List of Japanese inventions and discoveries

This is a list of Japanese inventions and discoveries. The Japanese have made contributions across a number of scientific, technological and art domains. In particular, the country has played a crucial role in the digital revolution since the 20th century, with many modern revolutionary and widespread technologies in fields such as electronics and robotics introduced by Japanese inventors and entrepreneurs.

Arts

See also: Japanese art

Origami paper cranes (orizuru)

A kamishibaiya (kamishibai artist) in Tokyo, performing Ōgon Bat (1930).

• Kamishibai — Originates from 8th century Buddhist temples where monks used emakimono picture scrolls, an early combination of picture and text, to convey a story.
  • Costumed superhero — The kamishibai characters Ōgon Bat (1930) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s) were the earliest costumed superheroes with superpowers.
  • Mecha — Dai Ningen Tanku from the kamishibai Ōgon Bat (1930) was the first piloted humanoid giant mecha robot.
  • Superhero secret identity — Prince of Gamma (early 1930s) was the earliest superhero with superpowers and a secret identity.
• Noh — A historical genre of Japanese theatre that originated from sarugaku in the mid‑14th century.
  • Kabuki — A genre of Japanese theatre developed by female dancer Okuni in the early 17th century.
  • Psychological horror — Psychological Japanese horror has roots in classical Japanese Noh theatre.
  • Revolving stage — Invented for the Kabuki theatre in Japan during the 18th century.
• Origami — Folded paper were used for decorations and tools in Shinto ceremonies, where decorations and gifts in folded paper became stylized as ceremonial origami.
  • Paper crane (orizuru) — The kozuka of a Japanese sword made by Gotō Eijō between the 1500s–1600s was decorated with a picture of a crane made of origami.
  • Yoshizawa–Randlett system — The Yoshizawa–Randlett system is a diagramming system used for origami models. It was first developed by Akira Yoshizawa in 1954. It was later improved upon by Samuel Randlett and Robert Harbin.
• Physical challenge game show — Takeshi's Castle (1986) hosted by Takeshi Kitano established a genre of television game shows involving physical challenges and painful entertainment. It inspired numerous similar game shows around the world.
• Superflat — A postmodern art form, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime.

Animation

See also: Anime and History of anime

Katsudō Shashin (1907), the earliest anime.

The Dull Sword (1917) features the earliest animated fight scene.

• Anime — Japanese animation known as anime began in the early 20th century. The earliest anime was the animated short Katsudō Shashin (1907).
  • Animated fight scene — The Dull Sword (1917), an early anime short film, features the earliest animated fight scene.
  • Clock tower fight scene — An inventive set piece from Hayao Miyazaki's Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) that was influential in Hollywood cinema.
• Bishōjo — Hayao Miyazaki's female characters Lana from Future Boy Conan (1978) and Clarisse from The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) were early icons of the bishōjo boom.
  • Moe — The character of Clarisse from Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) has been cited as a potential ancestral example.
• Bullet time — The bullet time visual effect originated as a cel animation effect in the anime series Speed Racer (1967).
• CGI animated feature film — Golgo 13: The Professional (1983) was the first animated feature film with computer-animated scenes.
  • Ray-traced reflections — The Japanese CGI short films Bio-Sensor (1984) and Nagisa no Peppy (1987) made early use of ray-tracing with reflections.
  • Photorealistic computer-animated film — Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Square Pictures was the first computer-animated feature film with photorealistic CGI animation.
• Cyberpunk animation — The earliest animated cyberpunk work was the original video animation (OVA) Megazone 23 (1985).
  • Simulated reality — Megazone 23 (1985) tackled the concept of a simulated reality more than a decade before live-action films such as Dark City (1998), The Matrix (1999) and Existenz (1999).
  • Digital rain — Originates from the cyberpunk anime film Ghost in the Shell (1995), a strong influence on The Matrix (1999).
  • Postcyberpunk audiovisual media — The first postcyberpunk audio-visual media work was anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002). It has been called "the most interesting, sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence".
• Motion capture — The Japanese CGI short films Bio-Sensor (1984) and Nagisa no Peppy (1987) made early use of rudimentary motion capture, using profile and head-on films of a tiger walking.
  • Motion capture feature film — Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which began development in the late 1990s and released in 2001, was the first major feature film produced entirely with motion capture technology.
• Multi-season story arc — 1980s Japanese anime series, notably Dragon Ball (1986) and Dragon Ball Z (1989), developed a TV serialization format where a continuous story arc stretches over numerous episodes or multiple seasons.
• Original net animation (ONA) — Makoto Shinkai was a pioneer of ONA, producing the earliest ONA short films with Tōi Sekai (1997) and Kakomareta Sekai (1998).
  • Animated web film — The earliest animated web films were Makoto Shinkai's ONA short films Tōi Sekai (1997) and Kakomareta Sekai (1998).
  • Anime web series — The earliest anime web series was the ONA series Infinite Ryvius: Illusion (2000).
• Real robot — Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) introduced the real robot concept and, along with The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), formed the basis of real robot anime.
• Steampunk animation — The earliest steampunk anime were Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato (1974) and Hayao Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan (1978).
  • Hadouken — Street Fighter game creator Takashi Nishiyama credits the energy attack Hadouho ("Wave Motion Gun") from Space Battleship Yamato as the origin of the Hadouken attack.
• Sweat drop — The sweat drop had long been part of manga iconography. The first animation to depict a large sweat drop, when a character is in trouble, is believed to be the 1991 anime adaptation of the manga Goldfish Warning!
• Time loop animation — Mamoru Oshii's Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, produced in 1983 and released in 1984, was the first animated film about a time loop, predating Groundhog Day (1993).
• Video game film — The first video game film adaptations were the 1986 anime films Super Mario Bros: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen and Running Boy: Star Soldier no Himitsu.
• Virtual idol — Originates from Macross franchise (1982). First virtual idol was Lynn Minmay from Macross.
• Virtual influencer — The Japanese talent agency Horipro created the first real-life AI virtual influencer, Kyoko Date, in 1995.

Architecture

See also: Japanese architecture and Construction industry of Japan

Hōryū-ji (607), the oldest Earthquake-resistant wooden pagoda.

• Earthquake-resistant structures — Shinbashira-based Japanese pagodas and temples are earthquake resistant. The earliest is Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple built in 607.
  • Shinbashira — A central pillar made of hinoki cypress at the core of a Japanese pagoda or temple. Hōryū-ji (607) is the earliest example.
  • Tuned mass damper (TMD) — The earliest example of this concept is the Shinbashira design in the Hōryū-ji (607).
  • Wooden building — Hōryū-ji (607) is the oldest surviving wooden building.
• Electronic wallpaper — At the FPD 2008 exhibition, Japanese company Soken demonstrated a wall with electronic wallpaper.

Nagoya Castle (1612), a Japanese castle.

• Japanese castle — Fortresses constructed primarily out of stone and wood used for military defence in strategic locations.
• Japanese pagoda — The Japanese pagoda originates from the Chinese pagoda, but was adapted for Japan's environment, such as the addition of a Shinbashira pillar.
  • Tahōtō — Tahōtō is a form of Japanese pagoda found primarily at Esoteric Shingon and Tendai school Buddhist temples. Unlike most pagodas, it has two stories.
• Love hotel — Originates from Osaka's Hotel Love, opened in 1968.
• Metabolism — A post-war Japanese architectural movement developed by a wide variety of Japanese architects including Kiyonori Kikutake, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki.
  • Capsule hotel — The first capsule hotel in the world opened in 1979 and was the Capsule Inn Osaka, located in the Umeda district of Osaka, designed by Kisho Kurokawa.
• New Formalism architecture — An architectural style co-developed by Minoru Yamasaki in the 20th century. He is known for designing the original World Trade Center (1973).

Cinema

See also: Cinema of Japan

Seven Samurai (1954), directed by Akira Kurosawa, is one of the most influential films of all time.

• Blockbuster format — Akira Kurosawa's Japanese films, especially Seven Samurai (1954), were "the clearest precursor" and "model for" the Hollywood blockbuster format.
  • Assembling the team — Seven Samurai (1954) originated the "assembling the team" trope, commonly used in action films, sports films and heist films.
  • Cutting on action — Kurosawa's approach to cutting on motion in films such as Seven Samurai has been widely adopted by many Hollywood blockbuster films.
  • Evil empire — Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958) established the adventure film trope of rebels against an evil empire, notably inspiring Star Wars (1977).
  • Numbered sequel — Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945) was the earliest numbered sequel in the history of cinema.

• Buddy cop — Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog (1949), starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura as a police duo, was the earliest buddy cop film.
  • Police procedural film — Stray Dog was a precursor to the modern police procedural film genre.
• Digital cinema — In 1992, Hughes-JVC was founded by JVC and Hughes Electronics to develop ILA (Image Light Amplifer) digital video projectors for commercial movie theaters using liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) technology.
  • 4K resolution digital cinema — In 2000, JVC introduced the first D-ILA (direct-drive ILA) 4K digital cinema projector.
• Eastman Color Negative film — Jigokumon (1953) was the first color film shot using the Eastman Color Negative (ECN) format, with film processing by Imagica. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival.
• Fatality — Fatality finishing moves first appeared in The Street Fighter (1974), a Japanese martial arts film starring Sonny Chiba.
• Henshin Hero (transforming hero) — In 1957, Shintoho produced the first Super Giant film serial, signaling a shift in popularity that favored masked superheroes over giant monsters called the "Henshin Boom" later popularized by Kamen Rider (1971).
  • Kyodai Hero (giant hero) — This tokusatsu superhero subgenre initially began with the Japanese film Ghidorah (1964), where Godzilla is a prototypical Kyodai hero, paving the way for the Kyodai hero franchise Ultraman (1966).
• IMAX film — Tiger Child (1970), the first IMAX film production, was produced by Japanese company Asuka Productions. It premiered at Expo '70 in Osaka at the Fuji Group Pavilion.
• Jidaigeki — Jidaigeki silent films date back to the early 20th century.
  • Ninja film — Jidaigeki silent films began depicting ninjas in the 1910s.
  • Samurai cinema — Jidaigeki silent films began depicting samurai in the 1910s.
• Kaiju — Yoshirō Edamasa's The Great Buddha Arrival (1934) is one of the earliest examples of a kaiju film in Japanese cinematic history.
  • Giant monster suit — Eiji Tsuburaya, while working on the film Godzilla (1954), formulated the technique of using a human actor in a creature suit to play a giant monster combined with the use of miniatures and scaled-down city sets.
• Live-action video game film — The Japanese film Mirai Ninja (1988) was the first live-action video game film adaptation.
• Low angle — A noted aspect of Yasujirō Ozu's camera technique is his consistent use of an extremely low camera position to shoot his subjects, a practice traced back to his films of the 1931–1932 period.
  • Tatami shot — Yasujirō Ozu invented the tatami shot, in which the camera is placed at a low height, roughly the eye level of a person kneeling on a tatami mat.
• Man with No Name — A stock character that originated with Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), where the archetype was first portrayed by Toshirō Mifune. The archetype was adapted by Sergio Leone for his Spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy.
• Mentorship — Akira Kurosawa films such as Sanshiro Sugata (1943), Drunken Angel (1948) and Stray Dog (1949) established the themes of mentorship and mentor-student relationships in cinema.
• Modern action film — Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) is considered to be the first modern action film.
  • Opening action scene — Seven Samurai established the common action film trope where the action hero is introduced in an action opening scene unrelated to the film's larger plot.
  • Slow motion action scene — Pioneered by Kurosawa with films such as Sanshiro Sugata, Rashomon and Seven Samurai.
• Multi-camera action scene — Pioneered by Akira Kurosawa with films such as Sanshiro Sugata (1943), Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samurai (1954).
  • Volumetric capture studio — In 2010, the first dedicated volumetric video motion capture studio was Tokyo's DigiCast studio, built by 4Dviews and Crescent Inc.
• Time loop feature film — The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1983), based on the 1969 novel of the same name, was the earliest feature film about a time loop, predating Groundhog Day (1993).
• Tokusatsu — Tokusatsu special effects date back to films by Shōzō Makino (from 1914 to 1928).
  • Suitmation — Eiji Tsuburaya, while working on the film Godzilla (1954), formulated the special effects technique of suitmation, the use of a human actor in a costume to play a giant monster combined with the use of miniatures and scaled-down sets.
  • Suit actor — A notable early example was Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima.
• Yakuza film — Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (1948) was the first film to depict post-war yakuza.

Comics

See also: Manga, History of manga, and Manga iconography

Hokusai Manga, (early 19th century) was an early manga comic book.

• Comic book — Kibyoshi picture books from the late 18th century were the world's first comic books. These graphical narratives share themes with modern manga.
• Large eyes — Originates from shōjo magazines in the early 20th century, with the illustrations of Yumeji Takehisa, Jun'ichi Nakahara and Kashō Takabatake.
• Manga — Origins in 12th century scrolls, the basis for the right‑to‑left reading style. During the Edo period (1603–1867), Toba Ehon embedded the concept of manga.
  • Binge-viewing — Shōnen Jump (founded 1968) developed a formula of compiling chapters into standalone tankōbon volumes that could be "binged" all at once.
  • Cyberpunk manga — The genre began with Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1982).
  • Lone Wolf and Cub — The genre began with Osamu Tezuka's manga Dororo (1967) and Kazuo Koike's manga Lone Wolf and Cub (1970).
  • Magical girl — Princess Knight (1953) was a prototype for the genre. Himitsu no Akko-chan (1962) was the earliest true magical girl series.
• Mobile comic — Following the launch of NTT's i-mode (1999), Japanese mobile phones began offering downloadable mobile manga comics.
• Steampunk comic — The earliest steampunk manga comics were Osamu Tezuka's Lost World (1948), Metropolis (1949) and Nextworld (1951).
• Super robot — This mecha subgenre was defined by Go Nagai's manga series Mazinger Z (1972).
• Transforming robots — Gajo Sakamoto's manga comic Tank Tankuro (1934) introduced the concept of a transforming mecha robot.
• Video game comic — The earliest comic book based on video games was the manga Game Center Arashi (1978).

Literature

See also: Japanese literature and Japanese science fiction

The Tale of Genji (11th century) is considered to be the first historical novel.

• Isekai — The concept has origins in the story of fisherman Urashima Tarō (8th century), who saves a turtle and is brought to a wondrous undersea kingdom.
• J-horror — Origins can be traced back to the horror fiction and ghost stories of the Edo period and Meiji era, which were known as kaidan ("strange story").
• Novel — Ochikubo Monogatari (10th century) has been called the "world's first full-length novel".
  • Historical novel — The Tale of Genji (11th century) is considered to be the first historical novel.
  • I-novel — The first I-novel is believed to be Tōson Shimazaki's The Broken Commandment (1906).
  • Light novel — Origins trace back to the serialization of Record of Lodoss War (1986–1989) in the magazine Comptiq.
  • Battle royale genre — The genre was established by Koushun Takami's novel Battle Royale (1999) and Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film adaptation.
  • Cell phone novel — The first cell phone novel was Deep Love (2002).

Kaguya-hime returning to the Moon in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (10th century), an early Japanese science fiction story.

• Science fiction — The early Japanese science fiction subgenre of Mirai-ki ("records of the future") dates back to the 7th century. Famous Mirai‑ki works includes Urashima Tarō (8th century) and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (10th century).
  • Time travel — Time travel in fiction dates back to the tale of Urashima Tarō from the Mukashibanashi (8th century).
  • Extraterrestrials in fiction — The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (10th century) is considered to be the first story about an extraterrestrial visiting Earth.
  • Flying saucer — The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (10th century) has an early manuscript illustration of a round flying machine similar to a flying saucer.
  • Time loop — The earliest novel about a time loop was Yasutaka Tsutsui's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1965).
• Superhero — Sarutobi Sasuke was an early superhero ninja from 1910s Japanese children's novels.
• Unreliable narrator — Dates back to Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's novel In a Grove (1922) and Akira Kurosawa's film adaptation Rashomon (1950).

Audio

See also: Electronics industry in Japan

Audio technology

Sony Discman D121

• Automatic dual-side record player — In 1981, Sharp Corporation released the first record player that automatically switches sides of a vinyl record.
• Delta-sigma modulation (ΔΣ) — In 1962, ΔΣ digital sampling was defined and named in 1962 by University of Tokyo researchers H. Inose, Y. Yasuda and J. Murakami.
• Digital audio recorder — In 1967, Heitaro Nakajima of NHK began work on the digitization of sound. By 1969, he developed the first digital audio tape recorder.
  • Digital multi-track recorder — Denon's DN-023R (1972) was the first digital multitrack recorder, supporting eight audio channels.
  • Digital audio mastering — The Denon DN-023R (1972) was the first pulse-code modulation (PCM) digital recorder for audio mastering.
  • PCM adaptor — Sony's PCM-1 (1976) was the first PCM adaptor and the first digital audio player and recorder for the consumer market.
  • Random access digital editing — The Denon DN-036ED (1982) was the first random access PCM digital audio editing system.
  • Digital mixing console — The Denon DN-050MD (1984) was the first digital mixing console for audio mastering.
• Digital optical audio disc — In 1976, Sony first demonstrated a digital audio optical disc. In 1978, they demonstrated a disc with 16-bit audio and 44,056 Hz sample rate.
  • Cross-interleaved error correction — In 1978, Sony demonstrated an optical audio disc with cross-interleaved error correction code.
  • Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) — Developed by Sony and Philips in 1980. Sony proposed 16-bit audio and 44.1 kHz sample rate based on their PCM adaptor.
  • Compact disc player (CD player) — The world's first CD player was Denon's DN-3000F (1981).
• Electrostatic headphones — The Stax SR-1 were the first electrostatic headphones, developed between 1959 and 1960 by Stax Ltd.
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack — Introduced with Sony's EFM-117J transistor radio in 1964.
  • In-ear headphones — Sony's MDR-E252 (1982) were the first in-ear headphones.
• FET audio power amplifier — In 1974, Junichi Nishizawa introduced a power MOSFET used as an audio power amplifier.
• High-resolution audio — In 1972, Denon's DN-023R digital audio recorder introduced a high-resolution 47.25 kHz sample rate.
  • 44,100 Hz (44.1 kHz) — Sony's PCM-1600 (1978) PCM adaptor introduced the CD quality standard of 16-bit audio and 44.1 kHz sample rate.
  • 48,000 Hz (48 kHz) — Introduced by Sony's PCM-3324 (1982) multitrack recorder, which played and recorded 16-bit audio at 44.1 KHz and 48 kHz sample rates.
  • 24-bit audio — Panasonic's D-5 HD (1994) digital video format supported 24-bit digital audio bit depth and 48 kHz sample rate.
  • Megahertz sample rate (MHz) — In 1999, the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) format by Sony and Philips introduced delta-sigma modulation with 1-bit audio and 2.8 MHz sample rate, developed for the Super Audio CD (SACD) format.
• Home stereo system — In 1962, Pioneer Corporation introduced the world's first home stereo system with detachable speakers.
  • Car stereo component speakers — In 1975, Pioneer Corporation released the first component car stereo system.
• Human voice synthesis — Early speech synthesis systems typically produced a low-quality robotic voice. In 1998, Toshiba introduced the first speech synthesis system that produced a high-quality human voice.
• Integrated amplifier — Sony's TA-1120 (1965) was the first silicon transistor stereo integrated amplifier. Compared to vacuum tube amplifiers at the time, the TA-1120 offered higher output with lower distortion.
• Karaoke — In 1967, the first karaoke machine was invented by Japanese engineer Shigeichi Negishi.
• Linear predictive coding (LPC) — The origins of linear predictive coding (LPC) speech coding dates back to the work of Fumitada Itakura (Nagoya University) and Shuzo Saito (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) in 1966.
  • Itakura–Saito distance — Fumitada Itakura and Shuzo Saito first presented the Itakura–Saito distance algorithm in 1968.
  • Line spectral pairs (LSP) — Developed by Fumitada Itakura in 1975.
• MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2) — The MUSICAM (MP2) audio coding format was co-developed by Matsushita (Panasonic) in 1989.
  • Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) — The AAC patent holders include Japanese companies JVC Kenwood, NEC, NTT, Panasonic and Sony.
• Paper audio record — In 1950, Yoshiro Nakamatsu invented the Jūshoku record, an optical sound media which uses a printed paper sheet instead of transparent film. He claimed it was an early floppy disk, which is disputed by IBM.
• Portable audio player — The Denon R-26-F (1951) was the first portable audio tape recorder.
  • Microcassette — Olympus Corporation's Zuiko Pearlcoder (1969) was the first microcassette tape recorder.
  • Personal stereo — The Sony Walkman (1979) was created by Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka and Kozo Ohsone. In everyday language, walkman became a generic term referring to any personal stereo, regardless of producer or brand.
  • Portable CD player — Sony's Discman, released in 1984, was the first portable CD player.
  • 1-bit DAC — The Sony D-303 (1991) was the first portable CD player to use a 1-bit digital-to-analog converter (1-bit DAC).
• Portable car stereo — The Sony Music Shuttle (1983) was the first car stereo that could be detached and used as a portable audio player.
  • 5.1 surround sound vehicle audio — In 2003, Honda's 2004 Acura TL was the first car with 5.1 surround sound.
• Speech recognition — In 1966, Fumitada Itakura and Shuzo Saito developed an early practical speech recognition algorithm using LPC.
• Stereo digital audio — In 1969, NHK developed the first pulse-code modulation (PCM) stereo digital audio recorder.
  • Discrete quadraphonic sound — In September 1970, JVC introduced Compatible Discrete 4 (CD-4), the first discrete quadraphonic sound system for LP records.
  • 8-channel digital audio — Denon's DN-023R (1972) digital audio recorder supported 8-channel digital audio.
  • 22.2 surround sound — In 2005, NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL) demonstrated the first prototype 22.2 surround sound system for its Super Hi-Vision UHDTV technology.
• Vehicle audio steering wheel controls — In 1984, the Nissan 300ZX introduced car radio controls on the steering wheel.

