Amazon Japan is increasing the number of distribution centers to ensure next-day delivery for more products and regions. This comes as competition heats up among e-commerce giants for speedy shipping.

Amazon Japan currently has about 30 distribution bases around the country. It plans to add another 18 this year.

It says this will make it possible to deliver over 7 million items the day after order in all of the country's 47 prefectures, except Hokkaido. Amazon says it will expand the service to the northernmost prefecture next year.

Rival online retailers are making moves of their own. Rakuten Group has launched logistics services to help retailers cut delivery times.
And Yahoo Japan is shouldering part of the delivery costs for vendors that offer fast shipping.