Japan's data centres draw 19 TWh of electricity a year, which places it 3rd of the 33 countries this atlas carries a figure for.
That is 1.8% of everything the country generates — above the 1.2% median across those countries.
Set against 4.2 GW of installed capacity, that implies a 52% load factor.
2 metros are tracked here, totalling 1,420 MW, of which Tokyo alone is 1,000 MW — 70% of the national total.
420 MW of that is not yet operating: it is under construction or still an announcement.
Its strongest showing anywhere in the atlas is Silicon on the ownership basis, at #3 of 9.
21 suppliers are domiciled here, booking roughly $159bn between them; the largest is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Its single strongest grip on the buildout is Wafers & materials, where firms domiciled here hold 55% of global supply in a sub-layer weighted 0.75 for how hard it is to substitute.
About $7.9bn of AI infrastructure investment has been announced for Japan, though announced is not built — that figure is graded B.
National context
Grid friction
Interconnection between regional grids limits siting flexibility.
Where Japan ranks
The same tables read three ways. A country can lead one basis and be invisible on another, and that gap is the whole point of the atlas.
| Tier | Physicalassets here | Ownershiprevenue booked | Controlcould stop you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon | #4of 14 | #3of 9 | #3of 10 |
| Memory & Storage | #4of 7 | #3of 5 | #3of 5 |
| Networking | #4of 9 | #3of 4 | #3of 5 |
| Systems & Facility | #6of 54 | #4of 9 | #4of 9 |
| Power & Grid | #3of 77 | #4of 17 | #3of 12 |
Data centre metros (2)
| Tokyo — OperatingPassed 1 GW of inventory in Q1 2026 at 6% vacancy, having absorbed 49.8 MW over the prior year. | 1,000 MW A |
| Osaka — Under constructionCBRE flags Osaka, Kyushu and Hokkaido attracting incremental enterprise and AI demand. | 420 MW C |
Supply positions
Share of each global sub-layer held by firms domiciled here, and how hard that sub-layer would be to substitute. Those two multiplied are what the control basis ranks on.
Silicon
| Sub-layer | Share | Substitutability |
|---|---|---|
| Semicap equipment | 27% B | ×0.96 |
| Wafers & materials | 55% C | ×0.75 |
Strongest single grip: Wafers & materials — 55% × 0.75 substitutability weight.
Memory & Storage
| Sub-layer | Share | Substitutability |
|---|---|---|
| NAND | 15% C | ×0.75 |
| Enterprise SSD | 15% C | ×0.55 |
| HDD | 20% C | ×0.60 |
Strongest single grip: HDD — 20% × 0.60 substitutability weight.
Networking
| Sub-layer | Share | Substitutability |
|---|---|---|
| Optics & transceivers | 8% B | ×0.70 |
| Fibre plant | 15% C | ×0.50 |
| Submarine cable | 20% C | ×0.85 |
Strongest single grip: Submarine cable — 20% × 0.85 substitutability weight.
Systems & Facility
| Sub-layer | Share | Substitutability |
|---|---|---|
| DC development | 12% C | ×0.50 |
| Cooling & thermal | 7% C | ×0.65 |
| Construction & EPC | 8% C | ×0.35 |
Strongest single grip: DC development — 12% × 0.50 substitutability weight.
Power & Grid
| Sub-layer | Share | Substitutability |
|---|---|---|
| Turbines & prime movers | 16% B | ×0.95 |
| Transformers & switchgear | 8% C | ×0.80 |
| Cables & HVDC | 10% C | ×0.90 |
| On-site power & backup | 10% C | ×0.45 |
| Nuclear & SMR | 10% C | ×0.70 |
Strongest single grip: Turbines & prime movers — 16% × 0.95 substitutability weight.
Suppliers domiciled here (21)
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries — Gas turbines, nuclearPower & GridThird of the three OEMs that dominate plants under construction. | $22bn |
| Tokyo Electron — Coaters, etch, depositionSilicon | $16bn |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical — Silicon wafers, resistsSiliconLargest wafer supplier; several single-source materials. | $14bn |
| Kioxia — NAND, enterprise SSDMemory & Storage | $13bn |
| Mitsubishi Electric — Transformers, switchgearPower & Grid | $12bn |
| Sumitomo Electric — Fibre, optical devicesNetworking | $9bn |
| Sumitomo Electric — HV cable, opticalPower & Grid | $9bn |
| Advantest — Test equipmentSiliconHBM and accelerator test demand has been a direct beneficiary. | $8bn |
| Hitachi — Grid systemsPower & GridExcludes Hitachi Energy, counted under Switzerland. | $8bn |
| Furukawa Electric — HV cable, opticalPower & Grid | $6bn |
| Toshiba Energy Systems — Transmission equipment, nuclearPower & Grid | $6bn |
| Fuji Electric — Power electronicsPower & Grid | $6bn |
| Toshiba Electronic Devices — HDDMemory & StorageThird HDD supplier. | $5bn |
| Fujikura — Fibre, connectorsNetworking | $5bn |
| NTT Global Data Centers — ColocationSystems & FacilityThird of the top three colocation providers. | $5bn |
| Screen Holdings — Cleaning, tracksSilicon | $4bn |
| SUMCO — Silicon wafersSilicon | $3bn |
| JSR — PhotoresistsSilicon | $3bn |
| Tokyo Ohka Kogyo — PhotoresistsSilicon | $2bn |
| NEC — Submarine cable systemsNetworking | $2bn |
| Rapidus — Leading-edge foundry programmeSiliconState-backed; pre-revenue relative to ambition. | $1bn |
Revenue is the group or segment figure closest to each tier's perimeter. Segment boundaries differ between issuers, so treat the split as indicative.