Instruments

Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer (1980), the first fully programmable drum machine and one of the most influential inventions in popular music.

• Analog modeling synthesizer — The Roland D-50 from 1987 was the first virtual analog synthesizer.
  • Linear arithmetic synthesis (LA synthesis) — A sample-based synthesis method invented by Roland Corporation for the Roland D-50 synthesizer (1987).
  • Sample-based synthesis with digital effects — The Roland D-50 (1987) was the first sample-based synthesizer with built-in digital effects such as delay, reverb and chorus.
  • Supersaw — A waveform created by Roland for the Roland JP-8000 (1996) analog modeling synthesizer. It is commonly used in trance music.
• Bass synthesizer–sequencer — The Japanese instruments Firstman SQ-01 (1980) and Roland TB-303 (1981) were the first bass synthesizers with integrated sequencers.
  • Acid bass — Acid house music is characterized by the distinctive squelching basslines of the Roland TB-303 (1981) bass synthesizer.
• Chorus pedal — The Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, released by Boss Corporation in 1976, was the first chorus pedal.
  • Overdrive pedal — The Boss OD-1 Overdrive (1977) was the first overdrive pedal.
  • Digital delay pedal — The Boss DD-2 (1983) was the first digital delay pedal.
  • Digital reverb pedal — The Boss RV-2 (1989) was the first digital reverb pedal.
• CV/gate — Introduced with the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer (1977) music sequencer.
  • DIN sync — Introduced with the Roland TR-808 (1980) drum machine.
• Digital piano — Yamaha Corporation's GS1 (1980) FM synthesizer was the earliest digital piano.
  • Digital piano sound module — The Roland MKS-20 (1986) was an early digital piano MIDI module, using Roland's structured adaptive synthesis (SAS) for more realistic piano sounds.
• Digital synthesizer — Yamaha developed the first prototype frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis) digital synthesizer in 1974.
  • Phase distortion synthesis (PD) — Invented by Casio for its Casio CZ-101 digital synthesizer in 1984.
  • Digital accordion — Roland Corporation's FR-7 (2004) was the first digital accordion.
• Direct-drive turntable — Invented by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now Panasonic), based in Osaka. In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10, the first in their influential Technics series of turntables.
  • CDJ — Pioneer DJ's CDJ-500 (1994) was the first commercial DJ CD player.
• Electronic drum — Ikutaro Kakehashi developed the first fully transistorized electronic drum instrument, the R1 Rhythm Ace, which was exhibited in 1964. It was manually hand-operated like modern electronic drum pads.
  • Mesh drumhead — The Roland V-Drums (1997) was the first drum kit with mesh drum pads.
  • Cymbal drum pad — Roland's TD-10 Expanded System (2001) was the first electronic drum kit with V-Cymbals drum pads.
  • Marching percussion electronic drum — Roland's RMP-12 Marching Percussion (2008) was the first electronic marching percussion instrument.
  • Cajón electronic drum — Roland's ELCajon EC-10 Electronic Percussion (2016) was the first hybrid cajón with built-in electronic sounds.
• Guitar synthesizer — The Roland GR-500 (1977), manufactured by Roland Corporation and FujiGen, was the first guitar synthesizer.
  • Keytar — The earliest commercial keytar was Japanese company Hillwood's RockeyBoard RB-1 (1977), a synth piano with voltage-controlled filter (VCF).
  • MIDI guitar — The Roland GR-700 (1984) was the first guitar synthesizer to support MIDI and memory functions.
• Handheld electronic tuner — Korg's WT10 (1975) was the first battery-powered handheld electronic tuner.
  • Chromatic tuner — Boss Corporation's TU-12 (1983) was the first automatic chromatic tuner.
  • Compact pedal tuner — The Boss TU-2 (1998) was the first compact pedal tuner.
• Microprocessor music sequencer — In 1977, the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer was an early stand-alone, microprocessor‑based, digital CV/gate sequencer.
  • Polyphonic digital sequencer — In 1977, the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer was an early polyphonic digital sequencer.
  • MIDI music sequencer — In 1983, the first MIDI music sequencer was the Roland MSQ-700.
• Microprocessor programmable drum machine — In 1978, the Roland CR-78 and CR-68 were the first microprocessor‑based programmable rhythm machines.
  • Fully programmable drum machine — The Roland TR-808 (1980) was the first fully programmable drum machine, with the ability to program an entire percussion track from beginning to end, complete with breaks and rolls.
  • Groovebox — The Roland CR-78 (1978), TR-808 (1980) and TR-606 (1981) were precursors to the groovebox. The Roland MC-202 (1983) is considered the first true groovebox.
  • MIDI drum machine — In 1983, the first MIDI drum machine was the Roland TR-909.
• MIDI — In 1981, Ikutaro Kakehashi of Roland Corporation proposed a standardized means of synchronizing electronic music instruments. Roland, Yamaha Corporation, Korg and Kawai co-developed the MIDI standard between 1981 and 1983.
  • MIDI keyboard — In 1983, the first MIDI Synthesizer keyboards were the Roland Jupiter-6 and Prophet 600.
  • MIDI sound card — Between 1982 and 1984, Roland developed the Roland MPU-401 (1984), the first MIDI-equipped sound card capable of MIDI sound processing and sequencing.
  • MIDI wind controller — Pioneered in the 1980s by Akai with the EVI and EWI as well as Yamaha's WX7 controller.
  • General MIDI — Standardized in 1991 by the Japan MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC) and MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA).
• MIDI digital audio workstation (DAW) — Yamaha Corporation's MSX personal computers, Yamaha Integrated System (YIS) and Yamaha CX5M developed between 1981 and 1983, were the first MIDI-equipped music workstations.
  • LCD digital audio workstation — Yamaha's C1 Music Computer (1988) laptop was the first portable DAW with liquid-crystal display (LCD).
  • Digital audio workstation with MIDI timecode (MTC) — Korg's Soundlink (1990) was the first DAW with MTC synchronisation.
  • Touchscreen digital audio workstation — In 1995, the Korg OASYS and Korg Trinity were the first DAWs with touch-sensitive screen.
• Music computer — Yamaha's MSX computers, Yamaha Integrated System (YIS) and Yamaha CX5M developed between 1981 and 1983, were the first dedicated music home computers.
  • USB audio interface — Roland's UA-100 USB Audio Interface (1998) was the first USB audio interface, allowing recording and playback of high-fidelity digital audio with a personal computer.
• Music Macro Language (MML) — The first commands for classical MML appeared on the Sharp MZ-80K (1978) computer.
• PCM digital sampler — Toshiba's LMD-649 (1981) was an early digital sampler that played and recorded PCM samples.
  • Multi-timbral polyphony — Akai's S900 (1986) digital sampler was the first multi-timbral MIDI instrument with dynamically‑assigned polyphonic parts.
• Phaser effects pedal — In 1968, Shin-ei's Uni-Vibe effects pedal, designed by audio engineer Fumio Mieda, incorporated phase shift and chorus effects, soon becoming favorite effects of guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower.
• Physical modelling synthesis — The first commercially available physical modelling synthesizer was Yamaha Corporation's VL‑1 in 1994.
• Polyphonic synthesizer with digital keyboard scanning — In the early 1970s, Yamaha developed polyphonic synthesizers with voice allocation technology and digital keyboard scanning. The Yamaha GX-1 (1973) used voice allocation technology.
  • Polyphonic string synthesizer — The earliest polyphonic string synthesizer was Roland Corporation's RS-101 (1975).
• Singing voice synthesis software — Between 1999 and 2003, Yamaha developed Vocaloid, a then novel software that synthesized a singing human voice.
• Sound chip — The earliest was Sony's PCM-1, a pulse-code modulation (PCM) processor introduced in 1976.
  • Differential PCM sound chip — The earliest was Oki Electric Industry's MSM5205, an adaptive differential PCM (ADPCM) speech synthesis chip released in 1979.
  • FM synthesis sound chip — Yamaha Corporation's GS1 (1980) synthesizer featured the earliest frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis) chipset.
  • Sample-based synthesis sound chip — The earliest is the Roland LA32 (1987) chip, producing LA synthesis (a form of sample-based synthesis) in the Roland D-50 synthesizer and Roland MT-32 sound module.
• Sound module — Roland Corporation's SPV355 Pitch‑to‑Voltage Synthesizer (1979) was the earliest rack-mounted sound module.
  • MIDI sound module — The Yamaha SFG-01 (1983) sound module for the MSX introduced FM synthesis and MIDI sequencing to computers.
  • Multi-timbral sound module — The Roland MT-32 (1987) was the first MIDI sound module using LA synthesis, a form of multi-timbral sample-based synthesis. It was commonly used in computer music, especially game music.
• Touch-sensitive electronic keyboard — Roland Corporation's EP-30 (1974) electronic piano featured the first touch-sensitive keyboard.
• Vowel–consonant synthesis — A type of hybrid digital-analog synthesis first employed by the early Casiotone keyboards in the early 1980s.

Music

See also: Music of Japan

Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) in 1981: Haruomi Hosono (left), Ryuichi Sakamoto (center) and Yukihiro Takahashi (right).

• Ambient music — Pioneered by Japanese electronic music composer Isao Tomita during the late 1960s to early 1970s.
  • Space music — Pioneered by Isao Tomita in the early 1970s.
  • Chillwave — According to Mojo magazine, Haruomi Hosono's album Paraiso (1978) was "prescient of late-noughties chillwave".
  • Deep Note — YMO's "Loom" from BGM (1981) has "a patiently ascending, two-minute-long Shepard's tone" anticipating the Deep Note.
  • Glitch music — The genre was pioneered by Ryoji Ikeda in the 1990s.
• Commercial digital recording — Pioneered in Japan by NHK and Nippon Columbia (Denon) in the 1960s. The first commercial digital recordings were released in 1971.
  • Classical music digital recording — The first digitally recorded classical music album was recorded in Tokyo (April 1972) and released by Nippon Columbia.
  • Digital sample loops — Yellow Magic Orchestra's Technodelic (1981) was the first music album with digital sample loops.
  • FM synthesis music album — The earliest commercial music album produced using FM synthesis was Mari Iijima's city pop album Rosé (1983), produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto using the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer.
• Electro — Pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra (Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi), also known as YMO, with tracks such as YMO's "Computer Game / Firecracker" (1978) and Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" (1980).
  • Electronic hip-hop — YMO's "Music Plans" and "Rap Phenomena" from the album BGM (1981) were the earliest synthesized electronic rap songs with drum machine beats.
  • Boom bap — YMO's "Music Plans" from BGM (1981) is where "the beginnings of that funky, electronic boom-bap vibe of hip‑hop beats start to emerge" according to UnderMain Magazine.
• Electro-pop — Pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) in the late 1970s, before it became popular in 1980s music.
  • Synth-pop — Pioneered by YMO in the late 1970s, before it became popular in the 1980s.
  • Gated reverb — YMO's "Behind the Mask" (1979) was the first song to use gated reverb on the snare drums, a technique that later became popular in 1980s pop music.
  • Electronica — According to Pitchfork, Ryuichi Sakamoto's "E-3A" from the album B-2 Unit (1980) was looking "ahead to Mouse on Mars' idyllic '90s electronica."
  • Synthwave — YMO's "Mass" from the album BGM (1981) anticipated the "ominous drama" of synthwave according to Noah Yoo of Pitchfork.
• Electronic dance music (EDM) — Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" from the album B-2 Unit (1980) laid the groundwork for modern electronic dance music.
  • Broken beat — Foreshadowed by Ryuichi Sakamoto's B-2 Unit (1980).
  • Electronic body music (EBM) — Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" from B-2 Unit (1980) was "a new body music" that "foretold the future" of music according to Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 6 Music.
  • Intelligent dance music (IDM) — Foreshadowed by Ryuichi Sakamoto's B-2 Unit (1980).
  • 22-beat rhythm — Haruomi Hosono's album S-F-X (1984) experimented with new 22-beat rhythms, which went beyond the standard 8‑beat rhythms of rock music and even the complex rhythms of funk, disco, jazz fusion and hip hop at the time.
• Funky house — Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Tighten Up" from the album X∞Multiplies (1980) featured "grooves now‑recognizable as funky house" according to Tastemakers Music Magazine.
  • Ambient house — Pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra in the early 1980s.
  • Deep house — "Heartbeat" (1981) by Colored Music (Ichiko Hasimoto and Atsuo Fujimoto) "sounds remarkably like classic deep house" according to Resident Advisor in 2016.
• Grime music — The origins of grime music has been traced back to Ryuichi Sakamoto's music, notably the tracks "Grasshopper" and "End of Asia" from his album Thousand Knives (1978) and the single "Bamboo Houses" (1982).
  • Sinogrime — The origins of Sinogrime has been traced back to Sakamoto's "The End of Asia" from Thousand Knives (1978) and "Bamboo Houses" (1982).
• Japanese mode — A pentatonic musical scale commonly used in traditional Japanese music.
  • Royal road progression — The earliest example of the contemporary royal road chord progression occurs in Yumi Arai's "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara" (1974), closely followed by Arai's "Sotsugyou Shashin" (1975) released by Hi-Fi Set.
• J-pop — Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. Genre began with Japanese rock bands such as Happy End who fused rock with Japanese music during the 1960s–1970s.
  • City pop — The genre's origin has been attributed to the Japanese band Happy End (Haruomi Hosono, Takashi Matsumoto, Eiichi Ohtaki and Shigeru Suzuki), active from 1969 to 1972.
  • Shibuya-kei — A music genre that flourished in Japan during the 1990s.
• Noise rock — The genre was pioneered by Japanoise band Les Rallizes Dénudés, founded in 1967.
  • Visual kei — The Tigers (1967–1972) lead vocalist Kenji Sawada was a precursor to visual kei. The visual kei style emerged in the early 1980s, with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Masami Tsuchiya, Boøwy and Kinniku Shōjo Tai.
  • Kawaii metal — In the early 2010s, Japanese idol heavy metal music group Babymetal pioneered the kawaii metal genre.
• Quadraphonic LP record — In June 1971, JVC released Wonderful CD-4 Sound in Japan. It was the first quadraphonic LP record produced using the Compatible Discrete 4 (CD-4) quadraphonic sound system.
• Techno — Pioneered by YMO during the late 1970s to early 1980s. They coined the "techno" genre label, with releases such as "Technopolis" (1979), Technodelic (1981) and "The Spirit of Techno" (1983).
  • Industrial techno — Ryuichi Sakamoto's B-2 Unit (1980) anticipated the sounds of industrial techno.
  • Ambient techno — YMO's "Happy End" from the album BGM (1981) was "a progenitor of" ambient techno according to Noah Yoo of Pitchfork.
  • Jungle music — According to Fact magazine, Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Differencia" from the album B-2 Unit (1980) has "relentless tumbling beats and a stabbing bass synth that foreshadows jungle by nearly a decade".
• Techno-pop — Pioneered by YMO in the late 1970s.

Cameras

See also: Electronics industry in Japan

Minolta RD-175 (1995), a portable digital single-lens reflex (DLSR) camera.

• 3D holographic stereo camera — In 1968, Konishiroku (Konica) invented the first holographic 3D camera, using holographic multi-lens stereogram technology.
• Action camera — The first action camera was the Canon CI-10 (1985) by Canon Inc.
• Autofocus camera (AF camera) — The Konica C35 AF (1977) was the first camera with autofocus (AF).
  • Eye-controlled focusing (ECF) — The Canon EOS 5 (1992) was the first single-lens reflex (SLR) AF camera with eye tracking AF control.
• Bayonet lens mount — The Nikon F-mount, debuted with the Nikon F (1959), was the first interchangeable lens bayonet mount.
  • Fluorite lens — In 1969, Canon introduced the first camera lens employing fluorite.
  • Close range correction (CRC) — Nikon's Nikkor Auto 24mm f/2.8 (1967) was the first camera lens with a CRC system.
• Bridge camera — In early 1988, the first bridge cameras were the Ricoh FF-7, Kyocera's Samurai, Olympus Corporation's Infinity SuperZoom 300, and the Chinon Genesis.
• CdS meter — In 1962, the Taron Marquis from Japan was the first camera with built-in cadmium sulfide (CdS) light meter, shortly followed by the Minolta SR-7.
  • Center-weighted average metering — The Nikon F Photomic TN (1967) was the first camera with a center-weighted exposure metering system.
  • Matrix metering — The Nikon FA (1983) was the first SLR camera with matrix metering.
• Depth of field (DOF) — The Nikon F (1959) introduced a DOF preview button.
  • Perspective-control lens (PC lens) — The Nikon F-mount f/3.5 35 mm PC-Nikkor (1961) was the first PC lens manufactured for SLR cameras.
  • Tilt–shift photography — In 1961, Nikon introduced the first interchangeable tilt-shift lens for SLR cameras.
• Electronic memory — The Asahi Pentax Electro Spotmatic (ES), released in 1971, introduced the use of electronic memory in a camera.
• Event camera — The development of silicon retina event cameras dates back to Kunihiko Fukushima's Reticon in 1989.
• Fisheye lens for 35 mm camera — In 1962, Nikon introduced the first regular production fisheye lens for 35 mm cameras.
• Flash synchronization (flash sync) — The Mamiyaflex (1948) by Mamiya was the first twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera with flash sync.
  • Single-lens reflex flash camera (flash SLR) — The Pentax SFX (1987) was the first SLR camera with built-in flash.
• Instant return mirror — The Asahiflex IIB (1954) was the first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera with a practical instant return mirror.
• Integrated circuit camera — Nikon's Nikkormat EL (1972) was the first camera with a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) chip.
  • Camera microprocessor — The Canon AE-1 (1976) was the first camera with a central processing unit (CPU) computer chip. The Canon A-1 (1978) introduced the first camera-based microprocessor system.
• Metal-bladed focal-plane shutter — The Konica F (1960) introduced a new metal-bladed focal-plane shutter designed and manufactured by Konishiroku, which they branded the Hi Synchro.
  • Electronic shutter — Yashica's TL Electro-X (1968) was the first 35 mm SLR camera with an electronically timed shutter.
  • High-speed camera shutter speed — The Asahi Pentax ES (1971) introduced an electronic shutter with variable shutter speeds up to 1 millisecond.
• Multi-layer optical coating — The first multi-layer lens coating was the "Super-Multi-Coating" introduced by Pentax in the 1950s.
• Point-and-shoot 35 mm camera — The Konica C35 AF (1977) and Canon AF35M Sure Shot (1979) were the first 35 mm point‑and-shoot electronic cameras.
  • Lithium battery compact camera — The Olympus AFL Picasso (1983) was the first compact camera powered by a lithium battery.
  • Single-use camera — Fujifilm's QuickSnap (1986) was the first single-use point-and-shoot disposable camera.
  • Pocket camera — The Konica A4 (1989) was the first pocket-size 35 mm point-and-shoot camera.
• Selfie stick — Invented for the Minolta Disc-7 camera (1983), which had a package showing the camera mounted on a selfie stick.
• Shutter priority auto-exposure — The Konica Autoreflex (1965) was the first SLR camera with shutter priority auto‑exposure.
  • Aperture priority — The Asahi Pentax ES (1971) was the first SLR camera with aperture priority auto-exposure.
• Single-lens reflex system camera (system SLR) — The Nikon F (1959) was the first SLR system camera.
  • Electric motor drive — The Nikon F (1959) was the first camera with an electric motor drive.
  • Full-frame SLR camera — The Nikon F (1959) was the first SLR camera with full frame coverage.
  • Half-frame camera — The Olympus Pen F (1963) was the first half-frame SLR camera.
• Superzoom — The Nikon Super Zoom-8 (1966) introduced 5× zoom lens. The Nikon 8X Super Zoom (1967) introduced 8× zoom. The Nikon R10 Super Zoom (1973) introduced 10× zoom.
  • Ultra wide angle lens — In 1968, Nikon's Masaki Isshiki and Keiji Matsuki filed a patent for super wide fisheye lens with 220° to 270° field of view.
• Through-the-lens metering (TTL) — The first camera to feature TTL light metering was by Japanese company Nikon, with a prototype rangefinder camera, the SPX, in 1950.
  • Open-aperture metering — The Asahi Pentax Electro-Spotmatic (ES), released in 1971, was equipped with the first TTL open-aperture metering.
  • Pinhead mirror — The Nikon F3 (1980) was the first TTL camera with a pinhole mirror.
• Vibration reduction (VR) — The Nikon Zoom 700VR (1994) was the first camera featuring optical vibration reduction.
• Viewfinder digital display — Fujifilm's Fujica ST 801 (1972) was the first SLR camera with a viewfinder incorporating digital LED display.
  • Electronic viewfinder (EVF) — The Nikon F3 (1980) was the first camera with liquid-crystal display (LCD) viewfinder.
• Weather-proof camera — The Olympus AF-1 Nuretemo-Pikaso (Wet Flash), released in 1986, was the first weather‑proof compact camera.

