1966
Establishment of the Ultra-High-Performance Electronic Computer Research Association under the government's industrial development policy
*** Industry Trends ***
In 1964, IBM announced the System/360[1]. It was a general-purpose computer known as a mainframe, and it was the first to incorporate newly developed IC technology. Prior to this, Japan's major electronics firms had been chasing IBM by developing transistorized computers tailored for domestic applications. However, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (later the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) feared IBM's mainframe series would dominate the Japanese market. Consequently, in 1966, it launched the Ultra-High-Speed Electronic Computer Research Association, with including NEC, Hitachi, and Fujitsu. This association advanced development across a wide range of areas, including operating systems, computer hardware, peripheral devices, and component materials. As a result, Hitachi's HITAC 8000 series emerged in 1967, followed by Fujitsu's FACOM 230-60 and NEC's NEAC 3100 in 1968. Within the five-year from 1965 to 1970, the domestic computer market surged from ¥50 billion to ¥300 billion, and domestically produced mainframe computers secured a certain share of this market. In this research consortium, since nearly all logic circuit ICs in the early 1960s were American-made, achieving 100% domestic production of these became a primary objective. This domestic production of logic circuit ICs [2] also strengthened the foundation for consumer IC production in the late 1960s [3][4] and for the technological development of LSI integration beginning in the 1970s [1]. Regarding the latter, pioneering proposals in computing technology were also made, such as the NMOS memory (presented at ISSCC 1969) [5], which became mainstream in the 1970s. This Ministry of International Trade and Industry policy of research associations led to NTT's ultra-LSI development project in the 1970s, which spearheaded the development of NMOS memory that became Japan's mainstay, and to the establishment of the Ultra-LSI Technology Research Association. While joint development between private companies was prohibited in the United States by antitrust laws, there is no doubt that these government-led research associations enhanced the competitiveness of Japanese semiconductors. Later, the United States also revised its antitrust laws, enabling the establishment of private-sector consortia like SEMATECH[6].
【References】
- Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Industry Trends, "Late 1960s: The Launch of the IC Industry and Japan's Trend"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/en/industry-trends/it196009e.html - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Packaging Technology, "1971: Development of 36-pin packages"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/pkg/exhibi518E.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, Integrated Circuits, "Late 1960s: Beginnings of MOS memory"
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi718E.pdf - Semiconductor History Museum of Japan, Industry Trends, "1987: Foundation of SEMATECH in the U.S."
https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/trends/trd80s.html
Ver.001: 2026/2/1