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The trend towards increasingly large-scale data centers (DCs) is gaining serious traction, highlighted by Tsukuba’s first hyperscale data center project, which drew significant attention during its bidding phase. This initiative is spearheaded by Australia’s Goodman Group. In 2022, the company successfully acquired approximately 45 hectares of land in response to a public call for proposals conducted by Tsukuba City as part of its industrial promotion strategy. This region, developed as a “Science City,” already possesses well-established infrastructure, including telecommunications, power, and water, along with excellent accessibility from the Tokyo metropolitan area. Furthermore, it offers significant potential for further development, making it one of the few locations in Japan equipped to host hyperscale data centers.

The Full Scope of the 1GW Hyperscale DC Development

In January 2024, Goodman formally announced the “Goodman Tsukuba Data Center Campus.” The vision is for a campus-style data center envisioned to have a maximum power capacity of up to 1GW (1000MW) – a scale unprecedented in Japan. The first phase, a 50MW facility, is currently under construction and slated for completion in 2026. Notably, preliminary agreements with key anchor tenants are already in place, highlighting its alignment with current market demand. Goodman also operates a data center cluster exceeding 300MW in Inzai City, Chiba, and Tsukuba is set to become its next flagship location.

Next-Generation Infrastructure Driven by Global Strategy and Environmental Commitment

Goodman’s data center strategy is global, with developments also underway in other key global cities such as Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Melbourne. In February 2025, Goodman announced it had secured approximately USD 4 billion (around JPY 600 billion) for data center development. The company is projecting up to USD 80 billion in development opportunities over the next 5 to 7 years and has already secured a total power capacity of 4GW.

The company is also at the forefront of environmental sustainability. Through low-carbon building design and the proactive integration of renewable energy, Goodman is strengthening its adherence to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria. This is a significant draw for global cloud providers and AI operators that prioritize sustainability.

A Project Redefining Japan’s Role in the Mega Data Center Era

Thus, the 1GW-class data center development in Tsukuba stands as a landmark project, heralding a new phase for Japan’s domestic data center industry. This plan, achieved through a collaboration between public and private sectors, not only enhances the value of the region but is also garnering considerable attention as an initiative poised to redefine Japan’s standing in the age of mega data centers.

Large factories once supporting Japan’s rapid economic growth, such as steelworks and electronics manufacturers, are now successively transforming into data centers (DCs) in response to the demands of the digital age. A prominent example drawing attention is the DC project in Kawasaki City by Mitsubishi Corporation and JFE Holdings.

Former Manufacturing Bases Evolve into the Heart of the AI Era

The two companies are moving forward with a plan to invest 100 to 150 billion yen to construct a large-scale data center on the site of the JFE Steel East Japan Works Keihin District (Kawasaki coastal area), where blast furnace operations ceased in 2023. A feasibility study is slated for completion by fiscal year 2025, with operations scheduled to begin as early as fiscal year 2030. If realized, it will be the largest DC operated by the Mitsubishi Corporation Group, with an anticipated power consumption of 60,000 to 90,000 kilowatts.

This plan reflects a symbolic paradigm shift from manufacturing to information industries. The Kawasaki steelworks was a crucial base that supported Japan’s steel industry for approximately 90 years, dating back to the Japan Steel Tube era. However, intense global competition led to the cessation of blast furnace operations. Now, this very site is set to transform into a state-of-the-art information infrastructure that meets the demands of AI and cloud computing.

In particular, the widespread adoption of generative AI has rapidly increased the need for infrastructure capable of high-speed processing of large volumes of data. Demand for servers using high-performance semiconductors from US-based Nvidia is also rising, prompting companies to seek new DC locations. Former factory sites, with their expansive land and robust power infrastructure, offer ideal conditions to meet these requirements.

Sakai, Kawasaki, and Across Japan: Redefining Former Factory Sites

Similar movements are becoming evident in other regions. In Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, the Sakai Factory, known for Sharp’s LCD panel manufacturing, is undergoing a transformation plan to become a DC under the hands of major telecommunications companies SoftBank and KDDI. What was once a “monozukuri (manufacturing) hub” is now poised to evolve into an “information processing hub.”

According to forecasts by research firm Fuji Keizai, Japan’s domestic DC market is expected to reach 5,403.6 billion yen in 2029, a 34% increase compared to 2024. Consequently, not only traditional office buildings and suburban facilities, but also industrial zones in urban peripheries are gaining attention as DC locations.

The repurposing of industrial land is a topic that concerns not only real estate development but also energy policy and regional revitalization. Data centers, in particular, consume massive amounts of electricity, making the introduction of renewable energy and the establishment of local production and consumption power supply systems key for the future.

