Digital Osaka 1 data center is go: Digital Realty celebrates launch of first Japan facility

Digital Realty's first Japanese data center has officially opened its doors, and already plans are in place for a second one.

Digital Osaka 1 spans 93,000 square feet and provides 7.6 megawatts of IT capacity, serving the needs of global cloud providers in Osaka.

Edward Higase, Digital Realty's managing director, Asia Pacific, says the company is excited to open its first Japanese facility.

"Digital Osaka 1 was fully leased prior to the official opening, a reflection of the strong demand in the Japanese market for Digital Realty's comprehensive data center solutions. The development of our Osaka connected campus will enable us to further expand our world-class data center platform and support our customers' rapidly growing demand here and around the world," he says.

Digital Realty says that Osaka's reputation as a thriving financial and colocation center and gateway for international exchanges makes it a perfect fit for the company. It is also home to industrial organisations and specialist organizations that carry out high-level research and technological development.

Yoichi Fukuoka, Mayor of Iberaki City, Osaka, says that the new data center brings significant development to the city.

"For our city planning and the continuous progress of Saito as a base for research and development, we consider this a very meaningful development. Through this opportunity, we hope that Digital Realty will expand its global data center platform and further advance it worldwide."

Digital Realty CEO A. William Stein says the Osaka hub will bring relationships and community to the location.

"With the addition of Osaka to our global connected campus network, customers will soon have new opportunities to connect, extend their reach and find new business opportunities across our global data center platform," he says.

Japan has also been going through a period of data sovereignty and high customer demand, according to a Canalys report. Cloud service providers are looking to move into data centers in Japan, where personal data often has to be stored in servers physically located in the country.

The company has also bought land next to Osaka 1's site in order to develop the second data center, Osaka 2. When finished, the connected campus will support up to 27 megawatts of additional IT capacity.