Exploring DirectIndustry Special 4-part Series on Japan’s Industrial Strategy

In June 2026, SoftBank Group made headlines with plans to invest up to €75 billion in AI data centers in France. Beyond the scale of the announcement, the move raised a broader question: is Japan’s relationship with Europe entering a new industrial phase?

To explore that question, DirectIndustry travelled across Japan, from Tokyo to Osaka, to meet manufacturers, industrial organizations and the public agencies supporting Japanese companies’ international expansion.

Over two weeks of reporting, one message kept resurfacing: Japanese industrial companies are increasingly looking at Europe as more than an export destination.

Europe is becoming a place to test technologies, meet demanding industrial standards, adapt products, develop partnerships and strengthen long-term global competitiveness.

In a new interview, Camille Rustici, Chief Editor & Reporter at DirectIndustry, discusses what she discovered during the investigation. She also explains why the story is about much more than Japanese companies simply selling more products in Europe.

Watch the interview

Asked by Dante Swift, Marketing Strategist at DirectIndustry / VirtualExpo, Camille explains how the investigation evolved from a question about Japan’s export strategy into a broader look at the changing relationship between Japanese manufacturing and Europe.

“Europe is becoming less a destination for Japanese products and more an environment that shapes the products themselves.”

That shift is at the heart of Japan’s New Industrial Frontier, DirectIndustry’s four-part special reporting series.