Factory complexes that once drove the Japanese economy are once again in the spotlight as foundational infrastructure for the digital society. From heavy industries to information industries—the demands of the times and technological evolution are fundamentally reshaping urban landscapes and land values.

The “Stargate Project,” a large-scale AI infrastructure development initiative spearheaded by SoftBank Group and OpenAI, is focusing on Sakai City as the central location for its expansion in Japan. Specifically, SoftBank plans to repurpose a former liquid crystal display panel factory owned by Sharp in Sakai. The company has acquired a portion of this facility for approximately 100 billion yen with the goal of transforming it into a cutting-edge AI data center.

This facility will be the third major site for the project, following an existing base in Tokyo and another under construction in Hokkaido. It boasts an impressive power capacity of 150 megawatts, making it one of the largest in Japan. Operations are slated to begin in 2026, with plans to expand capacity to 250 megawatts in the future. Sakai’s favorable location and infrastructure conditions are expected to ensure the long-term stability of the data center’s operations.

SB OpenAI Japan to Drive Domestic AI Development and Adoption

At the heart of this project is “SB OpenAI Japan,” a joint venture established in February 2025 by SoftBank and OpenAI. This company aims to develop large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for the Japanese language and provide “Crystal Intelligence,” a generative AI service for businesses.

The Sakai data center is planned to host the operation of AI agents powered by GPUs, utilizing the foundational models provided by OpenAI. These agents will be specialized for various corporate functions, such as human resources and marketing, with the aim of delivering customized AI solutions that meet specific business needs.

These efforts have the potential to significantly accelerate the digital transformation of Japanese companies.

Creating the Future Through Massive Investment and Industrial Fusion

SoftBank is planning a large-scale development that will require 100,000 GPUs for this AI infrastructure build-out, potentially amounting to a massive investment approaching one trillion yen based on simple calculations. The GPUs are expected to be supplied by U.S.-based NVIDIA and the Stargate Project itself.

SoftBank President Miyakawa stated, “We aim to make Sakai a hub for the fusion of AI and existing industries, serving as an experimental ground for new business models and solutions to challenges.” This highlights the expectation that the facility will not just be a data center, but a key driver in the evolution of the AI industry both domestically and internationally.

Furthermore, this initiative is poised to be a crucial step in enhancing productivity across various industries and addressing labor shortages.

In March 2025, U.S.-based NVIDIA held its annual developer conference, “GTC,” and announced its new software “Dynamo,” specifically designed for inference processing. This announcement comes against the backdrop of a significant shift in AI’s evolution, moving from a primary focus on “learning” to “inference.”

NVIDIA, a company that has historically excelled in technologies for training AI models, emphasized that its hardware and software are now essential for inference as well. CEO Jensen Huang stressed that accelerating inference processing is key to determining the quality of AI services.

Key Features of the New “Dynamo” Software

Dynamo will be available as open-source software and is designed to accelerate inference processing by efficiently coordinating multiple GPUs. When combined with the latest “Blackwell” GPU architecture, it can reportedly increase the processing speed of the “R1” AI model from the Chinese AI company DeepSeek by up to 30 times compared to previous methods.

A core feature is a technique called “fine-grained serving,” which significantly improves processing efficiency by separating the inference process into two phases: “prefill” and “decode,” and assigning them to different GPUs.

Furthermore, by leveraging a technology called “KV cache” to store and reuse past token information, Dynamo reduces computational load. The “KV Cache Manager” integrated into Dynamo enables efficient cache management to avoid exceeding GPU memory limits.

The Trade-off Problem and Hardware Evolution

In his keynote speech, CEO Huang highlighted the trade-off between “total tokens per second (throughput)” and “tokens per user (latency)” in inference. This illustrates the dilemma where faster response times can limit the number of concurrent users, while supporting more users can lead to increased response delays.

To address this, NVIDIA has adopted a strategy of overcoming this trade-off through hardware enhancements. The newly announced “Blackwell” architecture boasts up to 25 times the processing power of its predecessor, “Hopper,” enabling a balance between quality and scale.

Continued Strong Investment in AI-Related Data Centers

As the primary use case of AI shifts towards inference, the demand for computational processing is experiencing exponential growth. Following “Blackwell,” NVIDIA has unveiled development plans for even higher-performance GPUs, such as “Rubin” and “Feynman,” with Dynamo evolving as the corresponding software foundation.

To support such high-density and high-performance AI processing, distributed and large-scale computing environments are essential. Consequently, with the expansion of AI agents and generative AI, investment in data centers as the underlying infrastructure is expected to remain robust in the future.

The importance of data centers is growing due to the need to process vast amounts of data resulting from the spread of digital devices, the development of self-driving vehicles, and the development and utilization of generative AI.