Digital cameras

• Active-pixel sensor (MOS sensor) — Olympus Corporation invented the first MOS active-pixel image sensor in 1985. The MOS integrated circuit sensor chip used NMOS logic transistors.
  • CMOS sensor — Mitsubishi Electric developed the first CMOS active-pixel sensor in 1992. Mitsubishi began mass production in 1997 and introduced practical applications in 1998.
  • Back-illuminated sensor (BI sensor) — Invented by Sony engineer Hideo Yamanaka in 2002.
  • Stacked CMOS — In 2012, Sony released the first stacked CMOS sensor, the Exmor RS.
• Color CCD camera — A Sony research team developed a charge-coupled device (CCD) color camera in 1977.
  • High-definition CCD camera (HD CCD) — In the 1980s, prototype HD CCD cameras were developed by Fujitsu, Ikegami Tsushinki, Matsushita Electric, NEC, Sanyo, Sharp Corporation, Sony, Toshiba and JVC.
  • Three-CCD camera (3CCD) — The Minolta RD-175 (1995) was the first digital camera integrated with three CCD image sensors.
  • Super CCD — A type of CCD sensor developed by Fujifilm in 1999.
• Digital 3D stereo camera — The Minolta Dimâge 3D 1500 (1999) was the first stereoscopic 3D digital camera.
  • Autostereoscopic camera — The Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D (2009) was the first autostereoscopic 3D camera.
• Digital camera with flash memory — In 1988, Fujifilm introduced the Fujix DS-1P, the first fully digital camera to record digital images on a flash memory card.
  • Digital infrared camera — Sony's DSC-F1 (1996) was the first digital camera with a built-in infrared transceiver.
  • Touchscreen camera — The Nikon Coolpix 300 (1996) was the first digital camera with a touchscreen.
  • Digital rangefinder — The Epson R-D1 (2004) was the first digital rangefinder camera.
• Digital camera optical zoom — Fujifilm's Fujix DS-100 (1991) was the first digital camera with 3× optical zoom.
• Digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) — At Photokina 1986, Nikon revealed a prototype electronic still SLR camera, the Nikon SVC, the first digital SLR. Manufactured by Panasonic, its body shared many features with the N8008 (1988).
  • CMOS sensor DSLR — The Canon EOS D30 (2000) was the first DSLR camera with CMOS sensor.
• Front-facing camera — The first front-facing camera was Nintendo's Game Boy Camera, released as an accessory for the Game Boy handheld game console in February 1998.
• Full-frame DSLR — The first full-frame DSLR was the N Digital by Contax, announced in 2000 and released in 2002.
  • Full-frame compact camera — The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 (2012) was the first compact camera with a full-frame sensor.
• Mirrorless camera — The Epson R-D1 (2004) was also the first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC).
  • Full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (full-frame MILC) — The Sony α7 (2013) was the first full-frame MILC.
• Smart digital camera — In 2012, Nikon's Coolpix S800c and Samsung's Galaxy Camera were the first digital cameras to run the Android operating system. They can integrate with the same Android-compatible services used by smartphones.

Video cameras

• Color home video camera — In 1973, Toshiba released the first color video camera for home use.
  • Camcorder — In 1980, Sony demonstrated the first prototype camcorder, combining a color CCD camera with video cassette recorder (VCR) using 8 mm video format. Sony released it commercially several years later.
  • Lithium-ion battery camera — The Sony CCD-TR1 (1990) 8 mm camcorder was the first commercial product to use lithium‑ion batteries.
• Digital video camera — In 1986, Sony developed a prototype digital video camera that recorded digital video on D-1 (Sony) video cassettes.
  • 3CCD video camera — The Sony DCR-VX1000 (1995) digital camcorder was the first digital video camera with three CCD sensors.
  • Digital movie camera — Sony's Solid State Electronic Cinematography digital video camera was used to shoot the first digital film, Rainbow (1996).
  • Digital TV camera — Sansui Electric's CT0110 (1996) was the first digital camera with a built-in TV tuner.
• DSLR video camera — The Nikon D90 (2008) was the DSLR camera capable of video recording.
  • Full HD DSLR video camera — The Canon EOS 5D Mark II (2008) was the first DSLR camera capable of full high-definition video recording.
• Handheld TV camera — Ikegami Tsushinki introduced the first portable 4+1⁄2-inch Image Orthicon tube hand-held TV camera. The camera made its US debut in February 1962.
  • Portapak — In 1967, Sony unveiled the first self-contained video tape analog recording system that was portable.
  • Electronic news gathering (ENG) — Portapak (1967) led to the development of ENG.
• High-speed camera — Between 1974 and 1975, NHK developed a Saticon video camera capable of high frame rates above the 60 Hz NTSC standard, reaching up to 500 Hz frame rate.
• Image stabilization — Panasonic invented optical image stabilization (OIS) for the PV-460 (1988) video camera.
  • Electronic image stabilization (EIS) — Panasonic invented EIS for the Brenby NV-S1 (1990) compact video camera.
• MPEG video camera — The Hitachi MP-EG1 (1996) digital camera introduced MPEG-1 support. Sharp Corporation's VN-EZ1 Internet ViewCam (1999) camera introduced MPEG-4 support.
• Still video camera (SVC) — The first prototype SVC to be developed was the SV Camera (1977) by Canon Inc. The first SVC to be demonstrated was the Sony Mavica (1981).

Computing

See also: Supercomputing in Japan and Electronics industry in Japan

• Arrow keys — Fujitsu's OASYS100 (1980) word processor and Fujitsu FM-8 (1981) personal computer introduced a thumb-shift keyboard layout with arrow keys.
• Fingerprint scanner mobile device — In 1997, Fujitsu introduced the first fingerprint reader PC Card device for laptops and mobile computers.
• Information society — The concept originates from Japan, where the term Joho Shakai (information society) was first coined by the periodical Hoso Asahi in 1964.
• Mail sorter with optical character recognition (OCR) — Developed by Toshiba between 1966 and 1967.
• NILFS — A log-structured file system for Linux developed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 2005.
• Text-to-speech (TTS) — Noriko Umeda et al. developed the first general English text-to-speech system in 1968, at the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Japan.
• Touch tablet word processor — Appeared in 1970s Japan. In 1979, Sharp Corporation's Shoin WD‑3000 featured touch tablet input with a touch pen.
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) — The USB standard was co-developed by NEC in 1996.

Artificial intelligence

See also: Fifth Generation Computer Systems

Sega AI Computer (1986), the earliest home computer specialized for artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP).

• Activation function — Dates back to Kunihiko Fukushima's development of the rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation function in 1969.
  • Rectified linear unit (ReLU) — In 1969, Kunihiko Fukushima introduced ReLU in the context of visual feature extraction in hierarchical neural networks.
• Artificial intelligence marketing (AIM) — Toyota's "Driven by Intuition" advert for the 2018 Lexus ES car was the first advert written entirely by artificial intelligence (AI).
• Artificial neural network (ANN) with deep learning and stochastic gradient descent (SGD) — First proposed by Shun'ichi Amari in 1967.
  • Multilayer perceptron (MLP) with stochastic gradient descent — In 1967, Shun'ichi Amari and his student H. Saito reported the first multi-layered ANN trained by SGD.
  • Recurrent neural network (RNN) — In 1972, Shun'ichi Amari and Kaoru Nakano published the first papers on deep learning RNN networks.
  • Amari–Hopfield network — The Amari network, the earliest deep learning RNN, was first published by Shun'ichi Amari in 1972. It was rediscovered by John Hopfield in 1982 as the Hopfield network.
• Backpropagation — Anticipated by Shun'ichi Amari in the 1960s.
• Computer vision — Pioneered at the Visual and Auditory Information Science Unit (VAISU) of NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL) in the 1960s.
  • Feature extraction — Developed at the VAISU unit of NHK STRL in the 1960s.
  • 3D computer vision — Takeo Kanade pioneered the field of three-dimensional computer vision.
• Convolutional neural network (CNN) — A deep learning feedforward neural network first developed by Kunihiko Fukushima between 1969 and 1979. It forms the basis of contemporary pattern recognition AI.
  • Neocognitron — A hierarchical multi-layered CNN first developed by Kunihiko Fukushima between 1969 and 1979.
  • Unsupervised learning — Pioneered by Kunihiko Fukushima with the neocognitron in 1979.
  • Competitive learning — A form of unsupervised learning developed by Fukushima with the neocognitron in 1979.
• Facial recognition system — In 1970, Takeo Kanade publicly demonstrated a face‑matching system.
  • Face detection with artificial neural network (ANN) — In 1996, Takeo Kanade, Henry Rowley and Shumeet Baluja developed a face detector using ANN network.
• Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) — Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) initiated the FGCS project in 1982. The FGCS project extensively researched AI and natural language processing (NLP).
  • KL0 — An AI programming language developed by the FGCS project between 1982 and 1986.
  • AI computer workstation (personal sequential inference machine) — Mitsubishi Electric's MELCOM PSI, developed between 1982 and 1986, was the first computer workstation specialized for AI. It directly executed KL0 code.
  • AI home computer — The Sega AI Computer (1986) was the earliest home computer specialized for AI and NLP.
• Intelligent vision sensor — In 2020, Sony launched the first intelligent vision image sensors with AI edge computing capabilities for smart cameras.
  • Cognitive computing image processor — Sony's Cognitive Processor XR (2020) was the first picture processor with cognitive intelligence.
  • Cognitive computing smart TV — The Sony Bravia XR, introduced in January 2021, was the first cognitive intelligence TV using Cognitive Processor XR technology.
• Lucas–Kanade method — In computer vision, the Lucas–Kanade method is a widely used differential method for optical flow estimation developed by Takeo Kanade and Bruce D. Lucas in 1981.
  • Kanade–Lucas–Tomasi feature tracker (KLT) — The KLT feature tracker is an approach to feature extraction. It was developed by Takeo Kanade and Carlo Tomasi in 1991.
  • KLT tracker corner detection — Developed by Kanade and Tomasi in 1991.
  • Tomasi–Kanade factorization — Developed by Kanade and Tomasi in the early 1990s.
• Visual recognition — Pioneered at the VAISU unit of NHK STRL in the 1960s.

Calculators

Casio electronic pocket calculator with a seven-segment liquid-crystal display (LCD) that can perform arithmetic operations

• All-electric compact calculator — In 1957, Casio's Model 14-A was the first all-electric compact calculator, based on relay technology.
  • All-transistor desktop calculator — Sharp Corporation's CS-10A (1964) was the first all-transistor-diode electronic desktop calculator.
  • 10-key electronic calculator — The Canon Canola 130 (1964) was the first ten-key electronic calculator.
  • Calculator memory — The Casio 001 (1965) was the first electronic calculator with a memory function.
• Handheld calculator — Sharp Corporation's Micro Compet (1969) was the first commercial electronic calculator that could be held in the palm of a hand.
  • Battery-powered handheld calculator — Introduced in 1970 with Sharp's QT-8B Micro Compet and EL-8, the Sanyo ICC-82D, and Pocketronic by Canon Inc.
• Integrated circuit calculator — Between 1964 and 1966, Sharp developed the CS-31A, the first electronic calculator incorporating integrated circuit (IC) chips.
  • MOS calculator — In 1966, NEC developed the first metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) calculator IC chip for Hayakawa Electric (Sharp).
  • LSI calculator — The Sharp QT-8D Micro Compet (1969) was the first calculator to use large-scale integration (LSI) MOS integrated circuit chips.
  • Microprocessor calculator — Busicom's 141-PF (1971) calculator was the first commercial product to use a microprocessor.
  • CMOS calculator — Between 1971 and 1972, Sharp and Toshiba co-developed the Sharp Elsi Mini, the first calculator using a CMOS LSI chip. The calculator was manufactured by Sharp, while the CMOS chip was manufactured by Toshiba.

• LCD calculator — Between 1968 and 1970, Sharp developed the first prototype desktop calculators with LCD displays.
  • VFD calculator — The Sharp QT-8D Micro Compet (1969) was the first calculator to use a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD).
  • LED calculator — In 1971, Busicom's LE-120A (Handy-LE) and LE-120S (Handy) were the first calculators to use LED displays.
• Pocket calculator — In 1971, Busicom's LE-120A (Handy-LE), Handy LC and LE-120S (Handy) were the first truly pocket-sized electronic calculators.
  • Credit card size calculator — The Casio Mini Card LC-78 (1978) was the first credit card sized calculator.
  • Graphing calculator — Casio released the first commercial graphing calculator, the Casio fx-7000G, in 1985. Sharp released its first graphing calculator in 1986.
  • Mathematical display — Casio's fx-82ES (2004) introduced a natural mathematical display as the calculator input method.
• Soroban — The soroban is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the ancient Chinese suanpan, imported to Japan in the 14th century.
  • Soroban with electronic calculator — In the 1970s, Suntory released a device combining a soroban abacus with an electronic calculator.
• Touch key calculator — In 1975, Sharp released the lsimate EL-8130 Arithmetic Calculator, the first touch key calculator. Instead of a push-button keypad, it had a flat touch key interface using membrane keypad (like a touchpad or touchscreen).

Computers

Epson HX-20, introduced in 1981, was the first laptop.

• Direct numerical control (DNC) — In 1968, FANUC developed the first DNC, a type of computer numerical control (CNC).
  • 32-bit computer numerical control (CNC) — Mitsubishi Electric's MELDAS 300 (1987) was the first 32-bit CNC.
• E-reader with electronic paper — The Sony Librie, released in 2004 and the precursor to the Sony Reader, was the first e‑reader to use electronic paper.
• Fifth generation computer — Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) initiated the Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) project in 1982.
  • Massively parallel microcomputers — LINKS-1 (1982) was an early massively parallel computing system with up to 256 microcomputer network nodes.
  • Gigascale computing — The NEC SX, developed by NEC in 1983, was the first supercomputer to achieve GigaFLOPS (GFLOPS) performance with 1 billion floating point operations per second (FLOPS).
  • Terascale computing — The NEC SX-4 (1994) was the first supercomputer to achieve TeraFLOPS (TFLOPS) performance with 1 trillion FLOPS.
• Handheld computer (pocket PC) — Sharp Corporation's PC-1210 and PC-1211 (1980) were the first handheld pocket computers.
  • Personal digital assistant (PDA) — The Sharp PC-1211 (1980) was the first PDA.
  • Touchscreen PDA — The Sharp PV-F1 (1992) was the first PDA with a touchscreen interface.
• Integrated circuit minicomputer — NEC's NEAC-1240 (1967) was the first minicomputer to use integrated circuit (IC) chips.
• Laptop — The Epson HX-20, introduced in 1981, was the first laptop computer.
  • 32-bit laptop — The Toshiba T-5100 (1987) was the first 32-bit laptop computer.
• Measurement-based quantum computer (MBQC) — In 2008, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) presented the first demonstration of quantum computing based on quantum gate teleportation.
• Microcomputer — The Sord SMP80/08, developed from 1972 to early 1973, was an early microcomputer, using the Intel 8008 microprocessor. In early 1974, the Sord SMP80/x was the first microcomputer to use the Intel 8080 microprocessor.
  • 16-bit microcomputer — In 1976, the Panafacom L-16A was released. It was an early 16-bit microcomputer, based on the 16-bit Panafacom MN1610 (1975) microprocessor.
  • Home computer with disk drive — In 1977, Sord's M200 Smart Home Computer was an early integrated home desktop computer with a Zilog Z80 CPU, computer keyboard, CRT monitor, floppy disk drive and MF-DOS operating system.
• Notebook computer — Yukio Yokozawa, an employee for Suwa Seikosha (now Seiko Epson), invented the first notebook computer in July 1980, released as the Epson HX-20 in 1982, and received a patent for the invention.
  • Notebook PC — The NEC UltraLite (1988) was the first IBM PC compatible laptop notebook computer.
  • A4 notebook computer — Toshiba's Dynabook J-3100 SS (1989) was the first A4 binder size notebook computer.
• Personal computer with hard disk drive — The Sord M223 Mark VI came with a built-in hard disk drive in 1979.
  • Personal computer with optical disc drive — Fujitsu's FM Towns, released in February 1989, was the first personal computer sold with a built-in CD-ROM drive.
• Petascale computing — The RIKEN MDGRAPE-3, developed by Riken between 2003 and 2006, was the first supercomputer to achieve PetaFLOPS (PFLOPS) performance with 1 quadrillion floating point operations per second (FLOPS).
  • Exascale computing — The Fugaku (supercomputer), developed by Riken between 2014 and 2020, was the first computer to achieve ExaFLOPS (EFLOPS) performance with 1 quintillion FLOPS.
• Standardized computer architecture — The first attempt at a standardized computer architecture was the MSX, introduced by ASCII Corporation and Microsoft Japan in 1983.
  • Personal computer with laserdisc player — The Pioneer Palcom, a 1984 MSX computer by Pioneer Corporation, was the first personal computer sold with an optional laserdisc player.
• Stored-program transistor computer — Electrotechnical Laboratory's ETL Mark III, which began development in 1954 and was completed in 1956, was the first stored-program transistor computer.

