Office Computers

Brief HistoryExhibits

year/month Timeline
1961/02 Casio: Announced the TUC Compuwriter accounting computer/billing machine that became the progenitor of office computers.
1961/05 NEC developed NEAC-1201, the first digital accounting machine in Japan and the usher of a small business computer
1961  Unoke Denshi: Completed the USAC-3010 and 5010 (transistor type) small computers that set the course for office computers.
1962  Sharp entered the office computer market with the CTS-1, a relay computer designed specifically for billing operations
1963  Unoke Electronic Industrial: Develops the ultra-compact, low-priced USAC-1010 computer with increased applicability to paperwork processing
1963  Casio: Announced the CabiconO-1 (Model O-1) IDP system machine.
1965/03 Fujitsu announced a small computer, FACOM 230-10
1965/12 Hitachi: Announced the HITAC-8100 small business computer.
1966  Oki Electric: Announced the OKIMINITAC Series, the company’s first small business computer.
1966  Casio: Announced the Σ-T1210 electronic tabulator.
1967/02 NEC: Announced the NEAC-1240, the world’s first super small computer using ICs.
1968/01 Mitsubishi Electric put its first Japanese Small Business computer MELCOM 81 on the market
1968/04 Toshiba: Announced the TOSBAC-1100E, the first super small computer using DTL ICs in Japan.
1969/05 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM-83 that used a general-purpose electronic printer and that could process kana characters.
1970/04 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM 230-15 general-purpose small computer.
1970/05 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM-84 that could perform magnetic ledger processing.
1970  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC-1 full-fledged billing machine.
1971/04 Ricoh, in partnership with TDK, developed the RICOM 8, a full-fledged data processing system that offered high processing speeds, large storage capacity, and a compact footprint
1971/09 USAC Electornic Industrial (now PFU): Completed the USAC 720/10, the first model in the USAC 720 Series, which became the first super small computer to make a series in Japan.
1972/04 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM-88, which achieved multi-billing.
1973/01 Toshiba: Announced the TOSBAC-1350 with a built-in magnetic disk.
1973/08 NEC: Announced the NEAC System 100 ultra-small computer.
1973  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC 5 and 55 that used magnetic cards.
1974/04 Sharp rolled out the HAYAC-5000, which featured time-slicing multitasking and virtual memory
1974/08 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM V0, which was jointly developed with USAC Electronic Industrial (now PFU).
1974/09 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 Model 31 providing the simple programming language “Progress.”
1974  Toshiba: Introduced the TOSBAC-1150 System VI Sheet-File System, the first true floppy disk based office computer built by a Japanese company.
1975/09 Uchida Yoko: Announced the USAC 820, an office computer that could start programs from a standard floppy disk.
1975/12 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM Bm, an office computer that could start programs from a standard floppy disk.
1975  Casio: Announced the Σ-8000, an office computer that used a floppy disk.
1976/04 NEC: Announced the NEAC System 100E and 100F office computers that utilized 16-bit LSI processors and peripheral control circuits fabricated using LSI for the first in a Japanese-produced computer.
1976/07 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 Model 8 small office computer equipped with 8-bit microprocessor.
1976/08 Oki Electric: Announced the OKITACsystem9 Series, the company’s first office computer.
1976  Ricoh developed the Ricoh PenCol DE5000, an office computer with a touch-pen input
1977/01 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM V Series of small general-purpose computers.
1977/04 Toshiba: Introduced the TOSBAC System 15, 35, and 55 office computers with CRTs.
1977  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-320 providing simple parameter language.
1978/05 Toshiba: Announced the TOSBAC Kanji System 15, Japan’s first true Kanji office computer.
1978/05 Sharp rolled out the HAYAC-6000, the first office computer with a chained-processor architecture that linked together multiple computers
1978/08 Toshiba: Introduced the DP/6, the first Japanese-made distributed processing computer.
1978/09 NEC: Announced the NEAC System 150, the first computer in Japan with a built-in interactive teaching operating system (ITOS).
1979/04 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM System 80 office computer employing 10, 000 gate CMOS LSI processor.
1979/04 Uchida Yoko: Announced the USAC System 11 office computer employing a 10, 000 gate CMOS LSI processor.
1979/04 Fujitsu: Announced, together with the FACOM System 80 above, the small model FACOM V-830 office computer employing 10, 000 gate CMOS LSI processor.
1979/05 Oki Electric: Announced the OKITACsystem9 K Series, the company’s first office computers with complete Kanji character support.
1979  Casio: Announced the Σ-8700 “Kanji Office Computer.”
1979  Ricoh developed the component-based RICOM 2000 series of office computers
1980/02
【World】Motorola began shipping the MC 68000 microprocessor with 32-bit internal processing and a 16-bit external bus
1980/02 NEC: Announced the NEAC System 50II, 100II, and 150II—Japanese language interactive office computers.
1980/03 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 Japanese Language Series, which supported Japanese language information containing both kanji (Chinese characters) and hiragana (one of the Japanese phonic alphabets).
1980/06 Sharp rolled out the HAYAC-3800 kanji-based office processor with the industry’s first voice guidance function
1981/04 NEC: Announced a new family consisting of 5 models, including the NEC System 20/25 and others, with the same software system.
