Jensen Huang showed up in Tokyo on July 15, handed out red bean cakes to fans in the Kanda neighborhood, and quietly reminded the world that Nvidia’s AI empire runs on relationships, not just GPUs.
The Nvidia CEO’s Japan visit carried more weight than the pastry giveaway might suggest. It came after a growing unease in Japanese business circles, sometimes called “Japan passing,” triggered by Huang’s earlier Asia tour in June that focused heavily on South Korea and seemingly skipped Japan altogether.
A $5 million bet that changed everything
The centerpiece of Huang’s Tokyo trip was a celebration in Akihabara marking the 30th anniversary of Nvidia’s partnership with SEGA. Back in the mid-1990s, SEGA made a $5 million investment in Nvidia when the chipmaker was struggling to stay alive. Huang met with SEGA CEO Haruki Satomi and legendary game designer Yu Suzuki during the event, expressing gratitude for the bet SEGA placed on his company three decades ago.
AI data centers and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