Computer graphics

2.5D parallax scrolling of city buildings

• 3D computer graphics software — Earliest was 3D Art Graphics, a set of 3D computer graphics effects written by Kazumasa Mitazawa and released for the Apple II in 1978.
  • 3D graphics processor — Koichi Omura's Osaka University research team developed the LINKS-1 (1982), a dedicated 3D graphics processing system.
  • Render farm — The LINKS-1 Computer Graphics System (1982) was a massively parallel system with up to 256 computer nodes for rendering 3D graphics.
  • Ray-tracing hardware — The first interactive ray tracer was the LINKS-1 Computer Graphics System (1982), used to render 3D graphics with high-speed ray tracing.
• Animated color character sprite — First appeared in Kasco's arcade video game Playtron (1973).
  • Human sprite — Taito's arcade game TV Basketball (1974), designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, first represented human sprites.
  • Multi-color sprite — Taito's arcade game Super Speed Race (1977) first displayed multi-colored sprites.
  • Hardware sprite — Introduced by the Namco Galaxian arcade system board with Galaxian (1979).
  • LCD character sprite — Nintendo's LCD game Game & Watch Ball (1980) featured the first depiction of character sprites on a liquid-crystal display (LCD).
• Bloom (shader effect) — Squaresoft's PlayStation 2 game The Bouncer (2000) introduced the use of bloom in 3D real-time computer graphics.
• Cel shading — First appeared in Riverhillsoft's video game Doctor Hauzer (1994).
  • Cel shader — The Sega Dreamcast game Jet Set Radio, demonstrated in 1999 and released in 2000, introduced a real-time cel shader.
• Computer graphics raster display CRT monitor — In the late 1960s, Hitachi developed a raster scan cathode-ray tube (CRT) computer monitor to display raster graphics on computer terminals at their research laboratories.
  • Color display tube (CDT) — In 1972, Matsushita Electric developed a high resolution CDT computer monitor. In 1980, Sony developed large Trinitron CDT computer monitors up to 19" display size.
  • CRT controller (CRTC) — Hitachi's HD46505 (HD6845), a large-scale integration (LSI) video display controller (VDC) chip released in 1977, was the first CRTC. It was used for arcade games, game consoles and personal computers.
  • TV tuner — The Sharp X1 (1982) was the first personal computer with a TV tuner, used as both a computer and television. The RGB display monitor could superimpose a computer screen over a TV screen, allowing both on the same display.
  • Multisync monitor — The NEC Multisync (1985) computer monitor introduced support for a wide range of sync frequencies.
  • Anti-static and anti-reflective coating — In 1988, Japanese companies Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi developed CDT monitors with anti-static, anti-reflex and anti-glare coating.
• Flat-panel computer display — The Sharp PC-1211 (1980) pocket computer was the first computer with flat-panel liquid-crystal display (LCD).
  • TFEL computer display — In 1983, Sharp Corporation developed the first TFEL portable computer display.
  • LCD computer monitor — Eizo's FlexScan (1997) was the first LCD monitor for desktop computers.
  • OLED computer display — The Sony CLIÉ PEG-VZ90 (2004) was the first personal digital assistant (PDA) mobile computing device to feature an OLED display.
• Frame memory — Between 1964 and 1969, NHK STRL developed a prototype 1125i Hi-Vision analog HDTV system which utilized a minicomputer with 20 megabyte (MB) frame memory disk storage to store images.
• Graphics processing unit (GPU) — The Fujitsu MB14241, used in arcade video games such as Gun Fight (1975) and Space Invaders (1978), is considered the first GPU. The NEC μPD7220 (1981) was the first large-scale integration (LSI) GPU.
  • 3D GPU — Between 1985 and 1988, Namco developed the first GPU dedicated to 3D polygon graphics for the Namco System 21, which was commercialized with arcade game Winning Run (1988).
  • 32-bit GPU — Sega developed the first 32-bit GPU for the Sega X Board arcade game system, which debuted with After Burner (1987).
  • 64-bit GPU — Sega developed the first 64-bit GPU for the Sega Model 1 arcade game system, which debuted with Virtua Racing (1992).
  • T&L GPU — In 1995, Fujitsu developed the first integrated 3D GPU with hardware T&L.
• High color — The Sega Super Scaler (1985) arcade board had a 16-bit color palette (65,536 colors).
  • True color — The Namco System 2 (1987) arcade board had a 24-bit color palette (16,777,216 colors).
• High-dynamic-range rendering (HDR rendering) — In 1990, Hiroshima University researchers presented a lighting model for driving simulators that demonstrated high dynamic range (HDR) processing.
• Isometric graphics — Introduced by Data East's arcade video game Treasure Island (1981) for the DECO Cassette System.
  • Axonometric graphics — Introduced by Sega's arcade game Zaxxon (1981).
• JPEG arithmetic coding — Patents providing the basis for JPEG's arithmetic coding algorithm include two Mitsubishi Electric patents by Toshihiro Kimura, Shigenori Kino, Fumitaka Ono and Masayuki Yoshida in 1989 and 1990.
  • JBIG — The JBIG lossless image compression format, introduced in 1991, was developed using patents from Japanese companies Mitsubishi, KDDI and Canon Inc.
• Pseudo-3D scaling — The arcade game Interceptor (1975) by Taito's Tomohiro Nishikado introduced pseudo-3D sprite scaling. Sega's arcade game Road Race (1976) enhanced pseudo-3D sprite scaling with background scaling effects.
  • Pseudo-3D rotation — Sega's 1987 arcade games After Burner and Thunder Blade enhanced pseudo-3D scaling with rotation effects for sprites and backgrounds. The SNES (1990) named background scaling and rotation effects as Mode 7.
• Scrolling — Introduced with the vertical scrolling in arcade racing game Speed Race (1974) by Taito's Tomohiro Nishikado.
  • Side-scrolling — Dates back to Taito's arcade racing game Dead Heat (1975).
  • Multi-directional scrolling — Introduced by Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade shooter game Interceptor (1975).
  • Forward scrolling — Introduced by Sega's arcade driving game Road Race (1976).
  • Parallax scrolling — First appeared in the arcade games Jump Bug (1981) by Alpha Denshi and Moon Patrol (1982) by Irem.
  • Infinite scrolling — Dates back to Konami's arcade shoot 'em up game Time Pilot (1982).
• Super video graphics array (SVGA) — In 1988, NEC Home Electronics created the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) to develop the Super VGA (SVGA) computer display standard. The development of SVGA was led by NEC.
  • VGA projector — The first video graphics array (VGA) projectors were Epson's light valve TFT LCD projector in 1993 and 3LCD projector in 1994.
• Tile-based graphics — The tile-map model was introduced by Namco's arcade game Galaxian (1979), which ran on the Namco Galaxian arcade system board.
  • Hardware scrolling — The Namco Galaxian arcade system board introduced with Galaxian (1979) pioneered a hardware sprite system that animates pre-loaded sprites over a scrolling background, the basis for later 2D game systems.
  • Tile-based graphics card — HAL Laboratory's PCG (1980) was an early tile-based graphics card for home computers.
• VR photography — In 1995, Takeo Kanade's team introduced virtualized reality, where a multi-camera setup captures a real-world scene from different angles to render as a virtual world within a virtual reality.

Culture

See also: Culture of Japan and Japanese popular culture

Kawaii items, from left to right, top to bottom: shelf of decorated tea kettles; food served at a maid café; Hello Kitty on a sign in Ikebukuro, Tokyo; mobile phone charm attached to a pink Palm

• Dab — Known as "henshin" or "sentai move" in Japan, it originates from the tokusatsu show Kamen Rider (1971).
• Folding hand fan — The folding fan was invented in Japan, with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries.
• Kawaii — Roots date back to The Pillow Book (1002).
  • Netsuke — A miniature sculpture, originating in 17th-century Japan.
  • Lolita fashion — In the late 1970s, a new movement known as Otome (乙女) was founded, which inspired Lolita fashion.
• Selfie — Modern selfie originates from 1990s Japanese kawaii culture. Digital selfie originates from Japanese purikura in 1995.
• Soramimi — Derived from long-running "Soramimi Hour" segment (debuted 1992) on Japanese comedian Tamori's TV program Tamori Club.

Food and drink

See also: Japanese cuisine

Instant noodles before boiling

• Canned coffee — Canned coffee was invented in 1965 by Miura Yoshitake, a coffee shop owner in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, Japan.
• Cooking comic — Genre emerged in 1970, with Totsugeki Ramen, Cake Cake Cake and Kitchen Kenpo.
• Fake food — Simulated food was invented after Japan's surrender ending World War II in 1945. Japanese artisans and candlemakers created wax food initially for foreigners.
• Fortune cookie — Fortune cookies originate from tsujiura senbei made in 19th century Japan. Modern fortune cookies originate from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th century or early 20th century.
• Instant noodle — Invented by Momofuku Ando, a Taiwanese-Japanese inventor, in 1958.
• Monosodium glutamate — Invented and patented by Kikunae Ikeda.
• Umami — Umami as a separate taste was first identified in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University while researching the strong flavor in seaweed broth.

Martial arts

See also: Japanese martial arts, Mixed martial arts in Japan, and Professional wrestling in Japan

All-Japan Judo Championships, 2007 men's final

• Bushido
  • Kendo
• Jujutsu — Japanese martial art styles including unarmed and armed techniques. Evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan for defeating an armed and armored opponent without weapons.
  • Judo — It was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Kanō Jigorō.
  • Aikido — Aikido was created and developed by Morihei Ueshiba in first half of the 20th century.
  • Kimura lock — Known as gyaku ude-garami in judo, it was popularized by Masahiko Kimura in 1951. It is commonly used in judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.
• Kenpō
  • Okinawan martial arts — In the 14th century, Chinese Chuan Fa was taught to Okinawans, who combined Chuan Fa with the existing martial art of Te to form Tō-de (Okinawa-te).
  • Karate — Began as a common fighting system known as "ti" (or "te") among the pechin class of the Ryukyuans. The Motobu‑ryū school was notably passed down by Seikichi Uehara.
• Mixed martial arts (MMA) — Mixed martial arts in Japan dates back to ancient times.
  • Kūdō — Japanese hybrid martial art founded by Takashi Azuma in 1981.
• Ninjutsu — Developed by groups of people mainly from the Iga Province and Kōka, Shiga of Japan. Throughout history, many different schools (ryū) have taught their unique versions of ninjutsu. An example of these is the Togakure-ryū.
• Puroresu
  • Soccer kick — A high-profile early user of soccer kicks as a finishing move was Antonio Inoki. In a 1977 puroresu match, Inoki used soccer kicks to legitimately knock out Great Antonio.
  • Strong style
• Shoot wrestling — Originates from 1970s Japanese puroresu.
  • Shoot boxing — Shoot boxing was created in August 1985 by former kickboxer Caesar Takeshi.
  • Shootfighting
• Sumo — According to the Nihon Shoki, published in 720, the origin of sumo is the contest of strength between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya in 26 BC.

Philosophy

See also: Japanese philosophy

Tajōmaru and the samurai's wife, two unreliable narrators in Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), which the Rashomon effect is named after.

• Kokugaku — A school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period.
• Kyokan — A concept forwarded by Masao Kawai. It first appeared to Western readers in Kawai's book Ecology of Japanese Monkeys (1969).
• Lean manufacturing — A generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s.
• Paris syndrome — Hiroaki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist working at the Sainte-Anne Hospital Center in France, identified the syndrome in the 1980s.
  • Galápagos syndrome — Identified in Japan during the 2000s.
• Postmodern video game — Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) is considered the first postmodern video game.
  • Post-truth politics — Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) is cited as an early work that anticipated contemporary post-truth politics.
• Psychological novel — The Tale of Genji (11th century) is considered to be the first psychological novel.
• Rashomon effect — The concept originates from Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's novel In a Grove (1922), which was adapted into Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon (1950).
• Uncanny valley — Masahiro Mori first introduced the concept in his 1970 essay The Uncanny Valley Phenomenon.

Display technology

See also: Electronics industry in Japan

Sony home cinema setup, with full HD LCD television, digital TV set-top box, DVD player, PlayStation 3 video game console, and loudspeakers.

• AV receiver — Denon's AVC-500 (1985) was the first AV amplifier, enabling the development of modern home cinema.
• Calibration sensor — Introduced with Eizo's ColorEdge CG Series monitors in 2010, for which Eizo received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2021.
• Cathode-ray tube (CRT) with thermal electron emission — In 1925, Kenjiro Takayanagi invented a high-performance CRT display with a thermal electron emission source.
  • Horizontal sync and vertical sync with photocell — In 1927, Kenjiro Takayanagi demonstrated the first CRT with horizontal and vertical synchronizing pulses generated by means of a photocell.
  • Bipotential electron gun —In 1929, Takayanagi demonstrated a CRT that incorporated a bipotential electron gun with G2 and oxide cathode.
  • Aperture grille — One of two major CRT display technologies, along with shadow mask. Aperture grile was introduced by Sony with their Trinitron television set in 1968.
  • Deflection yoke — In 1971, JVC introduced deflection yokes for CRT displays.
• Chip-on-glass (COG) — Developed by Kyocera in 1987, used for manufacturing LCD and OLED displays.
• Color TFT liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) — In 1983, a-Si thin-film transistor (TFT) color liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels were demonstrated by Sanyo, Sanritsu and Canon Inc.
  • Ferroelectric liquid crystal display (FLCD) — By 1985, Seiko had demonstrated a color FLCD panel.
  • Dual-scan super twisted nematic (DSTN) — In 1987, Seiko Epson developed dual-scan super-twisted nematic (DSTN) technology.
  • CSTN (color STN) — Toshiba, Sharp Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric had introduced color LCD STN displays by 1989.
  • IPS panel — In the early 1990s, Katsumi Kondo at Hitachi combined in-plane switching (IPS) with TFT LCD technology to develop the first practical IPS panel with wide viewing angle, presented by Hitachi in 1995.
• Component video — Between 1970 and 1973, NHK and Panasonic developed a Hi-Vision 1125i HDTV with color analog component video, demonstrated by Panasonic in 1973 with prototype analog HDTV CRT monitor and HD video camera.
  • S-Video — The S-Video cable standard was introduced in 1987 with JVC's S-VHS format.
  • Digital Visual Interface (DVI) — Developed in 1999 by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG), which included Japanese companies Fujitsu and NEC.
• Flat-panel video display — In 1974, Sharp Corporation's scientists demonstrated the first flat-panel display capable of showing video images, using thin-film electroluminescence (TFEL) technology.
  • Color plasma display — The first full-color plasma display prototype was demonstrated by NHK in 1978.
  • Color electroluminescent display (ELD) — Demonstrated by K. Okamoto of Osaka University in 1981.
  • See-through display — In 2000, Denso co-developed a transparent EL display (ELD).
• High frame rate — Between 1974 and 1975, NHK developed prototype CRT displays capable of frame rates higher than the 60 Hz NTSC standard, reaching up to 500 Hz frame rate.
• LED-backlit LCD — The Sony Qualia 005 (2004) was the first LED-backlit LCD television.
  • QLED (quantum dot LED) — The first manufacturer shipping QLED TVs was Sony in 2013 as Triluminos, Sony's trademark for the technology.
• Metal–insulator–metal LCD (MIM LCD) — In 1981, Seiko Epson co-developed the first LCD display using metal‑insulator‑metal (MIM) diodes.
  • Metal–insulator–metal field-emission display (MIM FED) — In 2000, Hitachi developed the first field-emission display (FED) with MIM field emitter.
  • Ballistic electron surface-emitting display (BSD) — A type of FED developed by Matsushita Electric in 2001.
• OLED display — In 1996, TDK demonstrated the first active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) QVGA display. In 1997, Pioneer Corporation released the first passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) display.
  • Flexible OLED display — In 2005, Sony and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research developed a prototype OLED rollable display.
  • OLED head-mounted display (HMD) — The Sony HMZ-T1 (2011) was the first 3D HMD equipped with a HD OLED display.
  • Crystal LED (CLED) — Sony unveiled CLED display technology at CES 2012.
• Slot mask — A variant of shadow mask CRT display technology developed by Toshiba in 1971.
  • Invar shadow mask — Developed by Toshiba for a color display tube (CDT) computer monitor in 1983 and a CRT television set in 1986.
• TFT LCD projector — In 1986, Seiko Epson developed a TFT LCD light valve projector. In 1988, Sharp Corporation introduced a commercial TFT LCD projection system.
  • Color LCD projector — The Epson VPJ-700, released in January 1989, was the first compact full-color LCD projector.
  • LCD video projector — In 1989, Sharp released the first 100-inch LCD video projector for home use.
  • Metal-halide lamp projector — In 1991, Japanese company Iwasaki Electric developed the first metal-halide discharge projection lamp.

• UHP lamp projector — Epson's ELP-3500 (1996) was the first commercial LCD projector with ultra-high-performance lamp (UHP lamp).
  • Telecentric projector — In 1999, telecentric projection lens for LCD projectors were co-developed by Minolta and Nikon.
  • LED-backlit pocket projector — In 2005, the first LED-illuminated digital light processing (DLP) pocket projector was released by Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba and Samsung.
  • LCD laser projector — The Sony VPL-FHZ55 (2013) was the first 3LCD laser light source projector.
• Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) — In 1966, ISE Electronics Corporation established the basic structure of VFD. They developed a single-digit VFD in 1967 and multi-digit VFD in 1970. In 1972, ISE received a patent for inventing VFD.
• VFD color display — In 1979, Japanese company Kasei Optonics developed a multi-color VFD.

High definition

• High definition (HD) — Between 1964 and 1969, NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL) developed a Hi-Vision 1125i analog HDTV system, demonstrated in 1969 with a HD CRT monitor and HD video camera.
  • HD interlaced video — Between 1970 and 1975, NHK developed a Saticon HD video camera and prototype HD CRT displays with analog HD interlaced display resolutions from 935i to 2125i scanlines.
  • HD video progressive scan — Between 1974 and 1975, NHK developed a Saticon HD video camera and prototype HD CRT displays with analog HD progressive scan resolutions from 610p to 1195p.
  • Digital HD — NEC's μPD7220 (1981) graphics processing unit (GPU) supports digital HD resolutions up to 1024p with 16 colors or up to 2048i in monochrome.
  • 4K resolution — The NEC μPD7220 (1981) GPU supports monochrome 4K horizontal resolutions up to 4096×1024p or 4096×2048i.
• High-definition LCD display — In the 1980s, prototype HD LCD displays were developed NEC, Sanyo and Sharp Corporation.
  • HD plasma display — In the 1980s, prototype HD plasma displays were developed by Fujitsu, Hitachi, Matsushita Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Sony and Toshiba.
  • HD video projector — Introduced with the Sony HDVS in 1981.
• High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) — In 2002, the HDMI founders included Hitachi, Panasonic, Maxell, Sony and Toshiba.
• High-definition television program (HDTV program) — NHK's Images for Hi-Vision (1982) was the first HDTV program, broadcast on NHK's Hi-Vision analog HDTV.
• High-definition video codec
  • HD video decoder — In the 1980s, HD video decoders were released by Hitachi, NEC, NHK (MUSE), Sanyo, Toshiba and Canon Inc.
  • HD video encoder — In the 1980s, HD video encoders were released by Canon, Ikegami Tsushinki, NHK (MUSE) and Toshiba.
• High-definition video disc — In the 1980s, HD video recording optical disc formats were released by Sanyo, Sony and JVC.
  • Digital HD video disc — In 2000, Sony demonstrated a prototype blue laser disc format, Blu-Ray, capable of storing digital HD video.
• High-definition video recording — Introduced with Sony HDVS (1981), including Hi-Vision VCR recording 1125i analog HDTV content on U-matic cassettes.
  • Progressive scan HD video — Panasonic's D-5 HD (1994) videocassette format was the first HD digital video format to support progressive scan, recording 720p content.
  • HD video combo television unit — The Sharp Aquos LC-52X1 (2008) LCD TV was the first TV set with a built-in Blu-Ray disc HD digital video recorder.
• Satellite HDTV — NHK used Yuri, a Japanese broadcasting satellite launched in 1978, to demonstrate analog HDTV satellite transmission in 1979.
• Super XGA (SXGA) — The super extended graphics array (SXGA) display standard was developed by JVC in 1997.
  • SXGA+ — Introduced by JVC in 1998.
  • Quad XGA (QXGA) — Introduced by JVC in 1999.
• Ultra HD (UHD) — Hitachi's ARTC HD63484 (1984) GPU supports monochrome 4K UHD resolutions up to 4096×2048p or 4096×4096i. The resolutions were targeted at the bit-mapped desktop publishing market.
  • 8K resolution — Between 1995 and 2003, NHK, JVC and Ikegami Tsushinki developed a prototype 8K Super Hi-Vision video system, demonstrated in 2003 with 8K compatible UHDTV, video camera, video disc recorder and video projector.
  • 10K resolution — In 2010, 120 megapixels image resolution and 13K horizontal resolution (13,280×9184) was reached using an APS-H CMOS sensor developed by Canon Inc.
  • 16K resolution — Sony, Nest+Visual and Indy Associates in early 2014 demonstrated 16K video, using a modified Sony F65 CineAlta camera. A 16K film was presented in March 2014 on a multi-screen video display at Tokyo International Airport.
  • 32K resolution — In 2018, Sony were working on developing a 32K display.
• Ultra HDTV (UHDTV) — Between 1995 and 2003, researchers from NHK, JVC and Ikegami Tsushinki developed a prototype UHDTV system, which they demonstrated as Super Hi-Vision in 2003.
  • Ultra HD camcorder — JVC's GY-HMQ10, released in January 2012, was the first handheld 4K camcorder.
  • 8K resolution camcorder — Sharp Corporation's 8C-B60A (2017) was the first 8K camcorder.
• Upscaler TV — The Toshiba Regza ZF (2008) was the first upscaling TV, capable of upscaling standard definition (SD) content to full HD.

Television

See also: Television in Japan

A recreation of Kenjiro Takayanagi's pioneering television experiment (1925), on display at the NHK Broadcasting Museum in Atagoyama, Tokyo.

• All-electronic television (TV) — Between 1924 and 1925, Kenjiro Takayanagi invented the first all‑electronic TV. By 1927, he improved display resolution to 100 scanlines.
  • Cathode-ray tube TV (CRT TV) — Demonstrated by Kenjiro Takayanagi in 1926.
  • Halftone TV — By 1928, Kenjiro Takayanagi was the first to transmit human faces in halftones. His work had an influence on the later work of Vladimir K. Zworykin.
  • Transistor TV — The first fully transistorized, portable solid-state TV set was Sony's TV8-301, developed from 1958 to 1959 and then released in early 1960.
• Automatic fine tuning (AFT) — In 1969, Toshiba released the first color TV with AFT integrated circuit (IC) technology.
  • Integrated circuit color TV — In 1969, Toshiba released an early color TV incorporating an IC chip. In 1971, they released the first color TV with mostly IC chips.
• Digital TV (DTV) — In the mid-1980s, Toshiba, Sony and NEC released TV sets with digital capabilities. These early digital TV sets converted analog TV signals into digital video signals.
  • DTV broadcast — Proposed in 1986 by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) as part of the Integrated Network System (INS).
• Enhanced-definition television (EDTV) — Nippon TV (NTV) began broadcasting Clear-Vision (EDTV) in 1989 and Wide Clear Vision (widescreen EDTV) in 1995.
  • Improved-definition television (IDTV) — In 1989, IDTV used digital electronics to improve NTSC picture quality in Japan.

