Late 1960s
The Launch of the IC Industry and Japan's Trend
*** Industry Trends ***
IC technology was invented in 1958/59 [1], [2]. Consequently, around the early 1960s in the United States, transistor logic circuits used in computing—such as RTL, DTL, ECL, and TTL—were successively integrated onto ICs [3], [4], [5], [6]. Concurrently, IC development progressed for electronic circuits used for communication equipment and various consumer devices, with Europe and Japan joining the effort. The results began appearing in various fields by the mid of 1960s. For example, at the ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference), which started in 1954, IC-related presentations surged around 1964. Then, in the late 1960s, the full-fledged IC industry finally took off. In Japan, IC development commenced immediately upon obtaining information about IC development in the United States. Following the successful IC prototype development by the Electrical Testing Laboratory in 1960, development also progressed within private companies.[7]. And just as with the domestic production of transistors in the 1950s, the learning and introduction of leading U.S. IC technology was actively in pursuit of IC development. The fact that many Japanese began attending international conferences such as ISSCC and IEDM (International Electron Devices Meeting) in the late 1960s is also indicative of this trend. IC development in Japan, which had virtually no military or space industry, was concentrated on large computers and consumer electronics applications. In the former case, Ultra-High-Performance Electronic Computer Research Association (established in 1966) [8] led by Ministry of International Trade and Industry aimed at creating a domestic computer to compete with IBM's System/360 in 1964 served as a catalyst for advancing the domestic production of computer ICs. This simultaneously contributed to the formation of Japan's IC technology foundation (notably including the proposal of NMOS memory, which became mainstream in the 1970s, presented at ISSCC 1969 [9]). The MOS LSI for calculators [10], which became a pillar of Japan's semiconductor industry in the 1970s, can be said to have grown on this technological foundation. Meanwhile, in the latter category of consumer electronics ICs, Japanese consumer electronics companies—manufacturers of radios, TVs, calculators, and similar appliances—took the lead in enhancing Japan's industrial competitiveness [11][12] [13]. In these consumer semiconductor fields, Japan leveraged its unique strengths in high-quality, low-cost manufacturing and miniaturization (“light, thin, short, and small”) technologies to surpass the United States, which had previously led the market. The late 1960s served as a stepping stone for Japan's semiconductor leap forward in the 1970s and beyond.
【References】
- Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1958: Invention of the semiconductor integrated circuit"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi716E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1959: Invention of the planar IC"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi717E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1961: Introduction of RTL"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi1201E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1962: DTL goes on sale"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi1202E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1962: MECL- I ICs featuring ECL"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi750E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "Mid-1960s: TTL appears"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi749E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "Early 1960s: Beginning of IC production in Japan"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi719E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Industry Trends, "1966: Establishment of the Ultra-High-Performance Electronic Computer Research Association"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/en/industry-trends/it196007e.html - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "Late 1960s: Beginnings of MOS memory"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi718E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "Mid-1960s: Mass-production of ICs for calculators begins"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi720E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "Late 1960s: Analog ICs produced for consumer use"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi706E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Industry Trends, "1969: World's First CMOS LSI Application Product"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/en/industry-trends/it196009e.html - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Integrated Circuits, "1972 to 1973: CMOS LSI circuits for calculators"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi707E.pdf
Ver.001: 2026/2/1