Digital Realty has begun construction of KIX15, a 24MW data center at its KIX Campus in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Operations are scheduled to start in Q4 2028.

The building will be the fifth at the campus. It takes the total IT capacity of MC Digital Realty (MCDR) — the 50/50 joint venture between Digital Realty and Mitsubishi Corporation — to 220MW across Japan.

Who is building it, and where?

MCDR is developing KIX15 through the 50/50 joint venture structure with Mitsubishi Corporation. The site sits in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, on the existing KIX Campus. Once complete, KIX15 becomes the fifth building there.

Serene Nah, managing director and head of Asia Pacific at Digital Realty, framed the project within the company's regional strategy.

"Japan is a strategic market for Digital Realty and a key part of our long-term growth in Asia Pacific," Nah said. "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."

What does KIX15 change for customers?

The facility is designed to support hybrid air- and liquid-cooling technologies — a configuration suited to high-density AI and other advanced computing workloads.

Nah pointed to shifting customer requirements: "As customer requirements become more distributed and complex, the combination of local scale and global reach will become increasingly important."

Kohei Yamashita, representative director and CEO of MC Digital Realty, positioned the Kansai region as a growth hub for AI workloads in Japan.

"Kansai has a growing opportunity to play a larger role in Japan's AI economy," Yamashita said. "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."

How does it fit Digital Realty's Japan portfolio?

The Osaka project follows other recent expansion in the country:

• NRT14: a 31MW facility at the NRT campus in Inzai City, roughly 71km (44 miles) from downtown Tokyo. Construction began in May 2024, and the building became the third data center at that campus earlier this year.
• HND10: a fourth data center in the Tokyo region.
• KIX Campus: four existing buildings in Ibaraki City, with KIX15 now under construction as the fifth.

Combined, the MCDR portfolio will reach 220MW of IT capacity in Japan once KIX15 comes online.

What happens next?

Construction is now underway. The timeline puts KIX15 operations at Q4 2028, giving customers in Kansai a multi-year runway to plan capacity around the new building and its hybrid cooling design.