Sony XEL-1 (2007), the world's first OLED TV.

• Flat-screen TV — In 1974, Sharp Corporation demonstrated the first flat-screen TV using thin-film electroluminescence (TFEL) technology.
  • Flat-panel CRT TV — Sony's KV-28SF5 (1996), which introduced Super Flat Trinitron technology, was the first CRT TV with a flat screen.
  • OLED TV — The Sony XEL-1 (2007) was the first OLED TV.
• Hybrid log–gamma (HLG) — High-dynamic-range television (HDR TV) format co-developed by NHK in 2015.
• Interactive TV — Between 1975 and 1977, Pioneer Electronics developed Qube, the first two-way addressable, interactive cable TV system.
  • Smart TV — Introduced in Japan during the early 1980s. LSI chips with memory and character generator enabled a mix of programming and information over TV signals.
• Large-screen television technology (video wall) — In 1980, Mitsubishi Electric introduced Diamond Vision, the first large-scale video display system.
  • Jumbotron — Introduced by Sony at the Expo '85 held in May 1985 at Tsukuba, Ibaraki.
• Laser TV — In early 2006, Mitsubishi Electric demonstrated the first commercial laser TV.
• LCD television (LCD TV) — The first LCD televisions were invented as handheld televisions in Japan. The first LCD TV prototypes were demonstrated by Hitachi in 1977 and Matsushita Electric in 1978.
  • Color LCD TV — In 1980, Hattori Seiko's R&D group began development on color LCD pocket televisions.
  • Wall-mount TV — In 1991, Sharp Corporation released the first wall-mountable TV, with a color TFT LCD display.

• On-screen display (OSD) — In 1972, Sharp Corporation introduced the first television set to display a television channel number on the corner of the screen.
  • Picture-in-picture (PIP) — In 1978, Sharp's CT-1804X was the first TV that could display two programs at once on the same screen.
• Portable television — The Sony TV8-301, developed from 1958 to 1959, was the first portable direct-view television.
  • Portable color TV — In 1979, Sony released the first portable color TV.
  • Handheld television (pocket TV) — The Panasonic IC TV Model TR-001 (1970) was the first TV that was small enough to fit in a large pocket. It featured a 1.5-inch display, along with a 1.5-inch speaker.
• SAW TV receiver — In 1977, Toshiba produced the first surface acoustic wave (saw) device for TV receivers.
• Widescreen television — Between 1970 and 1975, NHK developed widescreen TV displays for their Hi-Vision analog HD system. They experimented with different aspect ratios from 1:1 to 9:1 before settling on 5:3.

Three-dimensional

The Nintendo 3DS (2011) was the first game console with an autostereoscopic 3D display, using parallax barrier technology.

• Autostereoscopic 3D TV — In the late 1950s, NHK developed a prototype autostereoscopic 3D TV using parallax barrier technology.
  • 3D TV with active shutter 3D system — In the late 1970s, Matsushita Electric developed a stereoscopic 3D TV with active shutter technology.
  • 3D video — In 1981, Matsushita demonstrated 3D images stored on video tape.
  • 3D HDTV — In the 1998 Nagano Olympics, some sporting events were filmed in 3D high definition.
  • Multi-primary color display (MPC) — The Sharp Aquos Quattron (2010) 3D LCD TV introduced four primary color sub-pixels, including RGB and a yellow sub-pixel.
• Holographic 3D display — In 1970, a prototype holographic projection 3D display was developed by Takanori Okoshi of Tokyo University and A. Yano of Canon Inc.
  • Wide view holographic projection — Developed by Takanori Okoshi between 1968 and 1980.
  • Computer-generated holography with spatial light modulator (SLM) — In 1976, Keio University and Electrotechnical Laboratory researchers proposed computer-generated holography using polarization SLM technology.

• Holographic video — In 1973, Hitachi researchers Yoshito Tsunoda and Yasutsugu Takeda developed a video recording media storing video frame images as holograms.
  • Holographic video disc — In 1975, a Hitachi research team demonstrated a video disc system with audio-visual information encoded holographically.
• Holographic game — Sega's arcade electro-mechanical game Monte Carlo (1971) was the first game to display holographic animations.
  • Holographic video game — Sega's arcade title Time Traveler (1991) was the first holographic video game. The holographic mirror‑like optical device used by the game was invented by Japanese company Dentsu.

• Stereoscopic mobile phone — Sharp Corporation's Mova SH251iS (2002) was the first stereoscopic 3D mobile phone.
  • Autostereoscopic mobile phone — In January 2009, Hitachi introduced the first autostereoscopic 3D phone under KDDI, the Hitachi H001.
• Stereoscopic video game — The arcade game SubRoc-3D, developed by Sega and Matsushita Electric between 1981 and 1982, was the first stereoscopic 3D game. It used a periscope viewer with active shutter 3D system.
  • Stereoscopic handheld — The Bandai LCD Solarpower game Terror House (1982) displayed a 3D-like effect. Tomy's Tomytronic 3D (1983) was a stereoscopic 3D binocular viewer.
  • Autostereoscopic game — In 1997, Sega AM3 presented the Floating Image System, an autostereoscopic 3D display.
  • Autostereoscopic game console — The Nintendo 3DS (2011) was the first game console with an autostereoscopic 3D display using parallax barrier technology.
• Touchable hologram — In 2015, Japanese 3D display firm Aerial Burton and researchers from four Japanese universities demonstrated the first touchable hologram, using sensors to detect touch and haptic technology to provide feedback.

Timekeeping

See also: Japanese clock

2A Seiko quartz wristwatch using the chronograph function (movement 7T92)

• Battery-powered electric clock — In 1885, Sakizō Yai invented a continuous electric clock powered by wet-cell batteries.
• Digital stopwatch — Seiko's Stop Clock (1963), used at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, was the first digital stopwatch.
• Digital wristwatch — In 1953, Yoshiro Nakamatsu invented the first prototype wristwatch with a digital display.
  • LCD digital watch — In 1969, Yoshio Yamasaki at Suwa Seikosha (Seiko Epson) began developing a digital watch with LCD display.
  • Digital calendar — The Casiotron QW02-10 (1974) by Casio was the first digital watch with an automatic calendar function.
• Japanese clock (wadokei)
  • Myriad year clock — Universal clock designed by the Japanese inventor Hisashige Tanaka in 1851. It belongs to the category of Japanese clocks called Wadokei.
• Portable quartz clock — Seiko's Crystal Chronometer (1963), used at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, was the first portable quartz clock.
• Quartz wristwatch — The world's first quartz wristwatch was revealed in 1967, a prototype of the Astron revealed by Seiko in Japan, where it was in development since 1958. It was eventually released to the public in 1969.
  • CMOS watch — Suwa Seikosha (Seiko Epson) began developing a CMOS integrated circuit chip for a Seiko quartz watch in 1969. It was revealed as the Seiko Analog Quartz 38SQW in 1970.
  • Spring Drive — The concept was first conceived in 1977 by Yoshikazu Akahane at Suwa Seikosha.
  • Automatic quartz — The first watch to combine self-winding with a crystal oscillator for timekeeping was unveiled by Seiko in 1986.
• Self-winding chronograph — In early 1969, Seiko produced the first commercial self-winding chronograph with a vertical clutch system and column wheel.
  • Digital chronograph — The Seiko LC Chronograph (1975) was the first digital chronograph.
• Spring Drive — A watch movement which was first conceived by Yoshikazu Akahane working for Seiko in 1977 and was patented in 1982. It features a true continuously sweeping second hand, rather than the traditional beats per time unit.
• Smartwatch — In the 1980s, Seiko began to develop computers in the form of watches, starting with the Data 2000 (1984) watch.
• Television watch — The world's first television watch, the TV-Watch, was released by Seiko in 1982. It use an active-matrix LCD display.

Video

Sony's U-matic, the first videocassette format, introduced in 1971.

• Digital video — In 1972, Toshiba's TOSBAC computer was using digital video disc technology to store color digital images.
  • Digital video recorder (DVR) — In the 1980s, prototype digital high-definition video recorders were developed by Fujitsu, Hitachi, Sanyo and Canon Inc.
  • Digital component video — The D-1 (Sony) digital videocassette format introduced in 1986 was the first commercial digital component video format.
  • Deep color (30-bit color) — The D-5 (Panasonic) digital videocassette introduced in 1993 was the first component video format supporting 10-bit color per component.
• Digital video optical disc — Matsushita's Erasable Optical Memory Disc Recorder System (1983) was the first optical disc format storing digital video content.
  • Digital video disc (DVD) — The DVD format was developed in 1995 by Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Philips.
  • DVD player — The first DVD player was released by Toshiba in November 1996.
  • DVD recorder — The first DVD recorder was released by Pioneer Corporation in 1999.

Betamax (top) and VHS (bottom) tapes were respectively created by Japanese companies Sony and JVC.

• Helical scan video tape recorder (VTR) — Invented by Norikazu Sawazaki in 1953. In 1959, Toshiba released the first commercial helical scan VTR.
  • Transistor VTR — Sony's SV-201 (1961) was the first transistor-based VTR.
  • Videocassette — The first video cassette tape format was Sony's U-matic, developed in the 1960s before being released in 1971.
  • Videocassette recorder (VCR) — In 1971, the first videocassette player was the Sony VP-1100 and the first VCR was the Sony VO-1700, using U-matic videocassettes.
  • VHS — The VHS (Video Home System) was invented in 1973 by Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano, who worked for JVC.
  • Betamax — Betamax was an analog magnetic tape videocassette marketed to consumers released by Sony on May 10, 1975.
• Inter-frame motion compensation (MC) — In 1959, the concept of inter-frame motion compensation was proposed by NHK researchers Y. Taki, M. Hatori and S. Tanaka. They proposed predictive inter-frame video coding in the temporal dimension.
  • H.261 — The majority of patents for the H.261 (1988) video coding standard were from Japanese companies, including Hitachi, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), Toshiba, KDDI, Sony, Sharp Corporation, Oki and Matsushita.
  • VC-1 — Japanese companies that contributed patents towards the VC-1 (2006) video coding format include Panasonic, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Sony, JVC Kenwood, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Sharp, and NTT.
  • AV1 — Japanese companies that contributed patents towards the development of the AV1 (2018) video coding format include NTT and Toshiba.
• Laserdisc player (LD player) — In February 1979, Pioneer Corporation released the first laserdisc (LD) player for business use. In June 1980, Pioneer released the first LD player for home use.
• MPEG — The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) was co-founded by Hiroshi Yasuda.
  • MPEG-1 — Majority of companies that contributed patents for MPEG-1 (1991) were Japanese companies, including Fujitsu, Matsushita Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, NHK and Pioneer.
  • H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 — The majority of patents contributed towards MPEG-2 (1995) were from Japanese companies, including Sony, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, JVC Kenwood, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, KDDI, NTT, Sanyo, Sharp and Canon Inc.
• MPEG-4 Visual (H.263) — In 1998, Toshiba developed the first MPEG-4 (MP4) large-scale integration (LSI) video codec chip, enabling the video compression and video decoding of MP4 video files.
  • AVC (H.264) — The majority of patents for AVC (2003) were from Japanese companies, including Panasonic, Godo Kaisha, Toshiba, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), Sony and Fujitsu.
  • HEVC (H.265) — Japanese companies that contributed patents towards HEVC (2013) include NTT, JVC, NEC, Fujitsu, Maxell, NHK and Canon Inc.
  • VVC (H.266) — Japanese companies that contributed patents towards VVC (2020) include NTT, Godo Kaisha, JVC, KDDI, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Panasonic and Fujitsu.
• Video floppy — The first prototype video floppy disk was developed in 1977 by Canon Inc. The Video Floppy format was demonstrated by Sony and introduced under the Mavipak name in 1981 for their prototype Mavica camera.

Games

A modern pachinko machine

• Modelguns — Japan's Model Gun Collection, founded in 1959, was the first manufacturer of modelguns, which they debuted in 1962.
• Model robot
• Pachinko — Pachinko machines were first built during the 1920s as a children's toy called the Corinth game.

Board games

See also: List of traditional Japanese games

Renju is played on a 15×15 grid Go board.

• 2d6 System — Created by Group SNE for Sword World RPG (1989), one of the most successful tabletop role-playing games in Japan.
• Go (modern rules) — Though the game originated in China, free opening of the game as it is played globally began in the 16th century Japan.
• Gomoku — Historical records indicate the origins of gomoku can be traced back to the mid-1700s during the Edo period. By the late Edo period, around 1850, books had been published on gomoku.
• Renju — A professional variant of gomoku. It was named renju by journalist Ruikou Kuroiwa in 1899.
• Replays — Created by Group SNE with Record of Lodoss War (1986).

Electro-mechanical

See also: Electro-mechanical game and Arcade game

A child playing with a classic Japanese Mogura Taiji (Whac‑A‑Mole) machine.

• Audio-visual novelty game — Electro-mechanical (EM) arcade game genre originating from Japan, pioneered by Periscope (1965) from Namco and Sega.
  • Special effects — Introduced by Periscope (1965).
  • Virtual world — Introduced by Periscope (1965).
  • Image projection — EM games with rear image projection on a screen were introduced in 1968 with Sega's Duck Hunt and Kasco's Indy 500.
  • Character animation — Sega's Duck Hunt (1968) introduced the projection of animated moving targets on a screen.
• Bonus points — Dates back to Sega's Duck Hunt (1968). It awarded a higher score of 15 points for a head shot, whereas a standard body shot earned 10 points.
• Car combat — The concept of ramming cars dates back to Sega's Stunt Car (1970) and Dodgem Crazy (1972). They reversed racing game conventions by making vehicle collisions the objective of the gameplay.
  • Block breaker — In Sega's Stunt Car (1970), the car is used as a kicker to launch balls into holes on the playfield, anticipating the gameplay of Breakout (1976).
• Cockpit arcade cabinet — In 1970, Kasco's Indy 500 (F-type) introduced a sit-down cockpit arcade cabinet.
• Cooperative gameplay (co-op) — Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega was both a single-player game and a three-player co-op game.
  • 3-player (3P) — Periscope (1965) was both a single-player game and a three-player game.
• First-person light gun shooter — Sega's Duck Hunt (1968) was the first shooter game to project first-person graphics on a screen.
  • Headshot — The concept dates back to Sega's Duck Hunt (1968). The game awarded the player a higher score for a head shot, earning 15 points, whereas a standard body shot earned 10 points.
  • First-person shooter (FPS) — Sega's Jet Rocket (1970) was the earliest FPS, with free-roaming first-person movement and shooting. Sega expanded its FPS gameplay with Heli‑Shooter (1977) using microprocessor technology.
• First-person racing game — Kasco's arcade racer Indy 500 (1968) introduced pseudo-3D graphics projected using mirrors to give a first-person perspective on a screen.
• Flight simulator game — Sega's Jet Rocket (1970), a first-person combat flight simulator, was the first flight simulator game.
• Full-motion video (FMV) — Nintendo's EM arcade game Wild Gunman (1974), published by Sega in North America, was the first FMV game.
  • Live action — Wild Gunman (1974) was the first game to use live-action actors.
  • Adult game — The first erotic game was Nintendo's FMV arcade game Fascination (1974).
  • Female character — Nintendo's FMV arcade game Fascination (1974) featured the earliest female character in an electronic game, portrayed by a live-action Swedish model.
• Family fun center — Modern family fun centers appeared in Japan during the late 1960s, notably arcades operated by Sega.
• Handheld electronic game — Waco's Electronic Tic-Tac-Toe (1972) is commonly cited as the first commercial handheld electronic game.
• Head-to-head shooting — Sega's Gun Fight (1969) introduced competitive head-to-head shooting between two players, inspiring several early shooter video games.
• Interactive movie game (cinematic game) — Nintendo's Wild Gunman (1974) was the first interactive movie game.
  • Interactive storytelling — Wild Gunman (1974) was the first game with interactive storytelling. Each scenario presents alternate FMV scenes depending on user action.
• Medal game — Medal games began in Japan during the early 1970s and started becoming popular with Sega's Harness Racing (1974), Nintendo's EVR Race (1975) and Aruze's The Derby Vφ (1975).
• Ninja game — The earliest ninja game was Kasco's EM arcade shooter game Ninja Gun (1977).
• Open world — Sega's Jet Rocket (1970) is considered the earliest open world game. Sega expanded its first-person open world gameplay with Heli‑Shooter (1977) using microprocessor technology.
• Pseudo-3D — Pseudo-3D effects date back to Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega.
  • 4D effect — Taito's arcade game Cycle Rider (1970) was the first game with a 4D effect in the form of wind blowing at the player.
• Quick time event (QTE) — Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade game Wild Gunman (1974) featured the earliest quick time events (QTE).
• Score printing — Sega's arcade title Duck Hunt (1968) was the first game to print out the player's score.
• Submarine simulator — Periscope (1965), by Namco and Sega, used lights and plastic waves to simulate sinking ships from a submarine.
• Whac-A-Mole — Invented in 1975 by Kazuo Yamada of TOGO, based on the designer's 1974 pencil sketches.

Game audio

Playing Dance Dance Revolution, one of the most successful rhythm games.

• Chiptune — Taito's arcade video game Space Invaders (1978), designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, had the earliest continuous background music produced from a sound chip.
  • Adaptive music — The first example was Space Invaders (1978). Simple background music increased in tempo as time goes on and aliens descend upon the player.
  • Melodic chiptune — Nintendo's arcade game Sheriff (1979) had the earliest continuous melodic music produced from a sound chip.
• Digital sample loops — Rally-X (1980), composed by Namco's Toshio Kai, demonstrated the earliest use of digital sample loops.
• Electronic sound effects — Introduced with electro-mechanical (EM) arcade game Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega.
  • Loudspeaker — Periscope (1965) was the first electronic game with sound effects played through a speaker.
  • Solid-state electronics — Solid‑state electronic sound dates back to Sega's EM game Duck Hunt (1968).
  • Sound volume — Duck Hunt (1968) introduced volume controls for the sound effects.
• Game music — Sega introduced electronic game music with their EM arcade game Jumbo (1969), which used an 8-track player to stream electronic circus music.
  • Game music tape loops — Sega introduced tape music loops to arcades with EM games such as Sand Buggy (1972).
• Microphone game controller — Nintendo's Famicom (1983) introduced the first microphone game controller.
• Pulse-code modulation (PCM) — Namco's arcade game King & Balloon (1980) was the first video game to feature PCM digital samples, using a digital-to-analog convertor (DAC) for voice synthesis.
  • Differential PCM (DPCM) — Moon Patrol (1982) by Irem's Takashi Nishiyama was the earliest video game to use an adaptive DPCM (ADPCM) sound chip, the MSM5205 by Oki Electric Industry.
  • Bit Rate Reduction (BRR) — Audio compression format based on ADPCM, introduced with Sony's SPC700 sound chip in the Super Nintendo (1990) game console.
• Rhythm game — In the early 1970s, Kasco created a rhythm-based EM arcade game, designed by Kenzou Furukawa, whose idea was "a game where you'd lift girls skirts in time to some rhythm" inspired by the 1969 Oh! Mouretsu commercials.
  • Rhythm video game — Dance Aerobics (1987) allowed players to create music by stepping on Nintendo's Power Pad peripheral. It has been called the first rhythm‑action game in retrospect.
• Rhythm game accessories
  • Dance pad — The earliest dance pad was Bandai's Power Pad, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987.
  • Musical instrument peripheral — In the late 1990s, Konami's Bemani division invented the first rhythm game peripherals simulating musical instruments.
  • Guitar controller — Invented by Konami's Bemani division in 1998 for the arcade game GuitarFreaks.
  • Drum peripheral — Konami invented a drum kit peripheral for DrumMania (1999).
• Streaming audio — Sega's EM arcade game MotoPolo (1968) introduced an 8-track player unit that plays sounds from endless tape cartridge through a speaker.
  • Streaming audio in video games — Nintendo's arcade title EVR Race (1975) was the first video game to stream pre-recorded audio from a video tape.
  • Streaming video game music — Sega's Astron Belt, an arcade laserdisc game debuted in 1982 and released in early 1983, was the first video game with streaming music.
  • Video game music album (VGM album) — Haruomi Hosono's Video Game Music (1984), featuring arrangements of Namco's arcade game music, was the first VGM album.
• Voice acting — Dates back to Nintendo's EM game Wild Gunman (1974), where the full-motion video (FMV) intro scene has a voiced narrator giving gameplay instructions.
  • Video game voice acting — The first video game with voice acting was Nintendo's arcade game EVR Race (1975), streamed from a video tape.
  • Speech synthesis — Sunsoft's arcade shooter Stratovox (1980) was the first video game to feature voice synthesis.
• Wavetable synthesis — The Namco WSG (Waveform Sound Generator) was a wavetable synthesis chip introduced in 1980 and used in several arcade system boards including the Namco Pac-Man (1980) and Namco Galaga (1981).

