Welcome Message
Tsugio Makimoto, Ph. D
Director of SHMJ
Welcome to the “Semiconductor History Museum of Japan”!
I would like to express my hearty greetings to the visitors of SHMJ.
Six decades have passed since the transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories in 1947. In the meantime, technical innovation has continued incessantly in this industry, and it has become the foundation up on which today’s highly-networked information society is constructed.
In the early stages of the semiconductor industry, Japan played a major role together with the US. However the pattern of development between the two countries was quite different. In the US, military applications, space technology, and main frame computers were the major drivers of the industry; in Japan, on the contrary, the major drivers were consumer electronics such as radios, television, calculators, watches, and VCRs.
The synergistic development of the semiconductor and consumer electronics was the major factor which contributed to the post war recovery of Japan, which was referred to as the “Japan miracle”.
The importance of the semiconductor industry will remain unchanged in the future, especially in our country, where natural resources are scarce. Furthermore, it will play a most important role in the “Age of the Environment” by providing the technical foundation for such areas as the smart grid, solar batteries, LED lightings, and electric vehicles.
It is therefore extremely important to preserve the historical records from the first dawn of this industry; I believe that this can serve as a guidepost for the future. As the old saying goes “lessons from the past guide us into the future”.
I wish the SHMJ will serve as a valuable source of information not only to the people engaged in this field, but also to the general public, and this industry will continue to serve as the foundation for our future society.
In a word, the SHMJ is the guidepost to the future!
Please enjoy your visit to the museum.