OSAKA (Kyodo) Japanese firms that shifted their production bases to China and other nations with cheaper labor costs have begun a homeward retreat in terms of their cutting-edge technology.
Like most companies, Japanese firms protect their prowess in advanced technology by keeping their development and production processes cloaked in secrecy.
Widely used technology can be safely passed on to overseas plants, but firms are beginning to see that state-of-the-art technology is more easily hidden at home.