Game consoles

See also: Video game console and Video games in Japan

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

• 8-bit handheld console — Nintendo's Game Boy (1989) was the first handheld game console with an 8-bit CPU.
• Dual-ported video RAM (DP VRAM) — The Sega Mega Drive (1988) was the first console to use DP VRAM.
  • Geometry processor — The Sega Saturn (1994) was the first console with a 3D geometry processor.
• Hybrid console — The Sega Nomad (1995) was the first hybrid console.
• Mass storage — The Famicom Disk System (1986) introduced mass disk storage to console gaming, using Mitsumi's Quick Disk format.
  • Optical disc drive — NEC's PC Engine CD-ROM, released in November 1988, was the first game console to use CD-ROM as storage media.
• Multi-screen display — First appeared with Nintendo's Game & Watch series. The first game in the Multi-Screen series was Oil Panic (1982).
• Nintendo — Gunpei Yokoi was the creator of the Game Boy and Virtual Boy and worked on Famicom (NES), the Metroid series, Game Boy Pocket and did extensive work on the system we know today as the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom).
• Online console multiplayer — In 1987, Nintendo launched the Family Computer Network System for the Famicom in Japan. Online games developed for the system include a graphical, competitive online multiplayer version of Go.
  • Digital purchase — Introduced in 1987 with Nintendo's Japan-only Disk Writer kiosks, which allowed users to purchase and download the latest Famicom Disk System games onto their floppy disks.
  • Downloadable content (DLC) — The Sega Meganet service launched for the Japanese Mega Drive in 1990. Phantasy Star II (1989) featured eight Phantasy Star II Adventures for download on Meganet. This was the earliest example of DLC.
  • Built-in modem — Sega's Dreamcast, launched in 1998, was the first console with a built-in modem.
  • Voice chat in online gaming — Began with the Dreamcast in 1999. Games such as Seaman (1999) and Alien Front Online (2001) included built-in voice chat functionality via the SegaNet online service.
• PlayStation — The first Sony PlayStation was invented by Ken Kutaragi. Research and development for the PlayStation began in 1990, headed by Kutaragi, a Sony engineer.
• Saved game — The Legend of Zelda (1986) for the Famicom Disk System was the first console game with a save feature, using Mitsumi's Quick Disk format.
  • Cartridge save — Taito's Mirai Shinwa Jarvas (1987) for the Famicom introduced the concept of saves stored on a battery‑backed static RAM (SRAM) memory chip on the game cartridge.
  • Ferroelectric RAM save — Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM) was commercialized in the mid-1990s. Its first high-profile commercial use was by game company Sega, who used FRAM chips to store saves in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) cartridges.
  • Memory card save — SNK's Neo Geo (1990) was the first home game console to feature a removable memory card for saves.
• Touchscreen handheld — In the early 1990s, Sega were planning to release a Game Gear successor with a touchscreen interface. However, touchscreen technology was expensive, so they instead released the Sega Nomad in 1995.
• TV game — The Sharp Nintendo Television (C1 NES TV) is a CRT television with a built-in Famicom that was produced by Sharp Corporation under license from Nintendo. It was originally released for Japan in October 1983 as the My Computer TV.
  • Video screen capture — Sharp's Famicom Titler (1989) was a Famicom variant that captured direct game footage from a Famicom game, along with video editing capabilities, keypad and touchpad controls, and microphone audio input.
• Vertical scrolling game console — The first console with vertical scrolling was Nintendo's dedicated console Color TV-Game Racing 112 (1978), a clone of Taito's arcade video game Speed Race (1974).
  • Scrolling tiled background — The Famicom (1983) was the first console featuring a graphics chip with hardware support for scrolling tiled backgrounds.
• Virtual reality headset (VR) — The Sega VR headset was an early unreleased VR device with built-in motion tracking, first announced in 1991. Its sensors tracked the player's movement and head position.

Game controllers

See also: Game controller

Nintendo 64 controller, debuted in 1995 and released in 1996, popularized analog thumbstick controls.

• Analog thumbstick — Introduced by Dempa's XE-1 AP (1989) controller for the Sega Mega Drive console and Japanese computers.
  • Digital-analog thumbstick — Introduced with the Nintendo 64 controller, debuted in 1995 and released in 1996. Its thumbstick was a digital-analog hybrid.

Donkey Kong (1982), showing its revolutionary D-pad design.

• Cockpit controls — Sega's Jet Rocket (1970) introduced cockpit controls.
  • Throttle — Sega's EM arcade game Heli-Shooter (1977) involves the player piloting a helicopter using a throttle joystick to accelerate and decelerate.
  • Throttle lever — Sega's arcade video game After Burner II (1987) introduced a throttle lever to accelerate and decelerate the speed.
• D-pad — Developed by Nintendo's Gunpei Yokoi, who developed the modern "cross" design for the Donkey Kong (1982) Game & Watch handheld game.
• Directional buttons — Sega's arcade electro-mechanical game Missile (1969) had two directional buttons are used to move a motorized tank.

Controller of the PlayStation 2, the best-selling video game console of all time.

• Dual control — Sega's EM game Missile (1969) had dual-control scheme, with two directional buttons moving a tank and a joystick used to shoot and steer the missile.
  • Twin-stick shooter — Introduced by Taito's Western Gun (1975), which used one joystick for movement and a second for firing.
  • Dual analog control — Sony's Dual Analog and DualShock controllers in 1997 were the first to feature two analog sticks.
• Force feedback — Sega's arcade motorbike game Man T.T. (1976), also known as Fonz, was the first game using haptic technology for vibrating collisions.
• Gamepad (joypad) — Introduced by Nintendo with the D-pad controller for the Donkey Kong Game & Watch handheld (1982) and the NES controller (1983).
  • Shoulder buttons and grip handles — Introduced by Dempa's XE-1 AP (1989) controller for the Sega Mega Drive console and Japanese computers.
• Joystick — Sega's EM arcade game MotoPolo, released in early 1968, introduced joystick controllers, used to move miniature motorbikes in any direction on the table.
  • Analog joystick — Introduced by Sega's MotoPolo (1968). Joysticks used analog magnetic lever technology to move miniature motorbikes in any direction.
  • Joystick with fire button — First game to use a joystick with fire button was Sega's Missile (1969), which used a joystick to shoot and steer the missile.
  • Analog flight stick — Sega's Space Harrier (1985) introduced an analog flight stick for movement. It could register movement in any direction as well as measure the degree of push.
  • Rotary joystick — Joystick–knob hybrid, which can move in various directions like a joystick and be rotated like a knob, such as for 8‑direction movement and 360-degree aiming. Introduced by SNK's TNK III (1985) and Ikari Warriors (1986).
• Light gun toy — Nintendo introduced a light gun toy to the home market with the Kōsenjū SP (Beam Gun) in 1970. The gun was developed by Nintendo's Gunpei Yokoi with Sharp's Masayuki Uemura.
  • Video game light gun — The first video game light gun, released for the Magnavox Odyssey console in 1972, was designed and manufactured by Nintendo, based on their earlier Kōsenjū SP light gun.
  • Hands-free head-mounted display with head tracking and voice command — The first such device was Konami's LaserScope (1990) for the NES console. It supported all NES Zapper light gun games.
• Motion controller — Sega's arcade boxing game Heavyweight Champ (1985) featured the first motion-based controllers.
  • Full-body motion control — Invented by Yu Suzuki for Sega's arcade motorbike racing game Hang-On (1985).
  • Motion-sensing controller — Invented by Nintendo for the Wii, the Wii Remote is the first controller with motion-sensing capability. It was a candidate for Time magazine's Best Invention of 2006.
• Motion simulator — The first hydraulic motion simulator arcade cabinets were developed by Sega for the arcade games Space Tactics (1981), Hang-On (1985) and Space Harrier (1985).
  • Gyroscope — Sega's R360 cabinet, debuted with the arcade game G-LOC: Air Battle (1990), introduced the use of gyroscope technology for the first 360-degree motion simulator experience.
• Periscope — Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega introduced a new controller in the form of a periscope viewer. Its periscope viewer arcade cabinet design was later adopted by several arcade video games.
• Positional gun — Earliest example of a positional gun was used for Sega's EM arcade gun game Sea Devil (1972).
• Racing wheel with accelerator pedal — Kasco's EM game Indy 500 (1968) featured a steering wheel along with an accelerator pedal.
  • Handheld racing wheel — Tomy's Demon Driver (1978) and Turnin' Turbo Dashboard (1983) were the first handheld games with racing wheels.
• Touch control — In 1985, the Sega Graphic Board for the SG-1000 and SC-3000 was a touch tablet with stylus pen, used for the drawing game Terebi Oekaki.
  • Touchpad — In 1986, the Sega AI Computer had a touchpad, mainly used for educational games.
• Trackball control — The earliest use of trackball controls in a video game was Sega's arcade football/soccer game World Cup, released in March 1978.

Sports

See also: Sports in Japan

Airsoft players defending an objective.

• Air hockey — Sega's electro-mechanical (EM) arcade game MotoPolo (1968) anticipated air hockey gameplay.
  • Motorbike electronic sports game — Sega's MotoPolo (1968) was the first electronic sports game featuring motorbikes.
  • Formula One electronic game — Namco's EM arcade games Formula-X (1973) and F-1 (1976) were the first Formula One electronic games.
  • Bowlingo — Capcom's Bowlingo (1990) was a coin-operated, electro-mechanical, automated mini ten-pin bowling installation, smaller than a standard bowling alley.
• Airsoft — Airsoft originated in Japan, then spread to Hong Kong and China in the late 1970s.
  • Airsoft gun — The inventor of the first airsoft gun was Tanio Kobayashi in the 1970s.
• Association football video game — Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade video game Soccer (1973) was the first association football (soccer) sports video game.
  • Basketball video game — Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade title TV Basketball (1974) was the first basketball video game.
  • Skiing video game — Taito's arcade title Alpine Ski (1981) was the first skiing video game.
  • Olympic video game — Konami's arcade title Track & Field (1983) was the first officially licensed video game based on the Olympic Games.
  • Rugby video game — Data East's Scrum Try (1984) for arcade DECO Cassette System was the first rugby video game.
• Combat sports video game — Sega's arcade video game Heavyweight Champ (1976) was the first boxing video game and the first combat sports video game.
  • Wrestling video game — Technōs Japan's arcade title Tag Team Wrestling (1983) was the first wrestling video game.
  • Sumo video game — Technōs Japan's arcade title Shusse Ōzumō (1984) was the earliest sumo video game.

Nissan Silvia (S14) performing a drift (2014)

• Drifting — Kunimitsu Takahashi created drifting techniques in the 1970s.
  • Drifting competition — In 1988, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Option magazine founder Daijiro Inada organised the first contest specifically for sliding a car sideways.
• Ekiden (road relay)
• Esports — Has arcade roots dating back to 1974, with Sega's All Japan TV Game Championships, a nationwide tournament in Japan.
• Gateball
• Instant replay — From 1957, NHK began instant replay broadcasts of sumo wrestling events. Due to matches being short, broadcasters would quickly rewind the video tape after a match to replay the contest.
  • HDTV sports broadcasting — The 1984 Summer Olympics, where NHK shot some of the events in HD video, was the first sporting event broadcast on HDTV.
  • 3D TV sports broadcasting — In the 1998 Nagano Olympics, some sporting events were filmed for 3D HDTV.
  • VOD sports broadcasting — The 1998 Nagano Olympics included the first video-on-demand (VOD) sports coverage.
  • Bullet time instant replay — Takeo Kanade developed a multi-camera instant replay system for CBS that produced a bullet time effect during replays. The system was demonstrated during a Super Bowl 2001 broadcast on CBS.
• Keirin — Started as a gambling sport in 1948 and became an Olympic sport in 2000.
• Sports animation — Animal Olympic Games, a 1928 animated short film directed by Yasuji Murata, was the first sports anime.
• Sports comic — The judo manga series Igaguri-kun by Eiichi Fukui, first published in the manga magazine Bōken'ō in 1952, was the first sports manga series.

Video games

See also: Video games in Japan and History of Eastern role-playing video games

Space Invaders (1978), an early arcade shoot 'em up.

• 16-bit video game — Universal's arcade video game Get A Way (1978) was the earliest game with a 16-bit CPU.
• 3D polygon graphics — Funai's arcade laserdisc game Interstellar, debuted at the AM Show in September 1983, introduced pre-rendered 3D polygon graphics.
  • Real-time 3D computer graphics — Technosoft's racing game Plazma Line (1984) was the first computer game with real‑time 3D polygon graphics.
  • 3D polygon human character — Arsys Software's Star Cruiser (1988) featured the earliest human 3D polygon non-player character (NPC), named Sakai Daigo.
  • 3D character physics — Sega AM2's Virtua Fighter (1993) introduced a 3D physics engine for the game's human 3D polygon player characters.
• 3D texture mapping — Namco's SimDrive (SimRoad) for the Namco System 22, with a limited 1992 release, introduced 3D texture mapping.
  • Texture filtering — The Sega Model 2 arcade system introduced the use of 3D texture filtering with Daytona USA (1993).
  • Texture-mapped characters — Sega AM2's Virtua Fighter 2 (1994) introduced texture-mapped 3D player characters.
• 6-player video game — Dates back to Taito's arcade racing game Dead Heat (1975).
• Action role-playing game (ARPG) — Panorama Toh (1983) is considered to be the first ARPG.
  • Role-playing shooter (RPS) — Panorama Toh (1983) was the first ARPG with shooter game elements.
  • Activity-based progression — Nihon Falcom's Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II (1985) was the earliest role-playing video game where individual stats increase based on activity levels.
  • Morality meter — Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II (1985) featured a Karma meter, which affects the temple's reaction.
  • Soulslike — A subgenre of ARPG and action-adventure games that originate from FromSoftware's Demon's Souls in 2009.
• Adult video game — The first erotic video game was Hudson Soft's Yakyūken (1981) for the Sharp MZ-80K computer.
• Alien invasion — Space Invaders (1978) was the first video game to depict aliens.
• Arcade conversion — Kasco's Playtron (1973) had an early prototype arcade system board that supported interchangeable games.

Kung-Fu Master (1984), an early side-scrolling arcade beat 'em up.

• Beat 'em up — In 1984, Irem's Kung-Fu Master laid the foundations for scrolling beat 'em ups with its hand-to-hand combat against multiple enemies.
  • Belt scrolling— Introduced by Technōs Japan with Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986) and Double Dragon (1987).
• Bonus stage — The first bonus stage in video game history is in Rally-X, released by Namco in 1980. This became a signature feature of other arcade games.
• Boss battle in real-time — Sega's Samurai, released March 1980, had the player samurai fight a number of swordsmen before confronting a more powerful boss samurai.
  • Multiple bosses — SNK's Sasuke vs. Commander, released in October 1980, is the earliest game with multiple boss encounters.
  • Final boss — In Phoenix (1980), the player's ship must fight a giant mothership in the final level.
  • Sub-boss — In Irem's Kung-Fu Master (1984), end-of-level sub-bosses are followed by the final boss on the top level.
  • Boss rush — Sega's Fantasy Zone (1986) popularized the concept of a boss rush, a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession.
• Branching storylines — The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) introduced non-linear branching storylines, presenting different scenarios in response to player actions.
  • Multiple endings — The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) introduced alternate endings, considered "way ahead of its time".
• Breaking the fourth wall — Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear (1987) was the earliest video game to break the fourth wall.
• Camera change button — Introduced in 1991 by MNM Software's Japan-exclusive Sharp X68000 games Magical Shot and Star Wars: Attack on the Death Star.
  • Free-floating camera — Nintendo EAD's Super Mario 64 (1996) introduced a free-floating camera that can be controlled independently of the character.
• Character action game — Genre was established by Namco's Pac-Man (1980).
  • Hack and slash — In Sega's action game Samurai (1980), the player samurai swordsman must fight a number of other swordsmen.
  • Reactive AI — The ghosts in Pac-Man (1980) were early examples of enemy AI that react to the player's choices.
• Cheat code — Dates back to the Konami Code, created in 1986 by Kazuhisa Hashimoto as he worked on porting the 1985 arcade game Gradius for use on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
• Climbing — Nichibutsu's arcade game Crazy Climber (1980) was the first climbing game.
• Combo — Data East's arcade DECO Cassette System game Flash Boy (1981), a scrolling action game, had the earliest combo mechanic. When the player punches an enemy and it explodes, debris can destroy other enemies.
  • Combo system — The first fighting game with a combo system was Culture Brain's Shanghai Kid (1985), with "rush" attacks similar to custom combos in Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996).
  • Super combo — Introduced by SNK's Art of Fighting (1992).
• Command menu — Yuji Horii's The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance (1984) introduced a command menu system.
  • Branching menu — The 1985 NES port of The Portopia Serial Murder Case has branching menu selections.
• Color vector graphics — The Sega G80 arcade system, launched in 1981, possessed the world's first color vector X-Y video system.
• Co-op action video game — Sega's arcade light gun shooter Balloon Gun (1974) was the earliest co-op action video game.
• Cover system — In Tomohiro Nishikado's Western Gun (1975), the player characters could take cover behind destructible objects.
  • Cover button — Namco's 1995 3D light gun shooter arcade game Time Crisis introduced a dedicated cover button, specifically an "action" foot pedal, that could be used to take cover behind in-game objects.
  • Laser sight — A laser sight mechanic, where a laser sight helps assist with manually aiming a gun, first appeared in Metal Gear Solid (1998) and WinBack (1999).
  • Blind fire — The earliest cover system with a blind fire mechanic appeared in Kill Switch (2003), designed by Chris Esaki and released by Namco.
• Cutscene — Taito's Space Invaders Part II (1979) introduced cutscenes as brief comical intermissions between levels.
  • Narrative cutscene — The first video game with storytelling cutscenes was Nintendo's Sheriff (1979).
  • Quick time event cutscene (QTE) — Sega's Die Hard Arcade (1996) introduced QTEs in the modern form of cutscene interludes in an otherwise interactive game.
• Destructible object — Destructible objects were introduced by Tomohiro Nishikado's Western Gun (1975).
  • Destructible environment — Namco's Dig Dug (1982) was the first game with a fully destructible environment.
• Dialogue tree — Introduced by Yuji Horii's The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983), with branching dialogue choices considered "way ahead of its time".
• Difficulty level — Dates back to Tomohiro Nishikado's Speed Race (1974).
  • Difficulty curve — The concept was accidentally invented by Tomohiro Nishikado when he created Space Invaders (1978).
  • Dynamic difficulty — Pioneered by Space Invaders (1978).
  • Enemy horde — Space Invaders (1978) was the first video game where a player had to repel hordes of hostile enemies.
  • It's not a bug, it's a feature — The earliest example of this in video games is Space Invaders (1978), where the gradually increasing speed and difficulty was originally an accident.
  • Risk and reward — Pioneered by Space Invaders (1978).
• Digitized character sprite — Magical Company's 2D arcade fighting game Last Apostle Puppet Show (1988) was the first game to feature fully digitized character sprites.
• Drifting mechanic — Introduced by Sega's Out Run (1986). The mechanic incorporates AI assistance and details such as, if the car's tires grip the road surface too closely, the car's handling becomes too twitchy.
• Farm life sim — The genre began with the SNES game Harvest Moon (1996).
• Female video game character — In Nintendo's arcade game Sheriff (1979), the non-player character Betty was the earliest female character in a video game.
  • Damsel in distress — Betty from Nintendo's Sheriff (1979) was the first damsel-in-distress to appear in a video game.
  • Female protagonist — Hiroshi Suzuki's stealth game Manbiki Shōjo (Shoplighting Girl), released for the PET 2001 in 1980, was the earliest video game with a female player character. It was a sequel to 1979's Manbiki Shōnen (Shoplighting Boy).

Street Fighter II (1991), an arcade fighting game.

