Benchmarking OpenAI's "Stargate"? Toyama, Japan plans to build a 3.1GW super data center cluster

Japan is accelerating the layout of its third large data center cluster to meet the surge in demand for artificial intelligence services.

On December 19th, according to Reuters, Nanto City in Toyama Prefecture plans to jointly develop a data center cluster with private developer GigaStream Toyama, with a total power capacity of 3.1GW. The scale of the project ranks among the top globally and can be compared to OpenAI's $500 billion "Stargate" project, which has a power capacity of 10GW.

Documents obtained by Reuters indicate that Nanto City will officially announce this plan today. The first phase of the project will support approximately 400 megawatts of power capacity, equivalent to Japan's largest announced data center to date, capable of serving major operators such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The facility is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2028.

This layout will provide critical infrastructure support for the rapid expansion of Japan's data center market. Research firm IDC Japan predicts that driven by cloud computing and AI services, the scale of Japan's data center market will double within five years, surpassing 50 trillion yen (approximately $32 billion) by 2028.

Serving Foreign Capital and Industrial Goals

With the continuous growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications, Japan is attempting to secure a more favorable position in the global data center competition through regional diversification and infrastructure upgrades.

The project aims to break the over-concentration of Japan's data centers in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, promoting regional diversification. Currently, these two regions account for about 85% of Japan's data centers, and the government has clearly stated that regional diversification is crucial for alleviating bottlenecks.

Reports indicate that the initial capacity of 400 megawatts is sufficient to meet the demands of major operators, as these international tech giants are seeking AI computing infrastructure globally. The launch of the Nanto project comes at an opportune time, providing new options for these companies to expand in the Japanese market.

At the same time, the development of the data center industry is an important component of Japan's strategy to attract foreign direct investment.

The Japanese government hopes that this industry can help achieve the goal of attracting 120 trillion yen in foreign direct investment by 2030, up from 53.3 trillion yen in 2024.

Regional Advantages: Low Disaster Risk and Abundant Power

Reports indicate that Nanto City is approximately 250 kilometers from both Tokyo and Osaka, and is considered a low disaster risk area.

According to data from the Japan Meteorological Agency, Toyama Prefecture is one of the regions in Japan with the lowest frequency of major earthquakes. This geographical advantage is crucial for establishing a third data center hub with disaster recovery capabilities.

Compared to the eastern regions of Japan, the western region has a more abundant power supply and lower prices.

This area is served by utility companies such as Hokuriku Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, and J-Power. For example, even with its Shika Nuclear Power Plant in a state of idleness, Hokuriku Electric Power's actual electricity sales are still less than half of its maximum potential capacity.

This power advantage is critical for data center operations, especially in the context of rising energy consumption driven by AI computing demands GigaStream Toyama focuses on preparing infrastructure for data center operators, with a business model similar to that of Lancium and Tract in the United States. The company is led by Daniel Cox, who has 25 years of experience in the Japanese real estate investment market.

According to documents obtained by Reuters, GigaStream Toyama plans to promote the Nanto Park project at the Pacific Telecommunications Council meeting to be held next month in Honolulu. Officials from the Nanto City government and GigaStream Toyama stated that an announcement will be made soon.

This public-private partnership model aims to accelerate infrastructure construction and provide ready-to-use facilities for hyperscale cloud service providers