--- title: Global Kigyo - TIME - Partner Content - Thinking Inside the Box description: Thinking Inside the Box canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-31T10:34:56.068Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-31T09:50:01.011Z article:section: Paid Partner Content og:title: Global Kigyo - TIME - Partner Content - Thinking Inside the Box og:description: Thinking Inside the Box og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd256acfaa783bd4a/6a954b52dd54f18347cf1756/page_3_Thumbnail.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Global Kigyo - TIME - Partner Content - Thinking Inside the Box twitter:description: Thinking Inside the Box twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd256acfaa783bd4a/6a954b52dd54f18347cf1756/page_3_Thumbnail.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Thinking Inside the Box  ##### Snow country tech firm Getworks is pioneering a radical new approach to data centers.  Getworks’ flagship GX Data Center in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture Deep in the valleys of the Japanese Alps lies the resort town of Yuzawa. Despite now having speedy connections to the capital via expressways and its own stop on the bullet train network, Yuzawa retains much of the old-world charm of Japan’s rural areas. Think hot spring footbaths and ski resorts in the winter, giving way to alpine meadows and gushing rivers in the spring and summer. What many people do not know about Yuzawa, even in Japan, is that the area is ground zero for one of the most exciting innovations in Japan’s race to maintain its tech superpower status. Part of Yuzawa’s appeal; its remoteness, and of course, abundant snowfall, also makes it an ideal location for a groundbreaking new approach to data center construction. Getworks, a Tokyo-based data center and AI systems developer, has successfully pioneered “containerized” projects in the region. What started as an experiment to see whether an entire system, complete with power supply, racks and servers, could fit inside a standard shipping container has evolved into a model that Getworks is rapidly expanding. They found out along the way that snow can be utilized for effective cooling too. The average winter in Yuzawa brings more than 11 meters of snow, making it one of the snowiest inhabited areas on earth. Getworks has recognized the opportunity to harness this as a natural cooling resource, reducing environmental impact as demand for computing power continues to rise. Hidenori Nakazawa, founder and president of Getworks, sees several clear environmental advantages to this approach. “We chose Yuzawa in Niigata prefecture because of its natural environment and its potential to help reduce CO2 emissions. A distinguishing feature of ours is to cool data centers using outside air and snowmelt, particularly during the summer months,” he said. “With the emergence of AI servers equipped with GPUs, data centers now need to be much larger and consume considerably more power. As a result, power consumption has become one of the industry’s most pressing challenges worldwide.” While water cooling has become standard practice for GPU servers in recent years, Getworks has built up extensive technical know-how in this field, fine-tuning its systems for over a decade.  Nakazawa got his start in the data center business early. In 1996 and still a student, he founded a venture that would become the predecessor to Getworks, in response to the nascent demand for servers and web hosting. “Companies like ours provided server rental services in those days,” he said. The idea of housing server equipment inside shipping containers had already been demonstrated at industry trade shows around the year 2000, but it was not yet viewed as a viable business opportunity. “There was simply no market demand at the time,” said Nakazawa. A turning point came with the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, when it became clear that smaller, modular systems were needed to improve resilience across the country’s digital infrastructure. Nakazawa recognized that containerized systems could meet this demand in a practical and environmentally responsible way. “After the 2011 earthquake, electricity usage became more restricted, making it increasingly important to reduce power consumption,” he said. While Getworks maintains a strong foothold in Yuzawa, its largest data center hub, where it also operates its training and R&D functions, the modular nature of containerized data centers has enabled rapid expansion across Japan. Whereas conventional brick-and-mortar data centers, many of which are currently under construction across the country, require years of planning and infrastructure development, Getworks has dramatically simplified the process. New data centers can be operational within two months, can be transported as complete units by road, rail or sea, and can be fine-tuned and upgraded as needed. Getworks already has designed, developed and built in-house more than 300 data centers operating across Japan, from Hokkaido and Miyagi down to the southern tip of Kagoshima. With initial investment costs of up to 80% less than traditional facilities, that number is expected to continue growing. “Initially, we first attracted attention during the cryptocurrency boom. Bitcoin miners were looking for energy-efficient solutions, making naturally air-cooled data centers, equipped with water-cooling systems, particularly attractive. With the cryptocurrency mining market now maturing, we are fully committed to this expertise for GPU infrastructure for AI applications,” said Nakazawa.  Advanced cooling systems make the most of the natural environment A key factor behind this growth has been Getworks’ willingness to partner with a wide range of stakeholders, from server manufacturers such as Supermicro and DELL to utility companies, telecoms carriers and AI startups. “The most important quality we look for is agility,” said Nakazawa. “A high degree of customization is essential for every project. As a company, we strive to deliver the most suitable solution for each server configuration required. I believe this flexibility will be one of our key strengths as we expand overseas.” The containerized approach is also serving Getworks well internationally, allowing the company to export complete systems in coordination with local partners. According to Nakazawa, lightweight, modular infrastructure that can be adapted to local conditions is particularly well suited to countries facing land and energy constraints. In Singapore, for example, Getworks has made inroads by leasing GPU data center capacity from Japan in collaboration with local cloud service providers. Meanwhile, in neighboring Malaysia, plans are underway to license its technology to local partners. “We have invited engineers from Malaysia to Japan for training so they can support local infrastructure once it is established,” said Nakazawa. “Particularly in these two countries, where environmental regulations are stringent, the challenge will not be easy. However, by demonstrating the sustainability benefits of our technology, I believe we can strengthen our global reputation.”  Getworks received the Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Award in 2025 Despite being relatively young by the standards of Japanese company presidents, Nakazawa has ambitious plans for the future. Getworks has already secured access to the latest generation of GPU chips, including NVIDIA’s latest B300 series, as the company looks to meet demand from both hyperscale data centers and the rapidly growing edge computing market. When asked about his long-term vision, Nakazawa was clear. “Our immediate goal is to achieve ¥100 billion ($634 million) in annual revenue,” he said. “By combining all of our capabilities, from container engineering to software development, security and AI, we hope to enable new solutions that extend beyond data centers themselves.”  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/"},"headline":"Thinking Inside the Box","datePublished":"2026-08-31T10:34:56.068Z","dateModified":"2026-08-31T09:50:01.011Z","description":"Thinking Inside the Box","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"Paid Partner Content","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/thinking-inside-the-box/","name":"Thinking Inside the Box"}}]}] ```