• Fighting game — Sega's Heavyweight Champ (1976) was the first video game with fist fighting. Technōs Japan's Karate Champ (1984) established the fighting game genre.
  • Tag team — Technōs Japan's arcade title Tag Team Wrestling (1983) was the first video game with a tag team game mechanic.
  • Special move — Introduced by Karate Champ (1984).
  • Platform fighter — Namco's The Outfoxies (1994) originated the concept of platform fighters. The subgenre was most defined by Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. (1999).
• First-person shooter video game (FPS) — Tomohiro Nishikado's Interceptor (1975) was the earliest commercial first-person shooter (FPS) video game.
  • Sniper rifle — Vic Tokai's Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (1988) was the first video game with a sniper rifle.
  • Strafing — Arsys Software's Star Cruiser (1988) was the earliest FPS with strafing controls, considered ahead of its time.
• Flight simulator video game — Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade game Interceptor (1975) was a crude early first-person combat flight simulator video game.
• FMV video game — The first video game with full-motion video (FMV) was Nintendo's arcade game EVR Race (1975), which played anime scenes from an Electronic Video Recording (EVR) video tape on a CRT display.
  • FMV cutscene — Data East's laserdisc video game Bega's Battle (1983) introduced animated FMV cutscenes with voice acting to develop a story between the game's shooting stages.
• Gouraud shading — Namco's SimDrive (SimRoad) for the Namco System 22, with a limited release in 1992, introduced Gouraud shading.
  • Phong shading — The Sega Hikaru arcade system introduced Phong shading, with the system's debut title Brave Firefighters (1999). Space Channel 5 (1999) for the Sega Dreamcast was the first home console game with limited Phong shading.
• High score — Defined by Taito's Space Invaders (1978), with high scores determined by playing to stay alive for as long as possible, as scores keep rising.
  • Save data — The first game to save the player's high score was Space Invaders (1978).
• Horror game — Early forerunners date back to the survival scenarios in Space Invaders (1978) and Pac-Man (1980).
  • Survival horror — The earliest survival horror was AX-2: Uchū Yusōsen Nostromo, developed by Akira Takiguchi for the PET 2001 and PC-6001 in 1981. The genre was later named and defined by Capcom's Resident Evil (1996).
  • Psychological horror game — Capcom's Sweet Home (1989) was the earliest psychological horror game, based on the 1989 Japanese film of the same name.
  • Fast zombie — Originates from 1990s Japanese horror games. Resident Evil (1996) featured zombie dogs that run towards the player. The House of the Dead (1996) introduced running human zombies who run towards the player, jump and swim.
  • Zombie dog — Resident Evil (1996) was the first video game with zombie dogs, popularizing the concept in mass media.
  • Zombie virus — Resident Evil (1996) gave realistic scientific explanations for zombie origins, such as biological weaponry, genetic manipulation, and parasitic symbiosis. This became the standard approach for explaining zombie origins.
• Human combat — Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade title Western Gun (1975) was the first video game to depict human-to-human combat.
  • Violent video game — Western Gun was the first video game to depict human violence.
  • Western video game — Western Gun was the first Western genre video game.
• Invisible wall — Invented by Konami and patented in 1996.
• Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) — Koei's The Dragon and Princess (1982), released for the PC-88 and FM-7 computers, was the first role-playing video game (RPG) made in Japan.
  • Tactical RPG (strategy RPG) — The Dragon and Princess (1982) laid the foundations for the tactical RPG genre, with a tactical turn‑based battle system.
  • Critical hit — The concept of critical hits was introduced to video games with the 1986 JRPG title Dragon Quest.
  • Active Time Battle (ATB) — Hiroyuki Ito introduced the ATB system in Final Fantasy IV (1991).
  • Pausable real-time — The earliest example of pausable real-time combat was ELF Corporation's Knights of Xentar (1991).
• Jumping — First appeared in Tomohiro Nishikado's arcade game TV Basketball (1974).
  • Double jump — Namco's Dragon Buster (1984) originated the double jump mechanic.
  • Wall jump — First appeared in UPL's arcade game Ninja-Kid II (1987).
• Optical disc video game — The first video game to use optical disc technology was Sega's arcade laserdisc game Astron Belt, which debuted in 1982.
  • CD-ROM video game — The first CD-ROM games released were Fighting Street and No-Ri-Ko for the PC Engine CD-ROM in 1988. In 1987, there were PC Engine CD-ROM demos of Tengai Makyō: Ziria, Odori Koen Satsujin Jiken and CD Zoo.
  • AAA game — Tengai Makyō II: Manji Maru (1992) for the PC Engine was the first AAA game production on CD-ROM.
• Last man standing — The earliest last-man-standing video game with a shrinking play zone was Hudson Soft's 1983 action game Bomberman.
  • Battle royale game (BR) — Bomberman (1990) is considered the first battle royale game.
• Levels — Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders (1978) introduced the "concept of going round after round".
  • Multiple distinct levels — Dates back to Nintendo's Sheriff (1979), which features nine distinct stages.
• Licensed game — Sega's Fonz (1976) was the first time that a television character was licensed for a video game, with Sega predicting the start of a new coalition between the show business and amusement arcade industries.
• Lives — Taito's classic arcade video game Space Invaders (1978) is credited with introducing multiple lives to video games.
  • Energy shield — SNK's arcade shoot 'em up game Ozma Wars (1979) introduced an energy supply represented numerically that depletes when taking hits.
  • Health meter — Data East's Flash Boy (1981) for the DECO Cassette System introduced an energy bar.
  • Health meter regeneration — Nintendo's Punch-Out, developed in 1983 and released in 1984, introduced a stamina meter that replenishes when the player strikes the opponent.
• Maze chase — Heiankyo Alien (1979) was an early maze chase game predating Namco's Pac-Man (1980), which established the maze chase genre and spawning many imitations.
• Microtransaction — Invented by Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone (1990). It has shops where players can insert coins into the arcade machine to purchase upgrades, power-ups, health, weapons, special moves and characters.
• Monster-taming game — Namco's Gaplus (1984) introduced a tractor beam that allows the player to capture alien enemies and turn them into useful allies.
• Motion capture — In Magical Company's arcade fighting game Last Apostle Puppet Show (1988), an early form of motion capture was used to animate the 2D digitized sprites.
  • Passive optical motion capture — Namco's arcade fighting game Soul Edge (1995) was the first video game to use passive optical motion-capture technology.
• Multi-directional shooter — Taito's Western Gun (1975) laid the foundations for the multi-directional shooter genre.
• Named character — In Nintendo's arcade game Sheriff (1979), the player character Mr. Jack and non-player character Betty were the earliest video game characters with names.
  • Video game mascot — Pac-Man (1980) is recognized as the first video game mascot.
• Ninja video games — The earliest ninja video game was SNK's arcade shooter Sasuke vs. Commander (1980).
• Online graphical multiplayer — LINKS, a Japanese online network for the MSX launched in 1986, featured early graphical online multiplayer games: T&E Soft's Daiva Dr. Amandora and Super Laydock, Telenet's Girly Block, and Bothtec's Dires.
• Open world video game — Tomohiro Nishikado's Western Gun (1975) is considered to be the earliest rudimentary open world video game.
  • Mini-map — The first video game with a radar mini-map was Namco's arcade game Rally-X (1980).
  • Overworld — The arcade game Route-16 (1981) by Sun Electronics was the earliest game with an overworld. Exiting a maze takes the player to a large overworld map, from where they could enter various buildings.
  • Hub world — Sega's 1981 arcade game 005 was the first game with a hub world.
  • Day-night cycle — Nihon Falcom's computer game Panorama Toh (1983) introduced an open world with day-night cycles.
  • NPC schedule — Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) introduced a day-night cycle where non-player characters (NPC) appear in certain locations depending on the time of day.
• Open-world graphic adventure — Yuji Horii's The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) was the earliest open world graphic adventure game.
  • Point-and-click — Legends of Star Arthur: Planet Mephius, released by T&E Soft in July 1983, introduced a point-and-click interface utilizing a cursor to interact with objects.
  • Visual novel (VN) — A type of interactive fiction originating in Japan. The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) is credited with defining the genre.
• Platformer — Space Panic (1980) by Universal Entertainment is considered the first platformer. Donkey Kong (1981) by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto was the first platformer that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps.
  • Scrolling platformer — Alpha Denshi's Jump Bug (1981) was the first platformer with scrolling graphics.
  • Grappling hook — Tokuro Fujiwara's Roc'n Rope (1983) introduced a grappling hook game mechanic, later used by 1987 platformers Bionic Commando and Arumana no Kiseki.
  • Metroidvania — Brain Breaker (1985) by Enix is considered the first Metroidvania game.
• Power-up — Pac-Man from 1980 is credited as the first video game to feature a power-up mechanic.

Fonz arcade cabinet (1976)

• Puzzle video game — Heiankyo Alien (1979) by University of Tokyo's Theoretical Science Group (TSG) was the first puzzle video game.
  • Puzzle-platformer — Universal's Space Panic (1980) was the earliest puzzle-platformer.
  • Physics game — Nintendo's Gyromite (1985) was an early physics-based puzzle game.
• Racing simulation — The earliest attempt at a racing simulation was Namco's arcade game Pole Position (1982).
  • Checkpoint — Namco's Pole Position (1982) was the first game with a checkpoint system.
  • Time trial — Pole Position (1982) was the first game to have a qualifying lap before the main race.
  • Kart racing game — Sega's arcade game Power Drift featured go-kart racing in 1988.
• Real-time strategy (RTS) — Bokosuka Wars (1983) is considered an early proto-RTS gane. Technosoft's Herzog Zwei (1989) for the Sega Mega Drive is considered the first true RTS game.
  • Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) — The genre originates from Herzog Zwei (1989).
• Shoot 'em up — Space Invaders (1978) is frequently cited as the first or original in the genre. Space Invaders pitted the player against multiple enemies descending from the top of the screen at a constantly increasing speed.
  • Bullet hell — The bullet hell or danmaku genre began to emerge in the early 1990s. Toaplan's Batsugun (1993) is considered to be the ancestor of the modern bullet hell genre.
• Stealth game — Hiroshi Suzuki's Manbiki Shounen (Shoplifting Boy), released in 1979, was the stealth game. It inspired two stealth games in 1980, Taito's Lupin III and Suzuki's own sequel Manbiki Shoujo (Shoplifting Girl).
• Survival game — Survival scenarios date back to Space Invaders (1978), Pac-Man (1980) and early survival horror. Survival game mechanics were introduced in Nihon Falcom's Panorama Toh (1983).
• Third-person shooter (TPS) — Radar Scope (1979) was the first shooter game with a pseudo-3D third-person perspective.
  • Rail shooter — Sega's arcade game Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (1982) was an early pseudo-3D third-person rail shooter.
  • Over-the-shoulder (OTS) — Resident Evil 4 (2005) redefined the TPS genre with its "over the shoulder" offset camera angles, where the camera is placed directly over the right shoulder and therefore doesn't obscure the action.
• Time travel video game — Dates back to Konami's arcade shoot 'em up game Time Pilot (1982).

Microtechnology

See also: Electronics industry in Japan and Semiconductor industry in Japan

• Avalanche breakdown — Between 1952 and 1953, Junichi Nishizawa discovered the avalanche effect in semiconductors.
• Multi-mode optical fiber (MMF) — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1964.
  • Graded-index fiber (GI fiber) — Invented by Nishizawa in 1964.
• Optic crystals — In 1961, Junichi Nishizawa proposed crystal growth using optical energy. In 1963, he demonstrated an optically excited crystal growth method for silicon (Si) using optical energy.
• Oxypnictide — Discovered by a Tokyo Institute of Technology team under Hideo Hosono.
• Parametron — Eiichi Goto invented the parametron in 1954 as an alternative to the vacuum tube. Early Japanese computers used parametrons until they were superseded by transistors.
  • Quantum flux parametron — Eiichi Goto invented the quantum flux parametron in 1986 using superconducting Josephson junctions on integrated circuits as an improvement over existing parametron technology.
• Silicon carbide power semiconductor — Hiroyuki Matsunami pioneered the application of silicon carbide in power electronics.
• Solid-state maser — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1955.
  • Laser — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1957.
  • Raman fiber laser — The first continuous wave Raman laser using an optical fiber as the gain medium was co-developed by B.S. Kawasaki and demonstrated in 1976.
• Switching circuit theory — From 1934 to 1936, NEC engineer Akira Nakashima introduced switching circuit theory in a series of papers showing that two-valued Boolean algebra can describe the operation of switching circuits.

Diodes

Blue LEDs

445–450 nm blue laser (middle)

• Avalanche diode — Junichi Nishizawa invented the avalanche photodiode in 1952 and avalanche injection diode in 1958.
• Green light-emitting diode (green LED) — Developed by Junichi Nishizawa in 1971.
  • Blue LED — Between 1988 and 1992, Shuji Nakamura invented the first efficient blue LED, building on the earlier work of Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano.
  • White LED — In 1995, Yoshinori Shimizu's team at Nichia developed the first white LED, by combining blue LED with phosphors, the basis for modern LEDs.
  • White OLED — Pioneered by J. Kido's team at Yamagata University in 1995. It led to the commercialization of OLED displays.
• Photodiode — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1950.
  • Avalanche photodiode — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1952.
  • Pinned photodiode (PPD) — Invented by Nobukazu Teranishi, Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara at NEC in 1980.
• PIN diode — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa and Yasushi Watanabe in 1950.
  • PIN photodiode — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1950.
• Semiconductor laser (laser diode) — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa and Yasushi Watanabe in 1957.
  • Continuous wave semiconductor laser — Invented by Izuo Hayashi (1970). It's commonly used for fiber-optics, laser printers, barcode readers and optical discs.
  • Raman semiconductor laser — Junichi Nishizawa proposed the concept in 1972. In 1979, he demonstrated the first Raman semiconductor laser.
  • Far infrared terahertz radiation (THz) — Junichi Nishizawa proposed the concept in 1963. In 1980, he demonstrated the first 12 THz electromagnetic wave using the lattice vibration of gallium phosphide crystals in a Raman semiconductor laser.
  • Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) — Short cavity VCSEL was proposed by Kenichi Iga in 1977, and then demonstrated by Haruhisa Soda, Iga, Kitahara and Yasuharu Suematsu in 1979.
  • Blue laser — Invented by Shuji Nakamura, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano while developing blue LED from 1986 to 1992, winning them 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.
• Static induction thyristor (SITh) — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1976.
• Tunnel diode (Esaki diode) — It was invented in August 1957 by Leo Esaki and Yuriko Kurose when working at Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, now known as Sony.
  • Tunnel injection — Junichi Nishizawa invented the tunnel injection diode in 1958.
• Variable capacitance diode (varicap) — Junichi Nishizawa invented the hyperabrupt variable capacitance diode in 1959.

Integrated circuits

Intel 8259A integrated circuit chip from a PC XT. A version of the Intel 8259 (1976), the first programmable interrupt controller (PIC) designed by Masatoshi Shima.

• CMOS large-scale integration (CMOS LSI) — Toshiba used C²MOS technology to develop a CMOS LSI chip for Sharp Corporation's Elsi Mini LED pocket calculator in 1971.
  • Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) — In 1972, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) introduced a 64 kbit VLSI memory chip.
• Direct memory access controller (DMA controller) — In the late 1970s, Hitachi developed a DMA microcontroller on a single large-scale integration (LSI) chip.
  • Floppy-disk controller integrated circuit — In the late 1970s, Hitachi introduced a floppy disk microcontroller on a single LSI chip.
  • Magnetic-tape data storage microcontroller — Developed by Hitachi in the late 1970s.
• Glass integrated circuit (IC) — Shunpei Yamazaki invented an integrated circuit made entirely from glass and with an 8-bit central processing unit (CPU).
• Programmable interval timer (PIT) — Dates back to the Intel 8253 (1975) integrated circuit chip designed by Masatoshi Shima.
  • Programmable interrupt controller (PIC) — The first PIC was the Intel 8259 (1976) chip designed by Masatoshi Shima.
  • Universal synchronous and asynchronous receiver-transmitter (USART) — Dates back to the Intel 8251 (1976) chip designed by Masatoshi Shima.
• Three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) — In 1969, a 3D IC memory chip was proposed by Katsuhiro Onoda's NEC research team.
  • Through-silicon via (TSV) — The first 3D IC chips fabricated with TSV technology were developed during the 1980s in Japan. The first TSV patents were filed by Hitachi in 1983 and Fujitsu in 1984.
• Wafer bonding — Proposed by Yoichi Akasaka's Mitsubishi Electric research team in 1986. In 1989, Yoshihiro Hayashi's NEC research team fabricated a two active layer 3D IC chip using CUBIC (Cumulatively Bonded IC) technology.

Memory and storage

See also: Semiconductor industry in Japan

Toshiba SD card, a type of flash memory card.

• 3D holographic data storage — In 1971, Yasutsugu Takeda's Hitachi research team developed holographic memory data storage using thin film hologram technology.
• 3.5 inch floppy disk — A standardized floppy disk format pioneered by Sony in 1981.
  • Quick Disk — A 3-inch (75 mm) floppy disk format by Mitsumi, originally released for the MSX computer in 1984.
• Compact disc (CD) — The CD format was jointly developed by Sony (Toshitada Doi) and Philips (Joop Sinjou) between 1979 and 1983.
  • CD-ROM — Sony and Philips created the technical standard that defines the CD-ROM format in 1983.
• Digital versatile disc (DVD) — The DVD format (1995) was developed by three Japanese companies (Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic) and one Dutch company (Philips).
  • DVD recordable (DVD-R) — Pioneer Corporation released the first DVD-R drive in 1997.
• Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) — Toshiba's Toscal BC-1411 electronic calculator (released in November 1965) introduced bipolar DRAM, using discrete bipolar transistors and capacitors as DRAM memory cells.
  • Stacked capacitor — In 1978, a 3D integrated circuit (3D IC) DRAM memory chip with stacked capacitor memory cells was developed in Japan.
  • Trench capacitor — In 1982, a 3D IC DRAM memory chip with stacked capacitor memory cells was developed in Japan.
  • Embedded DRAM (eDRAM) — In 1988, a Toshiba research team led by Kazuhiro Sawada demonstrated an embedded 1 Mbit DRAM chip optimized for embedded system applications.
  • Synchronous graphics RAM (SGRAM) — Hitachi's 8 Mbit (1 MB) HM5283206 graphics memory chip, introduced in November 1994, was the first SGRAM memory chip.
  • Double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) — In February 1997, Fujitsu introduced the first double data rate (DDR) synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) chip, with a capacity of 256 Mbit (16 MB).
• EEPROM — Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL) began research in 1971, fabricating an electrically re-programmable non-volatile memory in 1972.
• Flash memory — Flash memory was invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka while working for Toshiba. In 1980, he filed a patent for NOR flash memory.
  • NAND flash — Invented by Fujio Masuoka, while working at Toshiba, in 1986.
  • Charge trap flash (CTF) — In 1991, NEC's research team including N. Kodama, K. Oyama and Hiroki Shirai developed a type of flash memory that incorporated a charge trap method.
  • Quad-level cell (QLC) — In 1996, NEC introduced a flash memory 3D IC chip with QLC cells.
  • Triple-level cell (TLC) — In 2009, Toshiba introduced a NAND flash memory 3D IC chip with TLC cells.
  • Vertical NAND (V-NAND) — V-NAND, also known as 3D NAND, stacks NAND flash memory cells vertically within a chip using 3D CTP technology. V-NAND technology was introduced by Toshiba in 2007.
• Megabyte memory chip (MB) — In January 1984, Hitachi demonstrated the first 1 MB DRAM memory chip.
  • Gigabyte optical disc (GB) — In 1984, Sony demonstrated a digital data laserdisc with a capacity of 3.28 GB.
  • Terabyte mass storage (TB) — In 2003, Japanese companies NHK, JVC and Ikegami Tsushinki developed a prototype 3.5 TB disc storage system for recording ultra-high-definition video.
• Memory card — In February 1984, Japanese company Logitec demonstrated the first erasable optical storage memory card. It was originally created for use with arcade video game systems, allowing interchangeable multi-game arcade cabinets.
  • Flash memory card — The Fujix Image Memory Card (1988) by Fujifilm and Toshiba was the earliest flash memory card, compatible with digital cameras from Fuji and Toshiba.
  • SD card — The Secure Digital (SD) memory card format was jointly developed in 1999 by Panasonic (then known as Matsushita), Kioxia (then part of Toshiba) and SanDisk.
• Minidisc — In 1992, Sony introduced the MiniDisc (MD), a music recording and playback format intended to replace audio cassettes.
  • Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) — Sony's recordable MiniDisc (1992) used HAMR recording, but the discs were read optically via the Kerr effect.
• NMOS logic semiconductor memory — In 1968, NEC introduced a 144-bit NMOS static random-access memory (SRAM) chip, with each memory cell composed of six NMOS transistors.
• Optical disc drive (ODD) — Toshiba's Tosfile, developed from 1978 to 1979, was the first optical disc recorder drive. It was capable of storing digital images and documents on optical disc.
  • Erasable optical disc drive — Matsushita Electric's Erasable Optical Memory Disc Recorder System, introduced in early 1983, was the first erasable ODD. It was capable of storing and erasing digital video, images and documents.
  • Magneto-optical drive — In 1982, KDDI researchers Yasuyuki Nagao, Shinsuke Tanaka, Fujio Tanaka and Nobutake Imamura first demonstrated magneto-optical disc recording technology.
  • LD-ROM — In 1984, Sony first demonstrated a laserdisc format designed to store digital data.
  • Blu-ray Disc (BD) — After Shuji Nakamura's invention of practical blue laser diodes, Sony first demonstrated a prototype blue laser disc in 2000. Sony named it Blu-Ray.
• Perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) — In 1976, Shun-ichi Iwasaki verified advantages in PMR. In 1978, T. Fujiwara began developing floppy disk media optimized for PMR and the first commercial magnetic storage devices using the technique.
  • Laptop hard drive — The Toshiba T3100 (1986) was the first laptop computer with built-in hard disk drive.
  • Giant magnetoresistance disk read-and-write head (GMR head) — In 1997, Toshiba released the first practical hard disk drive (HDD) equipped with a GMR head.
  • Bit-patterned media (BPM) — In 2010, Toshiba introduced the first BPM hard drive.
  • Flux control MAMR (FC-MAMR) — In 2021, Toshiba released the first flux control microwave-assisted magnetic recording (FC-MAMR) hard drive.
• Spin-transfer torque (STT) — In 1997, Sony Research Center published the first patent for STT RAM.

