Nippon Paper has announced it will start a data center business on the site of a former paper mill in Kushiro, Hokkaido, marking the first time the company has entered data center operations.
Data center entry · Nippon Paper · Kushiro, Hokkaido
A paper maker turns a closed mill into digital infrastructure
Nippon Paper plans to repurpose its idle Kushiro plant, which stopped paper production in 2021, for data center development. It is the company's first move into data center operations.
From paper mill to data center site
Stage 1
Paper production
Newsprint and other paper products made at the Kushiro factory.
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Stage 2
Idle site
Production stopped in 2021; the land sits unused.
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Stage 3
Data center plan
Reuses existing land and utility connections on the site.
What is still undisclosed
Key project details have not been made public, so the plan cannot yet be measured against existing Japanese data centers.
Scale
Facility size not disclosed
Investment
Amount not disclosed
Power capacity
Capacity not disclosed
Timeline
Construction and opening dates not set out
Why the site may work
Builds on land the company already owns
Uses existing utility connections
Avoids leaving a closed plant idle
Fits demand for cloud and AI computing capacity
What remains open
Suitability depends on power supply, cooling and network access
No public assessment of commercial prospects yet
Potential customers not identified
Paper maker has no track record in digital infrastructure
What to watch
Announcements on scale, schedule and customers will show whether a traditional paper maker can build a credible digital infrastructure position, and whether other Japanese firms with idle factory sites follow.
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