The industry has been mostly concentrated in the broader Tokyo metropolitan area and, to a lesser extent, Osaka, which are the country’s two largest cities. But there is a lot more to Japan than those two (admittedly dynamic) cities. The smart money is betting that penetration will go to 2 percent, 3 percent, and beyond—still a very low penetration rate but effectively doubling and tripling the current size of the industry.

The Self Storage Expo Asia will be in Tokyo May 20^th to 22^nd, and investors and major operators alike will be there to find opportunities to ride that wave of growth to 2030 and beyond. They’ll also be meeting the elite of the rest of Asia’s best self-storage companies from Japan to West Asia, home to greenfield markets like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Jordan. This de facto CEO summit has become the go-to event for global CEOs to see the future of self-storage.

Japan is having a moment in every sense, and that includes self-storage. Warren Buffet recently affirmed his confidence in Japan, suggesting he would increase his holdings in the Japanese trading houses in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders for 2025. Since 2019, he’s poured $13.2 billion (USD) into the market and expects a dividend of $812 million income in 2025.

Leading Japan-watcher and renowned economist Wiliam Pesek, who will be presenting at Expo Asia, argues in Forbes that the changes in global investment sentiment towards Japan are provoking competitor countries in the region to up their game and undertake reform to boost efficiency and make their countries more competitive. It’s also pushing Japanese companies to ask how they can all improve their operations and become more attractive to foreign investment.

Some have clearly seized the moment. Recently, multinational Asian giants StorHub and Extra Space (no connection to Extra Space Storage in the U.S.) have invested in multiple Japanese operators.

Extra Space doubled down on Japan with a strategic partnership with the aptly named Ambitious Co (branded Syuno-pit) to add to its partnership with Keiyo Logistics Co. Ltd (operating as privatebox by Extra Space). And they’re not done yet. Patricia Goh, CEO of Southeast Asia Investment, CLI, director of Storage Ventures Asia Pte. Ltd, and confirmed to speak at Expo Asia 2025, says, “ESA’s strategic partnerships with Ambitious and Keiyo Logistics will enable us to capitalize on the increasing demand for self-storage space, driven by e-commerce growth, rising urban population, smaller dwelling spaces, increased population mobility, and a higher proportion of rental households.”

StorHub struck gold in 2020 with their acquisition of Tokyo Reise Box, and then again in 2023 when they purchased StoragePlus, adding another 100,000 square feet across 35 locations. This brought their total to over 390 sites; today it stands at over 400. This latter acquisition followed the trend towards more ex-Tokyo growth, adding sites in Sapporo and Fukuoka to StorHub’s portfolio. The company now also spans Kanagawa, Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba, and Nagoya—Asia-wide and Japan-wide.

Furthermore, American funds have made long-term investments. Evergreen Real Estate invested into Quraz (Japan’s biggest firm) in 2013 and hasn’t looked back. In the process, they encouraged major financial players, like Prudential, to pioneer the financing of major deals for self-storage in Japan.

At the annual Rental Storage Association of Japan event in Tokyo in November, Korean and mainland China operators were there to explore market entry. Investment has flowed out of Japan, with Japanese capital finding its way to General Storage from Japanese conglomerate Mitsuuroko. General Storage’s brands, Hong Kong’s The Store House and Malaysia and Singapore’s Lock+Store, are attractive for their strong returns and solid ESG leadership across Asia.

So, for those who have seen, say, the recalcitrance of 7-11 Holdings (the convenience store giant) to deal with Couche-Tard, they can rest assured that the rest of Japan Inc., and especially the self-storage sector, is open for business.

But the gathering in Tokyo won’t just be about Japan. The Expo has already confirmed speakers from Latin America, Africa, Europe, Canada, Australia, and The United States. Expo Asia 2025 keynote speaker Cris Burnam, CEO of StorageMart, closed the biggest deal in the history of self-storage when he acquired Manhattan Mini Storage for $3 billion (USD). His multinational firm is one of the largest operators in America, the biggest private operator, and has investors from Asia, specifically Singapore, among others. They’re coming for Japan, but also the rest of Asia.

China is still fairly new to self-storage, even though it is the world’s second-largest economy. Like Japan, the industry is concentrated in the biggest cities. In China’s case, this is the capital Beijing, the commercial center of Shanghai, and southern tech and commercial powerhouses Guangzhou and Shenzhen. There are over 1,500 locations across the country with over 10 million square feet of premises.

The main body responsible for self-storage, the China Association of Warehousing and Distribution, says growth rates (albeit from a low base) have ranged from 20 percent to 30 percent since the first self-storage facility opened in 2008. Chinese sites appear everywhere from former fallout shelter basements in Beijing to retail shopping malls. There is even a form of “community storage,” where self-storage operators partner with housing developers to create mini-storage options on their estates for apartment dwellers.

Something Japanese and Chinese companies have in common is a tendency towards leased sites. While property ownership of self-storage operators is slowly taking off in Japan, self-storage in China is very much a leasing affair, with only 5 percent of self-storage sites in Beijing, home to 400 odd sites, wholly owned.

