Plans have been revealed to build Japan’s largest AI-focused data center in Akita Prefecture, and the massive ¥2 trillion construction cost has become a hot topic on 5ch.
The thread saw a split in opinion, with discussion ranging from offshore wind power supply and government support to concerns about the actual scale of job creation, power and water consumption, and the potential impact on earthquakes and weather.
Japan’s Largest AI Data Center Planned for Akita: ¥2 Trillion Cost to Draw Companies and Talent — Offshore Wind Power Utilized, With Government Support
Plans are moving forward to build Japan’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) data center (DC) in Akita Prefecture.
Led by a server management company in Akita City and a U.S. startup, the project is expected to cost around ¥2 trillion.
Source: jiji.com / Original article here
By the time this goes public, I'd guess it's already 80% decided. But will related industries actually cluster around it?
Yep, here we go — steal the tax money, produce zero results, done. Tax theft is Japan's real core industry.
Wild BLAUBLITZ AKITA appears! It got back up and is looking this way, like it wants to join your party! (a riff on the classic Dragon Quest monster-recruitment text, punning on Akita's J-League club Blaublitz Akita)
Just seeing the words 'offshore wind' and 'subsidy' together gives me a bad feeling…
Are data centers actually earthquake-resistant?
>>6
Being a data center doesn't automatically make it earthquake-resistant, but normally you'd pick a low-seismicity area and build with earthquake resistance in mind as standard practice.
Of course that costs a lot of money, so this doesn't necessarily apply to data centers built by cash-strapped companies.
Being a data center doesn't automatically make it earthquake-resistant, but normally you'd pick a low-seismicity area and build with earthquake resistance in mind as standard practice.
Of course that costs a lot of money, so this doesn't necessarily apply to data centers built by cash-strapped companies.
>>6
They should all be built on solid bedrock.
They should all be built on solid bedrock.
Love Hotel Center (a pun — 'rabuho,' Japanese slang for love hotel, sounds close to 'data center')
The people actually using that data are all in Tokyo though, right?
Apparently it's set to start operating sometime after fiscal 2030.
If you spread ¥2 trillion over 10 years and divide by day, that's about ¥5.5 billion a day.
If 1% of that is construction-related labor costs, that's ¥55 million a day.
During construction, the area should see a boom from construction workers and the businesses catering to them.
If you spread ¥2 trillion over 10 years and divide by day, that's about ¥5.5 billion a day.
If 1% of that is construction-related labor costs, that's ¥55 million a day.
During construction, the area should see a boom from construction workers and the businesses catering to them.
>>9
At ¥50,000 per person per day, that'd be 1,100 workers?
There's no way a ¥2 trillion facility only employs 1,100 people, so I'd guess the daily labor cost is actually in the hundreds of millions of yen.
If they really build this data center, the area's going to be booming.
Azabudai Hills construction (total project cost ¥640 billion) had up to 5,000 workers on site per day.
At ¥50,000 per person per day, that'd be 1,100 workers?
There's no way a ¥2 trillion facility only employs 1,100 people, so I'd guess the daily labor cost is actually in the hundreds of millions of yen.
If they really build this data center, the area's going to be booming.
Azabudai Hills construction (total project cost ¥640 billion) had up to 5,000 workers on site per day.
It's probably already in the plan somewhere, but if you're bringing in ¥2 trillion worth of materials over (an assumed) 10 years, there's no way local sourcing can cover it.
So let me just rough out a list — feel free to poke holes in it.
Land transport: upgrading high-grade roads — national and prefectural government?
Sea transport: expanding, dredging, unloading facilities — national government, prefecture, and shipping companies?
Air transport: airports and heliports/eVTOL landing pads around Akita — prefectural government?
Material storage yards
Fuel storage yards
First-aid facilities for the injured and sick, and transport methods to nearby major hospitals with inpatient care
Power:
Akita apparently has surplus power, so that should be fine.
Property tax:
Probably a nice windfall, but the facility surely won't last 100 years.
So let me just rough out a list — feel free to poke holes in it.
Land transport: upgrading high-grade roads — national and prefectural government?
