JFTC Raids Microsoft Japan Over Cloud Antitrust Concerns

On February 25, 2026, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) conducted an on-site inspection of Microsoft Japan on suspicion of violating the Anti-Monopoly Act. This action stems from allegations that the company unfairly impeded competition in the cloud market by restricting or imposing high fees for the use of its own products, such as “Windows” and “Word,” on other companies' cloud services.

According to reports, this on-site inspection targets suspicions that Microsoft made it difficult or more expensive to use Microsoft 365 (including Office/Teams) and Windows on competitor cloud services (such as AWS) to secure an advantage for its own cloud service, “Azure.” This marks the second major investigation of Microsoft by the JFTC, and the first in 28 years since January 1998.

On social media, “on-site inspection” became a trending topic, with many users paying attention to the news. Voices praised the JFTC's firm stance as “an extremely important step to protect the health of the digital market.” Former Microsoft employees also expressed interest, with some saying they “would have liked to be present.”

Regarding this matter, some posts indicate that “the direct impact on the average Japanese person is almost zero, as it's an issue of corporate licenses.” Nevertheless, future developments are being closely watched in terms of the entire industry and, by extension, the maintenance of a healthy competitive environment.

The context

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is Japan's primary antitrust regulator, responsible for ensuring fair competition and preventing monopolistic practices, similar to the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. or the European Commission's competition directorate. The Anti-Monopoly Act is Japan's equivalent of antitrust laws, designed to prevent abuse of dominant market positions and unfair trade practices. This investigation focuses on the burgeoning cloud computing market, where major tech companies like Microsoft (Azure), Amazon (AWS), and Google (Google Cloud) offer services. The core accusation against Microsoft Japan is that it allegedly leverages its dominant position with widely used products like Windows and Microsoft 365 (which includes popular applications like Word, Excel, and Teams) to make it more difficult or costly for customers to run these products on competing cloud platforms, thereby steering them towards its own Azure service. The mention of a previous investigation in 1998 is notable, as Microsoft faced significant antitrust scrutiny globally around that time, often related to the bundling of its software with the Windows operating system. This current probe suggests a renewed focus by regulators on the market power of tech giants in the digital age.