Southwest Japan’s Challenges: Foundation for Growth / Fukuoka Set to Be Gateway for Next-Gen Networks, as Japanese Companies Place Projects in the Prefecture

By Yohei Himeno / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

6:00 JST, April 12, 2026

This series examines the ideal infrastructure for building vibrant regions, with the future of the Kyushu region and Yamaguchi and Okinawa prefectures in mind. This is the first of three articles in the series.

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At the end of last year, the Innovative Optical & Wireless Network (IOWN) was demonstrated at NTT Docomo Business, Inc.’s Kyushu branch in Fukuoka. The next-generation communication standard allowed natural conversation between people in Fukuoka and Tokyo, about 900 kilometers away, through live video. The time lag was a mere 0.015 seconds, a level imperceptible to humans.

NTT Corp. is making progress on developing IOWN, which uses cutting-edge optical technology. Compared to existing networks based on fiber-optic cables, IOWN can reportedly handle up to 125 times more data at 1/200th the latency. It also is said to dramatically improve energy efficiency for equipment.

Should it be widely adopted in cities, IOWN will aid significantly in introducing cutting-edge technologies that can transform people’s lives, such as autonomous driving, robotics, artificial intelligence and telemedicine.

Innovation hub

An innovation hub is being planned where research and development can be conducted using IOWN. The hub will be part of a redevelopment project located at the former site of Kyushu University’s Hakozaki campus in Fukuoka. A consortium including major trading firm Sumitomo Corp., Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. and Saibu Gas Co. has been given preferential negotiation rights to carry out the project.

With redevelopment set to finish in fiscal 2036, the project is attracting attention. Based on a “smart city” concept, it will feature commercial and tourism and exchange centers, medical and health promotion facilities and residential complexes, among other facilities. As part of the first phase of the project, developers plan to open some facilities in fiscal 2028.

With smartphones seeing widespread use and digital technology being increasingly adopted, data traffic has skyrocketed. As of May 2025, 42 terabits of data were being downloaded via landlines every second, an 830% increase over the past 10 years, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

To further improve convenience and promote industrial development, it will be essential to develop high-speed, high-capacity next-generation communication networks like IOWN.

New trans-Pacific network

On Feb. 19, employees of OCC Corp., a major manufacturer of telecom cables, were seen carefully winding subsea cables around circular tanks measuring about 3 to 6 meters in diameter at the firm’s factory in Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu. The cables are part of the infrastructure that supports communication networks.

These cables have grown in importance with the increased speed of telecommunications, and they currently are responsible for carrying 99% of intercontinental communications.

The Submarine System Plant in Kitakyushu is the only place subsea cables are produced in Japan.

Over the past around 90 years, the Yokohama-based affiliate of NEC Corp. has supplied about 440,000 kilometers of cables — enough to circle the globe about 11 times. Three companies, including NEC Group, control about 90% of the global market for the cables.

Large-scale projects involving subsea cables are set to take place in the Kyushu region.

In July last year, telecom giant SoftBank Corp. announced a plan to build a landing station — where subsea cables are connected to terrestrial networks — in Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture. The project would connect Japan, the United States, South Korea and Taiwan. With optical subsea cables to total about 12,500 kilometers in length, SoftBank aims to strengthen network resilience in preparation for disasters and a growing volume of international data traffic.

And in January, NTT Data Group Corp. launched a new company, aiming to build a network of about 8,100 kilometers of cables connecting Fukuoka with Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Data center clusters

Landing stations serve as an international gateway for global data. As latency can be reduced by proximity to the stations, the sites could attract AI industries that require massive amounts of international data traffic. Moreover, they could draw in clusters of data centers, needed for communications and data processing.

In Itoshima, a plan is also underway to build one of the Kyushu region’s largest bases for data centers. Asia Pacific Land Group, a U.S.-based investment firm specializing in real estate, plans to operate six data centers on a vast 12.2-hectare lot by 2034, investing more than ¥300 billion. The company said the northern Kyushu region offers a compelling set of advantages.

Yuji Oie, professor emeritus at Kyushu Institute of Technology, said the region could become a hub for information and communications networks within Japan and across East Asia.

“It is extremely important to create a framework for developing the information industry through collaboration among industry, government and academia so that clusters of data centers and other facilities lead to growth for the region,” said Oie, a specialist in information network engineering and a former president of the university.