Sea transport: expanding, dredging, unloading facilities — national government, prefecture, and shipping companies?
Air transport: airports and heliports/eVTOL landing pads around Akita — prefectural government?
Material storage yards
Fuel storage yards
First-aid facilities for the injured and sick, and transport methods to nearby major hospitals with inpatient care
Power:
Akita apparently has surplus power, so that should be fine.
Property tax:
Probably a nice windfall, but the facility surely won't last 100 years.
>>10
It's not just 'power should be fine' — Akita is one of the top spots in Japan for power infrastructure investment.
And it's not something for the future, it's already happening.
It's not just 'power should be fine' — Akita is one of the top spots in Japan for power infrastructure investment.
And it's not something for the future, it's already happening.
This'll just end with bureaucrats, LDP lawmakers, and their buddies slurping up the tax money lol
Feel bad for whoever gets sent to Akita — maybe we should just get the bears to do the work (a nod to Akita's notorious recent bear problem)
>In cooperation with the prefecture and city
Huh? What does 'cooperation' mean here? Tax money being poured in?
Huh? What does 'cooperation' mean here? Tax money being poured in?
The plan was to let bears graze in the outer moat of the data center and station matagi (traditional Tohoku hunters) in the watchtowers… but I'm hoping it falls through, becomes a ruin, and turns into a mecca for survival games instead.
Love hotels can't be built in residential zones, so they might actually be well-suited for conversion into data centers.
I could get behind this if it came bundled with a nuclear plant.
Aomori's nuclear facilities
Iwate's ILC (International Linear Collider)
Akita's data center
The era of northern Tohoku starts now.
Iwate's ILC (International Linear Collider)
Akita's data center
The era of northern Tohoku starts now.
Akita doesn't get many earthquakes. Tohoku's earthquakes mostly hit the Pacific side, and typhoons barely come through either… let's hope saying that isn't tempting fate.
Data centers guzzle power and water while barely creating jobs, and if the materials used inside are imported from overseas, not much money actually circulates locally.
So they really need to pay their fair share in taxes, or the domestic economy could end up worse off.
But big companies love to talk 'tax optimization' — pretending not to turn a profit, or parking their headquarters somewhere else to dodge paying taxes.
If that isn't sorted out too, we could end up with the punchline being that land and water — the most basic resources of all — just dry up.
So they really need to pay their fair share in taxes, or the domestic economy could end up worse off.
But big companies love to talk 'tax optimization' — pretending not to turn a profit, or parking their headquarters somewhere else to dodge paying taxes.
If that isn't sorted out too, we could end up with the punchline being that land and water — the most basic resources of all — just dry up.
>>24
What's being built is called the Northern District Renewable Energy Industrial Park — a stretch along the coast lined with wind turbines.
I doubt wind alone can cover all the AI center's power needs, but there's apparently a thermal power plant nearby too, so it'll probably work out somehow.
Primary cooling aside, secondary cooling will likely use seawater.
What's being built is called the Northern District Renewable Energy Industrial Park — a stretch along the coast lined with wind turbines.
I doubt wind alone can cover all the AI center's power needs, but there's apparently a thermal power plant nearby too, so it'll probably work out somehow.
Primary cooling aside, secondary cooling will likely use seawater.
Who's actually saying this will draw talent here?
There are always trends. Everyone gets hyped up. But eventually the excitement fades and the boom moves on.
I'm starting to think maybe these shouldn't be built domestically at all — we need to check whether there's any weather-to-crust impact (like triggering earthquakes).
Feels like this'll get pitched to rural areas bundled together with a nuclear plant.
Since offshore power fizzled out, if we're doing this, let's just build a nuclear plant in Akita too.
While we're at it, since Aomori's waste processing sites are getting maxed out, put those in Akita as well.
If that's the direction we're steering, honestly, why not?
Hand over the land and environment, take on the risk, and get the economy moving.
While we're at it, since Aomori's waste processing sites are getting maxed out, put those in Akita as well.
If that's the direction we're steering, honestly, why not?
Hand over the land and environment, take on the risk, and get the economy moving.
