IBM Yamato Facility

IBM Yamato Facility located in the city of Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, is where IBM's research and development activities were done for IBM's worldwide and Asia-Pacific region market. Its buildings were designed by the architecture firm of Nikken Sekkei Ltd. and completed in 1985. In July, 2012, all IBM research and development functions completed moving to IBM Toyosu Facility, Tokyo.^[1] The last IBM-related organizations left Yamato around September, 2012, and the facility is no longer associated with IBM.

IBM Yamato Facility - R&D Buildings

General[]

IBM Yamato Facility houses IBM's research and development centers in Japan. Its address is 1623-14, Shimo-tsuruma, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its buildings were completed in 1985.

IBM Yamato Development Laboratory[]

History[]

A brief history is as follows:^[2]

IBM did in Japan small-scale development activities, using RPQ procedure at its Special Engineering department - 1960s
IBM Japan Development Laboratory (JDL) was established in Tokyo - 1972
JDL moved to IBM Fujisawa Plant site, becoming IBM Fujisawa Development Laboratory (FDL) - 1975
FDL moved to the current site, becoming IBM Yamato Development Laboratory (usually called Yamato Lab, not as YDL). IBM Tokyo Programming Center (VM/Office System, Banking System, Retail System, etc.) at Kawasaki also moved here. - 1985
IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory also moved to Yamato - 1993
As IBM sold its Personal Computer Division to Lenovo, Yamato Lab's ThinkPad departments were separated, but remain at Yamato site - 2005

Products and technologies[]

Announced products and technologies include:

For the worldwide market[]

IBM 3767 printer terminal (using SNA/SDLC) - 1974
IBM 3276 3270 display-controller - 1975
IBM 3101 ASCII display - 1979
Scan Master - 1982
IBM 3178 Lower cost 3270 display - 1983
IBM 3179 Low cost 3270 color display - 1984
Scanner and PC Adapter - 1986
Display Station - 1986
Graphics Terminal - 1987
IBM ThinkPad - 1992

etc.

For Japan & Asia-Pacific region[]

IBM Kanji System - 1971 & 1979
Double-byte Technical Coordination Office (DTCO), a support center of the Asian languages - 1982
IBM Multistation 5550 & Bunsho Program (DisplayWrite/5550) - 1983
IBM 3270 Kanji Emulator & IBM 5250 Kanji Emulator
IBM JX - 1984
IBM Office & Document Processing System (ODPS), a DBCS-enabled VM/PROFS for CJK) - 1986
IBM 4680 Store System (using IBM 5550 base) & IBM 4692 POS Workstation - 1986
IBM SAIL/ESA (System Development Aid for IMS/ESA On-Line Applications): a package for Japanese financial organizations
IBM DOS/V - 1990 & PC Open Architecture Developers' Group (OADG) -1991
IBM Homepage Builder - 1994
IBM FormWave (workflow system) - 1995

etc.

Development Lab Directors[]

The Development Lab Directors (or those who were in charge of Development & Manufacturing) were:

Edward V. Hoffler (1971–1974)
Nobuo Mii (1974–1977)
Keiichiro Meigo
Hajime Watabe
Toshio Yasui (1987–1991)
Kiyoji Ishida
Tsutomu Maruyama
Yukako Uchinaga (2004–2007)
Yoshinori Sakaue (2007–2008)
Kazushi Kuse (2009- )

Development project areas[]

According to IBM Japan,^[3] there are at IBM Yamato Facility these projects:
server systems, storage systems, embedded hardware, communication systems, printers, retail store systems, application systems, telecommunication, Internet related, pervasive computing, finance industry systems, customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI), and technical and consulting services about hardware and software.

IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory[]

IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory, also known as TRL, was established in 1983, as IBM's first research center in Asia、It was initially located in Tokyo, but moved to the Yamato site in 1993. It is involved in the basic researches, in association with IBM's other research centers at Yorktown Heights, New York (Thomas J. Watson Research Center); Zurich, Switzerland; etc. In 2008, there are 200 researchers.

Access[]

Ten minutes' walk from:

Chuo-Rinkan Station on Den-en Toshi Line, Tokyu Electric Railway
Chuo-Rinkan Station on Enoshima Line, Odakyu Electric Railway

References[]

^ IBM Opens IBM Tokyo Laboratory in Toyosu, Tokyo, on July 1, 2012 (IBM Press Release, in Japanese)
^ Hensch, K.; Igi, T.; Iwao, M.; Oda, A.; Takeshita, T. (2005). "IBM History of Far Eastern Languages in Computing, Part 3: IBM Japan Taking the Lead, Accomplishments through the 1990s". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 27: 38–55. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2005.11.
^ IBM Japan's Facilities: R&D

External links[]

IBM Japan's Facilities: R&D (in Japanese)
IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory

Coordinates: 35°30′19.8″N 139°27′7.8″E / 35.505500°N 139.452167°E / 35.505500; 139.452167

[1] IBM Opens IBM Tokyo Laboratory in Toyosu, Tokyo, on July 1, 2012 (IBM Press Release, in Japanese)

[2] Hensch, K.; Igi, T.; Iwao, M.; Oda, A.; Takeshita, T. (2005). "IBM History of Far Eastern Languages in Computing, Part 3: IBM Japan Taking the Lead, Accomplishments through the 1990s". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 27: 38–55. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2005.11.

[3] IBM Japan's Facilities: R&D

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