Tokyo Gas wins CNCF End User Case Study Contest for innovative cloud native transformation using Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio to modernize its digital platform.
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| Tokyo Gas showcases cloud native success with Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio, winning CNCF case study contest and sharing insights at KubeCon Japan 2025. Image: CH |
TOKYO, Japan — June 15, 2025:
Tokyo Gas, one of Japan’s largest energy providers serving around 13 million customers, has been named the winner of the prestigious Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) End User Case Study Contest. The company was recognized for its innovative use of cloud native technologies—including Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio—to modernize its flagship digital membership platform, myTOKYOGAS.
The announcement was made ahead of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2025, scheduled for June 16–17 in Tokyo, where Tokyo Gas will present its cloud native transformation journey.
Facing challenges from legacy monolithic systems and slow release cycles, Tokyo Gas’s development team undertook a strategic refactoring to overcome the limitations of its initial lift-and-shift cloud migration. This effort was driven by the full deregulation of Japan’s energy retail markets in 2016 and 2017, which intensified the need for greater agility and improved customer engagement.
By adopting Kubernetes for dynamic scaling, Argo CD to implement GitOps practices, and Istio for managing a microservices architecture, Tokyo Gas dramatically improved its operational efficiency and scalability. These technologies helped the company reduce costs by approximately 30 percent through dynamic scaling with Kubernetes and Karpenter, while also cutting operational efforts by a similar margin via Kubernetes auto-healing. Deployment cycles accelerated significantly, enabled by GitOps and Argo CD, and testing time was slashed from two months to just two weeks using the k6 tool on Kubernetes.
“Modernizing a legacy system is never easy, but embracing cloud native architecture has given us a flexible foundation for long-term innovation,” said Yusuke Sugiyama, software engineer at Tokyo Gas. “These technologies helped reduce costs, enhance customer engagement, and streamline operations. We’re proud to share our story at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan and contribute back to the open source community that made this possible.”
Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of CNCF, praised Tokyo Gas’s efforts, saying that Kubernetes combined with Argo and Istio is transforming how organizations build and operate software at scale. He noted that Tokyo Gas exemplifies what’s achievable by leveraging open source and cloud native best practices, making systems more agile, sustainable, and future-ready.
Tokyo Gas’s success underscores the role of cloud native solutions in supporting not only innovation but also environmental sustainability. The company’s ongoing expansion of its microservices-based platform aligns with its commitment to reducing data center energy consumption and supporting Japan’s transition to a carbon-neutral future.
At KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2025, Tokyo Gas will provide practical insights for organizations beginning their own cloud native transformations, highlighting the power of open source technologies in driving business agility and sustainability.