1981/06 Sharp rolled out the HAYAC-7000 office computer that relied on a multiprocessor system
1982/09 Oki Electric: Announced the OKITACsystem9 V Series, the first Japanese made office computer supporting a phrase-by-phrase kana-kanji conversion function.
1982/11 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 OFFICELAND Series Model 500 employing the first 32-bit architecture in an office computer.
1983/06 Sharp rolled out the OA-8100 series of office automation processors that were the industry's first UNIX-based office computers
1983  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-70, 50, 30 Series of multifunctional office computers.
1984/04 NEC: Announced the NEC System 100/58 and other office computers employing the first 32-bit single-chip processors in Japan.
1984/05 Uchida Yoko: Announced the New Camarade desktop office computer.
1984/05 Uchida Yoko: Announced, together with the New Comarade above, the USAC 2001 Series of office computers that made possible distributed systems by connecting with the New Comarade.
1984/05 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM K-10 desktop office computer.
1984/05 Fujitsu: Announced, together with the K-10 above, the FACOM K Series (K-200 Series) of office computers that made possible distributed systems by connecting with the K-10.
1984/12 Toshiba: Introduced the single architectured TOSBAC Q Series, which covered an entire range of computers from small to large.
1984 
【World】Motorola began shipping the MC 68020 32-bit microprocessor
1985/10 NEC: Announced the NEC Office Processor VS Series, which was suitable for integrated office automation (OA) systems.
1985  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-70, 50, 30/5 Series providing distributed processing functions.
1985  Ricoh developed the RICOM I series of high-performance office computers that provided voice and image processing
1986/02 Sharp rolled out the OA-310 UNIX office computer that supported true distributed processing
1986/11 Oki Electric: Announced the OKITACsystem11 Series of office computers with enhanced distributed processing functions.
1986  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-70, 50, 30/8 Series that uses CMOS 24, 000 gate VLSI.
1986  Casio: Announced the SX-1000 Series of office computers employing a 32-bit CPU and UNIX that supported the Japanese language and equipped with powerful networking functions.
1987/01 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 System 80G, the largest office computer in Japan.
1987/05 NEC: Announced the NEC System 3100, employing multi-processors.
1987/09 Toshiba: Introduced the high-end models of V-7000 Series with multiple CPUs.
1987 
【World】Motorola began shipping the MC 68030 32-bit microprocessor with an internal MMU
1988/10 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM K-150 32-bit desktop office computer.
1988/10 Fujitsu: Announced the FACOM K-600 Series with multiple CPUs implementing Strategic Management Partners concept.
1988/10 NEC: Announced the NEC System 3100A Series with enhanced networking functions.
1988/10 Uchida Yoko: Announced the USAC GX Series 32-bit desktop office computer and the USAC Manager Series of office computers.
1988  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-70, 50, 30/8ES that employed CMOS 60, 000 gate VLSI.
1989/04 Mitsubishi Electric: Announced the MELCOM80 GEOC GR Family with a built-in GREO ultra-fast relational database processor.
1989/10 Oki Electric: Announced the OKI systemA10 and A100 Series of Integrated Office Systems equipped with a 32-bit MPU.
1989  Casio: Announced the ADPS R1 Series with its “program-less” feature.
1989  Hitachi: Announced the HITAC L-700 Series equipped with intelligent form recognition functions.
1990/03 Toshiba: Introduced the TP90/70 Model, which achieves high reliability using redundant disks, etc.
1990/10 Fujitsu: Announced the FUJITSU K-600Si Series of office computers with improved support of corporate strategic information systems.
1990/10 NEC: Announced the NEC System 3100 Series, suitable for large strategic information systems(SIS).
1990/10 Uchida Yoko: Announced the USAC 8800 Series of office computers with improved support of corporate strategic information systems.
1990/12 Sharp rolled out the highly reliable OA-410 UNIX file server with disk redundancy
1990 
【World】Motorola began shipping the MC 68040 32-bit microprocessor with an internal FPU and MMU
1991/10 Hitachi announced the HITAC L-700 Model E series of office computers, adding the high-end 790E model to a revamped lineup
1992/10 Fujitsu announced the K-6000 series with improved network connectivity with PCs and workstations
1992/11 Mitsubishi Electric announced the GS700/10, the flagship model of the MELCOM80 GS office computer family
1993/05 NEC rolled out the 7200 series of office server systems that offered better cost effectiveness
1993/12 Hitachi announced the elles series of office computers that supported open-source systems while ensuring the continued use of office computer resources
1994/07 Mitsubishi Electric announced the RX7000 series of solution servers for building open-source client-server systems while making use of office-computer application resources
1994/11 Fujitsu announced the K-6000α series that ran on RISC processors
1995/12 Mitsubishi Electric announced the D20 and E20 entry-level RX7000 series solution servers that emulated the RX7000 architecture in Windows NT
1996/04 Toshiba announced the TP90F series of office servers that allowed users to select hardware components to create the optimal system for their applications
1997/05 Fujitsu announced the GRANPOWER 6000 series, which used Pentium Pro processors in entry-level and mid-range models
1997/10 NEC rolled out the Express 5800/600 series that enabled connectivity between office server resources and Windows NT software applications
2000/05 Fujitsu announced the PRIMERGY 6000 series with Pentium III or Pentium III Xeon processors in all models
2000/09 Mitsubishi Electric announced the Entrance series of office servers that were integrated into Web environments for professional e-business support