Japan has led the way in tech advancements for decades. Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing how far behind the rest of the world still is.
From their bullet trains to buildings designed to withstand earthquakes, they’ve spent years leveling up almost every part of life.
But out of all their upgrades, it’s their internet that might be the most useful thing for everyday living.
That’s because Japan now has internet speeds clocking in at 1.02 petabits per second. That’s officially the fastest internet connection in the world.
To help put that into perspective, imagine your current internet speed, then multiply it by 3.5 million. Yes, really.
This record-breaking speed was achieved thanks to a collaboration between NICT’s Photonic Network Laboratory, Sumitomo Electric, and partners in Europe.
Together, they built a high-speed network that transmits data across a distance of 1,808 kilometers every second. It’s all made possible by a unique fiber optic cable with 19 separate cores.
However, the amount of data they managed to move over that distance hit 1.86 exabits per second times kilometers, which is now the highest rate ever recorded in history.
Sumitomo Electric handled the design of the cable, while NICT developed the entire transmission system. This included transmitters, receivers, and 19 looping circuits, each stretching 86.1 kilometers long.
And if talking about Netflix hasn’t already made it clear how fast this is, here’s another example: the connection could download the entire English Wikipedia—about 100 GB—10,000 times in just one second, according to Gagadget.
Even downloading massive 8K videos? That also takes only a second.
In fact, the speed is so wild that you could technically stream 10 million 8K videos at the same time without breaking a sweat.
And for the music lovers out there, you could download about 127,500 years’ worth of songs instantly. That’s one playlist no one could ever finish.
The truth is, there’s little chance of seeing speeds like this in the US anytime soon. When it comes to building out advanced internet tech, Japan is simply miles ahead.
So if you’re desperate to experience it yourself, you might want to start planning a trip overseas.