Japan Authorities Begin On-site Inspection of Japanese Microsoft Subsidiary on Suspicion of Violating Antimonopoly Law

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:16 JST, February 25, 2026

The Japan Fair Trade Commission began on Wednesday an on-site inspection of the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. IT giant Microsoft, on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Law.

The company is suspected of obstructing competitors’ transactions by preventing the use of its Windows operating system and other products on rival cloud services.

The JFTC plans to proceed with examining seized materials and interviewing relevant parties. If Microsoft’s involvement is confirmed, the JFTC will also investigate Microsoft.