Japan Data Center Update 26: Kyushu Emerges as Data Center and Related Manufacturing Hub

Partial construction of the 350 MW data center project in Satsumasendai to start FY2026

Satsumasendai City has disclosed the schedule for one of Japan’s largest planned data centers, a 350 MW project in Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Construction of an initial 6.4 MW portion will begin during the current fiscal year, with operations scheduled to start during FY2027. The data center is being developed within the Circular Park Kyushu site, located on the former site of a Kyushu Electric Power thermal power plant in Satsumasendai City. A preparatory entity established by a Taiwanese financial company and a Nagano-based company is currently leading the project.

Circular Park Kyushu site area in Satsumasendai City, in southern Kyushu (Source: Circular Park Kyushu).

Watanabe Technos expands orders for data center noise-control equipment

As data center construction increases across Japan, Watanabe Technos, based in Iizuka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, is expanding orders for silencers and soundproof covers that reduce noise from data center generators. The company’s sales for the fiscal year ending July 2025 reached JPY 1.8 billion, doubling from five years earlier. Watanabe Technos was founded as a sheet metal processing company, but its data center-related business has expanded rapidly since 2018.

In some parts of Japan, local residents have begun opposing data center openings due to their impact on the surrounding environment, including noise and waste heat. Against this backdrop, Watanabe Technos expects demand for silencers and soundproof covers as noise-control measures to increase further in Japan.

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