TOKYO -- Greater Tokyo has seen a sharp increase in data centers, thanks to a dramatic rise in demand for data processing at home and abroad. The total capacity of data facilities in the Tokyo region is expected to double in three to five years, making it the second-biggest data center hub in Asia after Beijing.
Japan's capital is quickly closing the gap with Beijing as global information technology companies and other businesses turn away from the Chinese city due to growing security concerns and U.S.-China tensions.
Many data centers have sprouted in and around Tokyo, including the Tama district. Inzai, in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, hosts numerous facilities used by IT giants, including Google, Amazon and NEC, all eager to take advantage of its proximity to the capital and the fact that the area is less prone to natural disasters and blackouts.
"Demand for data centers is growing rapidly in Japan, and Inzai is in a strategic location," said Norihiro Matsushita, head of the Japanese unit of AirTrunk, an Australian data center operator that opened a large facility in Inzai in 2021.
The capacity of data centers in Greater Tokyo totaled 865 megawatts at the end of 2022, half that of Beijing, but could reach 1,970 MW in three to five years, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The U.S. real estate services company expects the region to overtake Singapore over that period, nipping at the heels of Beijing, which is projected to increase its capacity to 2,069 MW.
Fueling the construction boom in Japan is a sharp increase in local data traffic as businesses move forward with digital transformation and more employees work from home. More companies are also moving servers closer to home to speed up data transfer and reduce the risk of data leaks.
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