Apple is opening a new research and development center in Japan

Apple will open a technology development center just outside of Tokyo, a move that will bring it closer to parts suppliers. “We’re excited to expand our operations in Japan with a new Technical Development Center in Yokohama which will create dozens of new jobs,” Apple spokesman Takashi Takebayashi said via email. He wouldn’t say why Apple is building the facility but stressed it is not an R&D center. On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Japanese media that Apple would be performing “cutting-edge R&D in Japan.”

Apple is set to open a new, large-scale research and development facility in Japan, according to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in a statement made to local media today. Reuters reports that Abe made the announcement ahead of Sunday’s general election, noting that a more formal declaration of the project would follow at a later date. The details of the arrangement are scarce so far – Abe didn’t share any information about the specific nature or scale of the research facility, noting only that it would be comparable to the California company’s largest existing R&D facilities in Asia. Apple is also said to be opening a new research facility in Cambridge, England, accordion to reports from last month. The facility in England would employ around 20 people at first, according to reports detailing the plan. Apple declined to comment on the Cambridge facility, and thus far has not provided any comment to TechCrunch on the subject of the proposed Japanese R&D project.