Artificial intelligenceTrading house hopes to work with JR East through new joint ventureItochu is looking to build data centers and lease them to tech companies before eventually selling them off. (Source photos by Itochu and Nikkei)KEIICHI FURUKAWAAugust 20, 2026 06:15 JSTTOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu will enter data center development, investing several hundred billion yen (100 billion yen equals $632 million) by 2030 to build around 10 facilities in Japan to be leased to U.S. tech giants and others.