China operators have marked differences from operators in other countries. They have a much higher duty of KYC (know your customer) requirements on account of national security concerns. Rather than have their own standalone customer-facing technology, they need solutions that interface with the national super-app WeChat (the app Elon Musk often says he would like X to mimic).

The Singapore-headquartered, Warburg-Pincus-backed Storhub has facilities in five Chinese cities, north to south, but they are almost unique in having international backing.

Most players are homegrown and expand across the country. Big names include Koala Self Storage, Anton Self Storage, Public Self Storage, and CBD Self Storage. Some are strong in their home city, like MyCube Self Storage and Lan Ren Cang in Beijing. Competition can be fierce, so operators are constantly improving their processes, cutting costs, and finding novel ways to reach customers.

China, as an investment target, will be difficult without partnering with someone with local expertise. StorHub’s masterstroke involved investing in two of the best operators in China to gain experience and expertise, which they have retained, before expanding. Americans seeking to catch this growth wave in the early stages should start doing their research now so that they are ready as the industry takes off. It is growing now in a relatively slow (by Chinese standards) economy. When it kicks into high gear again, and consumer spending unleashes the massive consumer savings that are now being accumulated, operators in situ will be perfectly positioned to rise with the tide.

Calling Hong Kong a “little dragon” isn’t a slight; it’s the translation of the Chinese name of Hong Kong’s greatest ever hero, loved around the world: Bruce Lee. The economic dynamo may be small, but it has always punched above its economic weight, in part by being ahead of the rest of Asia on economic trends. It was an early adopter of self-storage on account of its international character. The Chung brothers who founded Hong Kong Storage were among the pioneers. Unused industrial buildings became the home of self-storage; one building today containing 14 separate self-storage companies is the legendary Hong Kong Industrial Building.

In recent years, the single to triple floors of self-storage in a building are starting to give way to operators buying whole industrial buildings that can cost from $150 million to $800 million (USD). Institutional backing is needed for this level of investment has arrived and is changing the game. What would be “mom and pop” self-storage operations in America or Canada are “second-generation” shops. Families would retain industrial properties even though the industry had all moved to China. The second generation would return from North America, Australia, or the U.K., and seeing the potential in self-storage, convince their parents to let them have a go at it.

However, few of these scions were committed, and hungrier entrepreneurs first hustled and then professionalized to grow proper businesses at a decent clip. They built teams with international talent and investors came a-knocking.

Storefriendly has led the way and now, with the support of Blackstone, has multiple Storefriendly Towers in Hong Kong. They have also been leaders in introducing wine storage, facial recognition technology, and (along with their Singaporean counterparts) robotic storage.

Another major international player is Brookfield Asset Management. Their investment into RedBox Storage has seen that company elevate an already high level of professionalism (attracting the investment) and expand into new premises in Hong Kong. Some of their premises are among the biggest in the city.

StorHub has expanded quickly in Hong Kong as well, bringing wine storage and raising the standard for customer experience in the city.

Singapore is booming. A confluence of external factors and solid planning on the part of disciplined economic stewards has seen the city explode with rents rising and mega events, from Formula 1 to Lady Gaga concerts, driving tourism. While self-storage expansion has been on pause for some years, the demand has continued to grow. Pent-up demand may be about to be released with the resolution of impediments to growth.

Many of the companies mentioned have their headquarters in Singapore. General Storage, StorHub, and Extra Space all have their global headquarters in here. Storefriendly also has a strong presence. Local operators like Work+Store, U-Store@SG, Urban Space, Y-Store, and valet operator BEAM Space are solid operators with good returns and happy customers in the city/state. Like Hong Kong, operators have traditionally been restricted to industrial and warehouse properties.

Businesses make up to 40 percent of customers, approximately 17,000 small and medium-sized businesses. A recent survey showed that self-storage is vital to their business model, showing how self-storage is a key component to the economic health of the city. Not every company can be a global multinational, and not everyone is suited to work for a Fortune 500 firm. Small businesses are the lifeblood of many communities, and self-storage is a big part of their success in Singapore.

Across Asia, other countries are just hitting their stride. Thailand stands out, as companies like Leo Self Storage, MySpace (formerly JWD), and i-Store (now listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand) are all following the growth trajectory of countries like Japan, where they established profitable businesses in the capital and are now expanding to the rest of the country. Malaysia and Vietnam have also recently experienced mini boomlets as their underserved markers prepare to get off the launching pad.

India is a potential runaway market; the education phase is picking up steam there as Indian consumers see their purchasing power rise and they learn about self-storage. And the aforementioned expo will also cover “West Asia,” with the affluent, greenfield economies of countries like Saudi Arabia.

The leading institutional investors in self-storage know that Asia is taking off, so they are here. What the region hasn’t seen yet is a large American, Canadian, Australian, or European brand firmly establish itself, although there are signs that the first may be coming.

For those who want to get the lowdown, they’ll have to make their way to Tokyo in May of this year to discover how they can fit into to the growth story about to take off in the world’s largest continent. It’s all happening in Asia!