Tokyo data centre capacity grows by 2% in H1

Operational capacity is now at 1,160MW.

Tokyo continued to solidify its position as the powerhouse market in Asia Pacific according to a Cushman and Wakefield report, building on the growth momentum from the second half of 2024.

“In H1 2025, operational capacity increased by 2%, reaching 1,160MW, while the development pipeline - comprising both under-construction and planned projects - expanded by nearly 10% to 1,948MW,” the report said.

Here’s more from Cushman and Wakefield:

Inzai remains as the largest cluster in Tokyo accounting for 32% of the operational capacity and 44% of the development pipeline. Despite the rise in operational capacity, the vacancy rate in Tokyo declined further to 6% by the end of the period, driven by sustained demand from cloud service providers and the accelerating adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI remained a key focus area, with significant developments from both the public and private sectors. The Japanese government announced an additional investment of US$5.4billion (JPY 802.5billion) - bringing the total to US$11.46billion (JPY1.8trillion) - into its chipmaking startup, Rapidus. The initiative aims to commence commercial 2-nanometer chip production by 2027, positioning Japan to better navigate global semiconductor trade risks.

In parallel, NTT introduced its proprietary AI inference chip, designed for real-time processing. The company is actively developing the technology and associated use cases, with plans to commercialize the chip within 2025. Additionally, NTT announced its intention to privatise its Tokyo-listed IT services and data centre subsidiary, NTT Data, through a US$16.4billion (JPY 2.37 trillion) transaction.

SoftBank Corp. made a significant leap in AI infrastructure by deploying a 4,000-unit Nvidia B200 DGX SuperPod cluster, for its subsidiary SB Intuitions to support the development of large language models (LLMs). The cluster has since expanded to over 10,000 GPUs. Earlier this year, OpenAI unveiled its Stargate data centre infrastructure platform, backed by a US$500 billion investment over four years. With SoftBank Group as an equity and lead partner, Japan is poised to become a key host market for the Stargate platform.

Alcatel Submarine Networks commenced construction of the 12,500km E2A subsea cable, which will connect California, USA, with Maruyama, Japan. The cable will also include landing points in Toucheng (Taiwan) and Busan (South Korea) and is expected to be operational by the end of 2028. This submarine cable project is backed by a consortium comprising SoftBank Corp., Chunghwa Telecom, SK Broadband and Verizon.