The Japanese government said Tuesday it will provide around 45 billion yen ($305 million) for a cutting-edge semiconductor project promoted by Japanese telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., major U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp. and its South Korean counterpart SK Hynix Inc. The funding for the project to develop optical semiconductors that allow high-speed data processing with lower power consumption comes as Japan, in cooperation with the United States and South Korea, aims to gain a stronger footing in the semiconductor industry amid China’s growing influence in the sector. Semicond…