When Munekazu and Erin Tanikawa moved into their ¥50 million (about $312,000) Tokyo‑area condo in 2022, they could not have imagined a data‑centre would soon dominate their balcony view. Four months later a vehicle backed by CPP Investments, Fidelity and Mitsui & Co bought the parking lot opposite the building to erect a 52‑metre tower. The couple’s property has since lost one‑quarter of its value.

Japan now hosts about 300 data‑centres, and the sector’s $23 billion market is projected to expand almost 50 % by 2030, driven by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s AI‑centric growth agenda. Ninety percent of sites cluster in the densely built Greater Tokyo and Osaka corridors, forcing developers to squeeze facilities into residential blocks, as seen in Inzai City’s Chiba New Town project.

Local residents have gathered more than 13,000 signatures and filed a lawsuit against the approval authority, arguing that data‑centres behave more like factories than offices. NTT Data acknowledged the need for regulatory reform, while the land ministry says no new classification will be added soon. The dispute underscores how Japan’s outdated zoning rules are colliding with a fast‑moving AI economy.