METI
Japan's ministry for industrial, energy and trade policy.
Japan's government wants data centres spread beyond Kanto and Kinki, home to about 90% of them, yet on 7 October 2026 MC Digital Realty began building a 24 MW data centre in Osaka, inside the cluster that policy aims to thin.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026
Can Japan steer new data centres away from Tokyo and Osaka?
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Mentioned in: MC Digital Realty breaks ground in Osaka
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was created on 6 January 2001 from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and is based in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. It runs industrial, trade and energy policy, and the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy sits under it.
With the communications ministry (MIC) it runs a joint council that plans power and digital infrastructure together, known as the watt-bit council, which reported in June 2025. MIC's 2026 white paper says about 90% of Japan's data centres sit in Kanto and Kinki and sets a goal of dispersing them, without naming a preferred region. Operators keep choosing the metros: MC Digital Realty broke ground on the 24 MW KIX15 data centre at its Osaka campus on 7 October 2026, with opening scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2028.
For FY2027 the ministry requested ¥527.2bn for AI and semiconductors in its priced budget line on 29 August 2026, down from ¥1.239tn enacted for FY2026. A larger unpriced request is to be quantified in December.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.