global drone networks remains insufficient.

“Taiwan should have much more international cooperation in the drone sector,” Cheng said.

He stressed that expanding such cooperation cannot rest solely on government institutions.

“There are only two Taiwanese with official or semi-official backgrounds posted in Ukraine.” Cheng told TCN.

Given Taiwan’s limited official presence in some strategically important regions, broader participation from industry, academia, and civil society is essential.

“Taiwan needs to mobilize the strength of society as a whole to interact and cooperate with international partners,” he said, particularly in the drone field where innovation increasingly depends on cross-border collaboration and operational experience.

Cheng said he welcomes the fact that Taiwan is seeking more global partners in the field.

A partnership of complementary strengths

Taken together, the experts’ perspectives suggest that the significance of the Taichung delegation's visit to Japan extends beyond an interaction at the exhibition.

Rather than a one-way learning exercise, the Taiwan–Japan drone relationship increasingly appears to be one of complementary strengths.

Taiwan offers manufacturing prowess, supply-chain integration, and production scalability. Japan contributes policy frameworks, diversified demand creation, and long-term industrial sustainability.

As governments worldwide race to secure resilient drone supply chains amid intensifying geopolitical competition, the future of the sector may depend less on which country leads today and more on how effectively partners combine their respective advantages.