In an Unsteady World, Japan Keeps Building its Green Transition

Japan’s Green Transformation (GX) program will soon enter its fifth year. Initially met with skepticism or ignored in a world where countries engaged in something like climate-target one-upmanship, J...

Japan Seeks to Foster New Data Center Clusters Beyond Tokyo Region

More than half of Japan’s data centers are concentrated in the Tokyo–Yokohama conurbation. By the end of this week, the government will close applications for a program designed to loosen that grip, ...

Japan Looks Beyond Australia’s LNG — Yet the Country Remains Central

For decades, Australia has occupied a privileged place in Japan’s LNG strategy. It is relatively close, politically aligned, free of logistical chokepoints and has long welcomed Japanese capital. Tha...

Japan Launches GX Acceleration Agency as New Support Hub for Energy Transition

This year will see a number of structural changes in Japanese energy markets. In addition to the rollout of a mandatory Emissions Trading System (ETS), officials are laying the foundation for a fossi...

As BESS Applications Surge, Authorities Seek to Reshape Grid Access 

Japan’s battery market is booming, but grid access is not. Nearly 10,000 grid interconnection applications for battery projects were filed in FY2024, even though the vast majority are unlikely to rea...