While approximately 80% of Japan’s major data center demand is concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka, it has been revealed that Asia Pacific Land (APL) Group, a U.S. real estate investment and development firm, plans to build large-scale data centers in Itoshima and Kitakyushu Cities, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Construction of Kyushu’s Largest Data Center in Itoshima City, with an Investment Exceeding 300 Billion Yen, Scheduled to Begin This Spring

Construction of one of Kyushu’s largest data centers is scheduled to begin in the Taku and Tomi districts of Itoshima City in the spring of 2025. This data center will have a total power receiving capacity of 300,000 kilowatts, and the investment amount will exceed 300 billion yen.

The location is in the southeastern part of the Maebaru Interchange on the Nishi-Kyushu Expressway.

The plan is to construct six data centers on a 122,000 square meter site.

Construction will begin with site preparation in the spring of 2025, and data center operations will gradually commence from 2029.

Construction of a 120,000 Kilowatt Data Center in Kitakyushu City, Aiming to Start by the Fall of 2027

In addition, APL Group acquired a 62,822 square meter city-owned site in the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park (Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu City) in November 2023, and plans to invest 125 billion yen to build a data center with a total power receiving capacity of 120,000 kilowatts. The aim is to start construction by the fall of 2027.

This will be the second large-scale data center to be established in Kitakyushu City since 2007.

APL cited the proximity to submarine cable landing points and the future potential for renewable energy utilization as reasons for selecting Kitakyushu, taking into account its geographical proximity to Asia. They also expect to capture demand from domestic and East Asian companies.

Potential for Increased Attention as a Candidate for Decentralized Data Center Locations

The construction of data centers in Kyushu is aimed at decentralizing data centers as a risk hedge against various disasters, including the Nankai Trough earthquake, and also takes advantage of the proximity to submarine cable landing stations to Asia.

Kitakyushu City has proposed a “Backup Capital Concept” to serve as a hub for companies, data centers, and government agencies concentrated in Tokyo. The construction of a large-scale data center in the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park is likely to give momentum to the city’s concept. There is also the possibility that Kitakyushu, with its low disaster risk, will attract more attention as a candidate for decentralized data center locations, and expectations are high for its development.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced at the Digital Administrative Reform Conference in February the establishment of a public-private council to integrate the development of data centers and power plants, anticipating increased demand due to the spread of artificial intelligence (AI). This initiative aims to decentralize electricity and communication infrastructure, which are currently concentrated in urban areas.

The newly established public-private council will serve as a platform for discussing specific measures, with potential participation from Tokyo Electric Power Company Group, NTT, SoftBank Group, and others.

This concept of integrating data centers and power plants is known as “Watt-Bit Collaboration.” It envisions establishing data centers near power plants, such as nuclear, wind, and solar, to promote industrial clusters.

Focusing on the cost-effectiveness of fiber optic cables compared to power transmission lines, the plan aims to efficiently transmit digital information through optical cables, contributing to the development of a new power transmission and distribution network.

Data centers are currently concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka, with the Kanto and Kansai regions accounting for approximately 90% of the total site area as of 2023, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Decentralizing electricity and communication infrastructure is essential from a national resilience perspective, including disaster response.

While this initiative aims to balance a smooth transition to decarbonization with the revitalization of regional economies, there are concerns regarding electricity challenges.

AI Power Capacity in Domestic Data Centers Expected to Increase Approximately 3.2 Times by 2028

IDC Japan Corporation released its estimated results of the power capacity required for AI servers installed in domestic data centers at the end of February. The total power capacity required by AI servers in domestic data centers is expected to increase from 67 megawatts at the end of 2024 to 212 megawatts by the end of 2028, an approximately 3.2-fold increase in four years. This is equivalent to about 5 to 8 hyper-scale data centers built in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Kansai region.

This power capacity refers to the power required by servers and does not include the power required by network equipment or cooling systems.

IDC Japan explained that the current estimate significantly revises the previous estimate (approximately 80 to 90 megawatts in 2027) made in January 2024. This revision is due to a substantial upward adjustment in the forecast for AI server shipment value in the domestic market.

The background includes the rapid expansion of AI server installations by hyper-scalers, as well as the acceleration of AI server procurement by domestic service providers and research institutions through government subsidy programs.

In particular, the scale of AI infrastructure investment by hyper-scalers is significant, with hyper-scale data centers accounting for the majority of the estimated power capacity.

AI servers are known for their high power consumption and heat generation per unit. Therefore, data centers that install a large number of AI servers require liquid cooling systems instead of conventional air conditioning systems.

Some experts believe that there are still many points to consider regarding the introduction of liquid cooling systems. Finding concrete solutions to these electricity challenges will be key to realizing the integrated AI infrastructure development.