Japan Seeks Subsidies for Hokkaido and Kyushu Data Centers

To encourage the development of data centers, which are essential to a digital society, in the Kyushu southwestern region and Hokkaido's most northern prefecture, Japan's industry ministry on Tuesday proposed offering subsidies.

The ministry stated that Hokkaido and Kyushu are ideal locations for data centers, which utilize large amounts of power due to the high amount of power generated from renewable energy sources. More than 80 percent of the nation's data centers are in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, making them susceptible to large-scale natural disasters.

The ministry intends to allocate 45,5 billion yen in data center subsidies over the four-year period that began in April of last year. The proposal is included in the final text of a revision to the nation's semiconductor and digital industry strategy adopted in 2021.