Digital Realty Starts 24 MW KIX15 Build Data Center in Ibaraki City, Japan

Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), announced on October 7, 2026, that construction has commenced on KIX15, a 24-megawatt (MW) data center located at the KIX Campus in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

Osaka Campus Grows With Fifth Facility

The facility is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2028. Once complete, KIX15 will be the fifth data center on the KIX Campus and will bring the joint venture's Japan portfolio to 10 data centers with approximately 220 MW of aggregate IT capacity.

Digital Realty, described as the world's largest cloud- and carrier-neutral data center platform, said the new facility is intended to further expand its presence across the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas.

Anchor of a Kansai AI Initiative

KIX15 is positioned as a key component of the Kansai AI Infrastructure Co-Creation Project, an initiative centered on the KIX Campus that aims to support the development of AI infrastructure across the Kansai region. According to the announcement, the project combines campus expansion with stronger domestic and international connectivity and deeper collaboration with telecommunications and technology partners.

Kohei Yamashita, Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer of MC Digital Realty, said Kansai has a growing opportunity to take on a larger role in Japan's AI economy. "Realizing that potential will require an ecosystem that can support businesses as they build and scale AI, bringing together computing infrastructure, connectivity and technology expertise," he said. Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific at Digital Realty, said Japan is a strategic market for the company and a key part of its long-term growth in Asia Pacific.

"Our continued investment in Japan reflects both our confidence in the market and our commitment to building the infrastructure customers will need for the long term," she said. Nah added that as customer requirements become more distributed and complex, the combination of local scale and global reach will become increasingly important.

Engineering for AI and High-Density Workloads

The company cited growing Japanese demand for higher-density computing environments, advanced cooling, and reliable connectivity as adoption of generative AI and cloud services increases. In response, KIX15 is designed to support hybrid air- and liquid-cooling technologies.

The facility is also designed to offer a high level of security and campus-based scalability, with an expected customer base spanning hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and companies deploying AI infrastructure.

Through Digital Realty's ServiceFabric orchestration and interconnection platform, along with collaboration with multiple network service providers, customers will have access to low-latency connectivity to key locations and cloud services in Japan and to more than 300 Digital Realty data centers worldwide. The company said this enables customers to expand into high-power, high-density infrastructure at the KIX Campus while maintaining connectivity with their existing IT environments.

Platform Context and Japan Track Record

KIX15 will join PlatformDIGITAL, Digital Realty's global data center platform spanning more than 300 data centers across 55-plus metros in more than 30 countries on six continents. The company describes itself as delivering data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, with a Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) methodology aimed at managing Data Gravity challenges and supporting workloads from cloud and digital transformation to artificial intelligence.

The Osaka expansion follows the opening earlier this year of the NRT14 Data Center in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture. NRT14 is one of the first facilities in Japan to achieve the DGX-Ready Data Center certification. MC Digital Realty was established in September 2017 and provides the full spectrum of data center services in Japan, including colocation and interconnection solutions, by leveraging Mitsubishi Corporation's real estate and infrastructure investment expertise and customer network alongside Digital Realty's global PlatformDIGITAL footprint.

The company cautioned that the announcement contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially, including statements related to Asian markets, development plans, expected completion dates, and customer demand. Digital Realty disclaimed any intention or obligation to update or revise such forward-looking statements.