Data centers don't create jobs — they run automatically.
Even a facility worth hundreds of billions of yen can be run by a few dozen people. At ¥2 trillion, maybe it's still only around 100 people.
Water and infrastructure development costs fall on the local government, so honestly they'd better be paying serious property tax or it just doesn't add up.
They generate huge amounts of heat (hell for anyone downwind), consume massive amounts of water (which can wipe out agriculture in areas already short on water), and consume massive amounts of electricity (in Iceland or somewhere, residents have reportedly been forced into planned blackouts because of data centers).
It's not as simple as just inviting them in. But since companies pull all sorts of tricks to dodge taxes, if we lose that fight, we could easily end up in an exploitative situation.
Even a facility worth hundreds of billions of yen can be run by a few dozen people. At ¥2 trillion, maybe it's still only around 100 people.
Water and infrastructure development costs fall on the local government, so honestly they'd better be paying serious property tax or it just doesn't add up.
They generate huge amounts of heat (hell for anyone downwind), consume massive amounts of water (which can wipe out agriculture in areas already short on water), and consume massive amounts of electricity (in Iceland or somewhere, residents have reportedly been forced into planned blackouts because of data centers).
It's not as simple as just inviting them in. But since companies pull all sorts of tricks to dodge taxes, if we lose that fight, we could easily end up in an exploitative situation.
>>32
There's no way a data center's heat raises the outside air temperature.
If that actually raised the temperature, then areas downwind of power plants, incinerators, and steel mills — which put out way more heat than any data center — should already be in brutal heat waves.
There's no way a data center's heat raises the outside air temperature.
If that actually raised the temperature, then areas downwind of power plants, incinerators, and steel mills — which put out way more heat than any data center — should already be in brutal heat waves.
>>34
A ¥2 trillion data center, up to 500MW.
That's the energy consumption of about 1 million households — 2 to 3 million people (based on Japan's power usage figures).
By around 2030, global AI water consumption is projected at 9 trillion liters — enough for 1.3 billion people.
That's what people mean when they say water and electricity will run dry in the AI era. And the more water and electricity you use, the more you drain the land.
Worst case, we end up like parts of Africa — once both water and land are depleted, the whole basis of the economy collapses. Water and nature are the most fundamental foundation of any economy.
That's exactly why, when attracting AI data centers, whether it drains the land becomes the critical question.
A ¥2 trillion data center, up to 500MW.
That's the energy consumption of about 1 million households — 2 to 3 million people (based on Japan's power usage figures).
By around 2030, global AI water consumption is projected at 9 trillion liters — enough for 1.3 billion people.
That's what people mean when they say water and electricity will run dry in the AI era. And the more water and electricity you use, the more you drain the land.
Worst case, we end up like parts of Africa — once both water and land are depleted, the whole basis of the economy collapses. Water and nature are the most fundamental foundation of any economy.
That's exactly why, when attracting AI data centers, whether it drains the land becomes the critical question.
It's not perfectly proportional, but a rough rule of thumb is about 1 employee per megawatt (not counting rotating contractor staff).
For a 500-megawatt facility, that'd be around 500 employees.
For a 500-megawatt facility, that'd be around 500 employees.
If this data center ends up consuming power at the gigawatt scale, that's literally the output of a single nuclear reactor — which could eventually turn into an excuse to bring a nuclear plant into the neighborhood, citing power needs.
If you bring in a data center and just leave it unchecked, things could get bad fast. The pattern of land drying up, like what's happening in America, could easily happen here too.
Protecting nature — really, preserving the ecosystem's cycle — becomes the actual job.
Protecting nature — really, preserving the ecosystem's cycle — becomes the actual job.
It's kind of like a nuclear plant, but I guess it's a bit better since it doesn't produce radioactive waste with nowhere to go.
Any contract needs to include a clause requiring full remediation of every downside that comes up down the line.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Science News+) thread “Japan’s Largest AI Data Center Planned for Akita: ¥2 Trillion Cost to Draw Companies and Talent — Offshore Wind Power Utilized, With Government Support.”
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