Data center and network services provider Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) has launched a new data center in the Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. The new Kozu data center was built to address growing demand in Osaka and in the greater Tokyo metro.

The company said the new facility would address the rise in demand for disaster-recovery and business-continuity infrastructure in the area created in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in March.

"The drive to build more backup data centers in the Osaka area has become an integral part of disaster recovery plans and business continuity plans since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the new Kozu data center was constructed to meet this need," IIJ representatives wrote in a statement.

IDC Frontier, another Japanese data center provider, has experienced a six-fold increase in the amount of interest from clients in its services since the earthquake, said Atsushi Yamanaka, a general manager for IDC Frontier. He attributed the increased interest to power shortages the country is experiencing, as companies are seeking to reduce power usage in their office buildings by moving IT equipment into commercial data centers.

The new IIJ data center will provide colocation and managed services.

In April, IIJ launched a modular data center in Matsue, called Matsue Data Center Park. The park can support up to 24 of the company's IZmo data center containers, each including its own cooling unit.