Microfabrication

• 3D microfabrication — Developed by Hideo Kodama in 1981, originally for 3D printing.
  • Stereolithography (SLA) — Invented by Hideo Kodama for 3D printing in the 1970s.
  • Photopolymerization — Invented by Kodama for 3D printing in 1981.
  • Projection micro-stereolithography (PμSL) — The microstereolithography method developed by Koji Ikuta and K. Hirowatari in 1993 is the basis for PμSL.
• Automatic mold semiconductor packaging — In 1980, Towa Corporation developed the first fully automatic mold packaging system based on a multi-plunger mold design, enabling the mass production of high-quality semiconductor devices.
• Electron-beam lithography (EBL) — JEOL's JEBX-2A (1966) and JEBX-2B (1967) were the first electron-beam lithography (EBL) systems.
  • Microlithography — The first photolithography system to achieve a high optical resolution more precise than a square micrometre was the FPA-141F (1975) by Canon Inc.
  • Laser mask aligner — Canon's PLA-500FA (1978) was the first mask aligner with laser-based automatic alignment.
  • Multi-photon lithography — Invented by Hideo Kodama in 1981, originally for 3D printing stereolithography.
• Epitaxy — Junichi Nishizawa invented electroepitaxy in 1955, photoepitaxy in 1961, and gallium arsenide (GaAs) molecular layer epitaxy (MLE) in 1984.
• Ion implantation — Discovered by Junichi Nishizawa in 1950.
• Microthermoforming — Dates back to the work of Kyushu Institute of Technology researchers Koji Ikuta and K. Hirowatari in 1993.
• Transparent conducting oxide — Developed by Hideo Hosono.

Microprocessors

Intel 4004 (1971), the first single‑chip microprocessor, was co‑designed by Masatoshi Shima of Busicom.

• Microprocessor — Proposed by Tadashi Sasaki in 1968. Masatoshi Shima of Busicom co‑designed the first single-chip microprocessor, Intel 4004, from 1968 to 1971.
  • 12-bit microprocessor — The Toshiba TLCS-12 (1973) was the first 12-bit microprocessor.
  • Microcontroller unit (MCU) — Introduced in Japan for automobiles in early 1970s, including 4-bit and 8-bit MCUs for entertainment, wipers, locks and dashboard.
• Microprocessor microcode — The Toshiba TLCS-12 (1973) introduced the first microprocessor architecture with microprogram control.
• NMOS logic microprocessor — NEC's μCOM-4 (1973) was the earliest NMOS logic microprocessor, fabricated by NEC's LSI research team led by Sohichi Suzuki.
  • 16-bit microprocessor — The NEC μCOM-16 (1974) was the earliest two-chip 16-bit microprocessor.
  • 16-bit microprocessor integrated circuit — The Panafacom MN1610 (1975) was the first single-chip 16-bit microprocessor.
  • 32-bit microprocessor — In 1981, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) developed a prototype 32-bit microprocessor using very-large-scale integration (VLSI) technology.
  • Digital signal processor (DSP) — The NEC μPD7720 (1980) was the first commercial DSP chip.
  • Compressed instruction set — Originally developed by Hitachi for their SuperH (1992) central processing unit (CPU) microprocessor.
  • 128-bit vector registers — The Hitachi SH-4 (1997) microprocessor introduced a floating-point unit (FPU) with 128-bit vector registers.
  • Glass CPU — Shunpei Yamazaki invented an integrated circuit chip made entirely from glass and with an 8-bit central processing unit.
• Plastic CPU — Shunpei Yamazaki invented a central processing unit (CPU) chip made entirely from plastic.

Nanotechnology

A "sliced and unrolled" representation of a carbon nanotube as a strip of a graphene molecule.

• Carbon nanofiber (CNF) — Discovered by Morinobu Endo in the early 1970s.
• Carbon nanotube (CNT) — Discovered by Morinobu Endo in 1976.
  • Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) — Discovered by Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991.

• Multi-gate MOSFET — In 1980, the XMOS transistor developed by Toshihiro Sekigawa of Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL) was the first double-gate MOSFET.
  • Gate-all-around MOSFET (GAAFET) — In 1988, Fujio Masuoka's Toshiba research team demonstrated the first nanowire GAAFET.
  • Fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) — In 1989, the DELTA transistor demonstrated by Digh Hisamoto's Hitachi research team was the first FinFET.
• Nanoelectronics
  • Surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) — SED display technology was developed between 1986 and 1997 by Canon Inc.
  • Nanoscale transistor — In 1993, a Toshiba research team led by Mizuki Ono developed the first NMOS logic transistor with 40 nm gate length and 10 nm drain junction.
  • Carbon nanotube field-emission display (CNT FED) — First demonstrated by Yahachi Saito, Sashiro Uemura and Koji Hamaguchi in 1998.
  • Optical communication nanowire lasers — In 2017, NTT demonstrated the first laser oscillation and modulation with optical communication nanowire.
• Nanolithography
  • Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) — Hiroo Kinoshita invented EUV at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in the mid-1980s and demonstrated it in 1986.
  • Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) mass production — Canon's FPA-1200NZ2C, developed from 2004 to 2017, was the first mass-production equipment for NIL.
  • Multi-beam lithography — In 2017, JEOL and IMS developed the first multi-electron beam lithography system for mass production.
• Nanomechanical computer — In 2008, Imran Mahboob and Hiroshi Yamaguchi at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) proposed a nanomechanical computer that uses nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and parametron technology.
• Nanotechnology — The field of nanotechnology was named and defined by Norio Taniguchi in 1974.

Solar power

• Bifacial solar cell (BSC) — BFC solar cell was first proposed by Hiroshi Mori in 1960 while working for Hayakawa Denki Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Hayakawa Electric Industry), later known as Sharp Corporation.
• Floating solar — The first floating solar installation was built in 2007 by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Aichi.
• Perovskite solar cell (PSC) — Invented by Tsutomu Miyasaka, Akihiro Kojima, Kenjiro Teshima and Yasuo Shirai in 2009.
• Solar module — Between 1959 and early 1963, Sharp Corporation developed the first commercial solar module.
  • Solar-powered buoy — In May 1963, the first commercial application of solar modules was for a marine application, attached to a solar-powered lighted buoy in the Tsurumi Shipping Lane, Yokohama Port.
  • Solar-powered calculator — The Sharp EL-8026 Sunman (1976) was the first solar-powered electronic calculator, utilizing solar cell technology.
• Solar powered camera — The first fully solar-powered camera was the Sure Shot Del Sol (1995) point-and-shoot camera by Canon Inc.
• Solar-powered game — Nintendo's Kōsenjū SP (Beam Gun) light gun, released in 1970, was the first electronic game device using solar cell technology from Sharp.
  • Solar-powered video game — The Bandai LCD Solarpower (1982) handheld game system was the first solar‑powered video game device.
• Space-based solar power — JAXA announced in March 2015 that they wirelessly beamed 1.8 kilowatts about 50 meters to a small receiver by converting between electricity and microwaves.

Transistors

A double-gate FinFET transistor device

• Field-effect transistor (FET) — In 1950, Junichi Nishizawa and Yasushi Watanabe invented the static induction transistor (SIT), the first practical FET to be built.
  • Static induction transistor (SIT) — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa and Yasushi Watanabe in 1950.
  • Junction FET (JFET) — The first JFET was the SIT invented by Nishizawa and Watanabe in 1950.
  • Clocked CMOS (C²MOS) — In 1969, Toshiba developed C²MOS, a circuit technology with lower power consumption and faster operating speed than ordinary CMOS.
  • Twin-well CMOS — In 1978, Toshiaki Masuhara's Hitachi team introduced the twin-well Hi-CMOS process with the HM6147 memory chip. Twin-well CMOS became the most common semiconductor manufacturing process in the 1980s.
• Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) — The basic IGBT mode of operation, where a pnp transistor is driven by a MOSFET, was first proposed by K. Yamagami and Y. Akagiri of Mitsubishi Electric in the Japanese patent S47-21739 filed in 1968.
  • Non-latch-up IGBT — Akio Nakagawa's team at Toshiba invented the non-latch-up IGBT in 1984. Toshiba commercialized the technology in 1985.
• Microscale transistor — In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) demonstrated 1 μm process MOS transistor technology for their 64 kb DRAM memory chip.
• Oxide thin-film transistor (oxide TFT) — Developed by Hideo Hosono.
• PNP transistor — Invented by Junichi Nishizawa in 1950.
• Power MOSFET — In 1969, Hitachi introduced a vertical power MOSFET.
  • DMOS — In 1969, the DMOS (double-diffused MOSFET) with self-aligned gate was first reported by Y. Tarui, Y. Hayashi and Toshihiro Sekigawa of the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL).
  • LDMOS — In 1977, Hitachi introduced the LDMOS transistor. They were the only LDMOS manufacturer between 1977 and 1983, mainly for audio power amplifiers and PA systems.
• VMOS — VMOS was invented by Hitachi in 1969.

Sciences

See also: Science and technology in Japan and History of science and technology in Japan

Astronomy

IKAROS, a space probe that used solar sail technology for interplanetary spaceflight in 2010.

• Asteroid sample-return mission — Hayabusa (2003–2010) was the first successful asteroid space probe to travel through outer space and return with an asteroid sample.
• HD video space camera — NHK and Sony developed the first HD video camcorder used on a spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
  • Comet digital video footage — In 2013, a 4K resolution Canon Cinema EOS digital video camera was used to capture the first video footage of Comet ISON.
• Planetarium projector with 3D ray tracing — LINKS-1 Computer Graphics System used to create the first 3D planetarium video with ray-traced 3D computer graphics in 1985.
• Space photography camera — Konica's Minolta Hi-Matic was the first camera taken into outer space on a human spaceflight mission by astronaut John Glenn in 1962.
  • Space photography digital camera — The Nikon NASA F4 (1987) was the first digital camera designed for space photography. It was used on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1991.
• Solar sail — IKAROS, launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2010, was the first spacecraft to successfully use solar sail technology for propulsion. It made the first successful interplanetary spaceflight using solar sail technology.

Atmospheric science

A downburst.

• Downburst — Downbursts, strong ground-level wind systems that emanate from a point above and blow radially, were discovered by Ted Fujita.
  • Macroburst — Ted Fujita discovered macrobursts and classified them as downbursts larger than 4 km (2.5 mi).
  • Microburst — The microburst was first discovered and identified as a small scale downburst affecting an area 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter or less by Fujita in 1974.
• Fujita scale — The first scale designed to measure tornado intensity, it was introduced by Ted Fujita in 1971. The scale was widely adopted until the Enhanced Fujita scale.
• Fujiwhara effect — The Fujiwhara effect is an atmospheric phenomenon first described by Sakuhei Fujiwhara in 1921.
• Jet stream — Jet streams were first discovered by Japanese meteorologist Wasaburo Oishi by tracking ceiling balloons.

Chemistry and biomedical

See also: Kampo

Image from Kishitsu Geryō Zukan ("Surgical Casebook") by Hanaoka Seishu

• Aluminium-zinc alloy — By alloying zinc with aluminum, Sumitomo Metal Industries developed the 7075 aluminium alloy (extra super duralumin), a strong lightweight metal, in 1935.
• Acetylcholine neurotransmitter — In 1926, Kenmatsu Shimidzu discovered that acetylcholine was a neuromuscular neurotransmitter.
  • Glutamate (neurotransmitter) — The first suggestion that glutamate might function as a neurotransmitter came from Takashi Hayashi in 1952.
  • Inhibitory GABA — In 1956, Takashi Hayashi discovered the inhibitory action of GABA.
  • Amino acid neurotransmitter — Between the 1960s and 1970s, Masanori Otsuka established GABA as the first amino acid neurotransmitter.
  • Substance P neuropeptide — Between the 1960s and 1970s, Masanori Otsuka established substance P (SP) as the first peptide neurotransmitter.
• Adrenaline (epinephrine) — Jōkichi Takamine and Keizo Uenaka first discovered epinephrine in 1900. Takamine successfully isolated and purified the andrenaline hormone.
• Agar — Agar was discovered in Japan around 1658 by Mino Tarōzaemon.
• ALK positive lung cancer — Hiroyuki Mano, Research Institute director at the National Cancer Center, led the discovery of lung cancer fusion genes.
  • Cancer genome treatment — Hiroyuki Mano led the discovery of cancer genome treatment.
• Antiparasitic drugs — Satoshi Ōmura discovered antiparasitic drugs including avermectin, endectocide and ivermectin.
• Antiretroviral medication (anti-AIDS drugs) — Hiroaki Mitsuya discovered the anti-HIV drug zidovudine (AZT) and anti-AIDS drugs including didanosine (ddI) and zalcitabine (ddC).
• Aspergillus oryzae — The genome for Aspergillus oryzae was sequenced and released by a consortium of Japanese biotechnology companies, in late 2005.
• Condensin — Discovered by Riken senior researcher Tatsuya Hirano.
  • Chromosome assembly — Discovered by Tatsuya Hirano.
• CRISPR — Yoshizumi Ishino discovered CRISPR in 1987.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies — First described in 1976 by psychiatrist Kenji Kosaka. He was awarded the Asahi Prize in 2013 for his discovery.
• Dopamine in striatum — In 1959, Isamu Sano discovered a high concentration of dopamine in the striatum.
  • Dopamine reduction in Parkinson's disease — In 1959, Isamu Sano discovered the reduction of dopamine in patients with Parkinson's disease.
  • DOPA treatment for Parkinson's disease — In 1960, Isamu Sano discovered the use of DOPA as a treatment for Parkinson's disease.
• Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) — This surgical procedure was developed in Japan by M. Tada, M. Murata and F. Murakami between 1974 and 1984.
• Ephedrine synthesis — In 1885, the chemical synthesis of ephedrine was first accomplished by Japanese organic chemist Nagai Nagayoshi.
• Frontier molecular orbital theory — Kenichi Fukui developed and published a paper on frontier molecular orbital theory in 1952.
• Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) — Discovered by Yukio Fukuyama, Tatsushi Toda and Tamao Endo.
• General anesthesia — Hanaoka Seishū was the first surgeon who used the general anaesthesia in surgery, in 1804. He also dared to operate on cancers of the breast and oropharynx, remove necrotic bone, and perform amputations of extremities.
• Green fluorescent protein (GFP) — Discovered by Osamu Shimomura.
• Immunoglobulin E (IgE) — Antibody only found in mammals. It was discovered during 1966–1967 by Kimishige Ishizaka's team at the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, Colorado.
• Induced pluripotent stem cell — The induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) is a kind of pluripotent stem cell which can be created using a mature cell. iPSCs technology was developed by Shinya Yamanaka and his lab workers in 2006.
• KS steel — Magnetic resistant steel that is three times more resistant than tungsten steel. It was invented by Kotaro Honda in 1917.
  • MKM steel — MKM steel, an alloy containing nickel and aluminum, was developed in 1931 by the Japanese metallurgist Tokuhichi Mishima.

Chemical structure of methamphetamine

• Methamphetamine (meth) — Methamphetamine was first synthesized from ephedrine in Japan in 1894 by chemist Nagayoshi Nagai.
  • Methamphetamine hydrochloride — In 1919, methamphetamine hydrochloride was synthesized by pharmacologist Akira Ogata.
• Nihonium — Element 113. Named after Nihon, the local name for Japan. It was discovered by a Japanese team under Kōsuke Morita.
• Okazaki fragment — DNA fragments formed on lagging template strand during DNA replication. Discovered 1966 by Reiji Okazaki, Tsuneko Okazaki and Kiwako Sakabe.
  • Bacteriophage DNA replication — In 1968, Okazaki fragments were further investigated by the researchers and their colleagues through their research including the study on bacteriophage DNA replication in Escherichia coli.
• Orexin — Discovered by Masashi Yanagisawa.
  • Endothelin — Discovered by Masashi Yanagisawa.
• Photocatalysis — Akira Fujishima discovered photocatalysis occurring on the surface of titanium dioxide in 1967.
• Plant fertilization — Nagoya University professor Tetsuya Higashiyama discovered the process of plant fertilization.
• Pulse oximetry — Pulse oximetry was developed in 1972 by Takuo Aoyagi and Michio Kishi, bioengineers at Nihon Kohden. Susumu Nakajima, a surgeon, and his associates first tested the device in patients, reporting it in 1975.
• Regulatory T cell — Discovered by Shimon Sakaguchi.
• Statin — The statin class of drugs was first discovered by Akira Endo, a Japanese biochemist working for the pharmaceutical company Sankyo. Mevastatin was the first discovered member of the statin class.
• Synthetic fluorite — In 1968, synthetic fluorite was first successfully mass-produced by Canon Inc.
• Takadiastase — A form of diastase which results from the growth, development and nutrition of a distinct microscopic fungus known as Aspergillus oryzae. Jōkichi Takamine developed the method first used for its extraction in the late 19th century.
• Thiamine (Vitamin B₁) — In 1884, Kanehiro Takaki attributed beriberi to insufficient nitrogen intake (protein deficiency). In 1910, Umetaro Suzuki succeeded in extracting a water-soluble complex of micronutrients from rice bran. It was called vitamine.
• Transurethral resection in saline (TURis) — This urological surgical procedure was developed by Japanese physicians Makoto Miki (Shinjuku Ishikawa Hospital), Hiroaki Shiozawa, Tetsuo Matsumoto and Taku Aizawa between 2000 and 2003.
• Urushiol — Urushiol, a mixture of alkyl catechols, was discovered by Rikou Majima. Majima also discovered that Urushiol was an allergen which gave members of the genus Toxicodendron, such as poison ivy and poison oak, their skin-irritating properties.

Equipment

Miniature USB microscope, a type of digital microscope.

• 3D holographic radiography — In 1969, Tadashi Kasahara's Konishiroku and Tokyo University research team invented holographic 3D X-ray imaging radiography.
  • Digital radiography — In 1981, Fujifilm's FCR (Fuji Computed Radiography) was the first digital X-ray diagnostic imaging system with computer processing.
• Amino acid analyzer — JEOL's JLC-5AH (1968) was the first amino acid analyzer.
  • Spectrum cell analyzer — Sony's SP6800 (2013) was the first spectrum cell analyzer.
• Automated dispensing cabinet — In 2004, Sumitomo Heavy Industries released the first automatic radiopharmaceutical administering device for positron emission tomography.
• Confocal microscope — In 1942, Zyun Koana described an early confocal microscope.
  • Holographic X-ray microscope — In 1975, Tokyo University researchers Sadao Aoki and Seishi Kikuta invented a 3D medical imaging holographic X-ray microscope.
  • Atomic force microscopy — In 1976, the first micrograph of atomic arrangements was taken with JEOL Electron Microscope.
  • High-resolution field-emission microscope — In 1978, Hitachi developed the first field emission electron microscope with high image resolution.
  • Autofocus microscope — Olympus Corporation's AH-2 (1983) was the first high‑performance microscope with autofocus (AF) function.
  • Digital microscope — In 1986, Japanese company Hirox created the first digital microscope.
• Portable electrocardiograph (ECG) — Taro Takemi built the first portable electrocardiograph in 1937.
  • ECG monitor — In 1976, JVC introduced the first electrocardiogram (ECG) medical monitor.
• Electrosurgical insulated-tip knife (IT knife) — Introduced by Olympus Corporation in 2002 for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) surgical procedures.
  • Electrosurgery with ultrasound and RF energy — The Thunderbeat (2012) by Olympus was the first electrosurgical device with ultrasonic and bipolar RF energy.
• Endless hot rolling — In 2000, the first endless hot rolling process was jointly developed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, Kawasaki Steel, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI Corporation.
  • Hot rolling thermometer — In 2011, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal developed the first hot rolling sheet steel thermometer with high precision.
• Esophagogastroduodenoscope (EGD) — Japanese engineer Mutsuo Sugiura invented the first gastrocamera (EGD). Olympus released it as the Olympus GT-1 in 1950.
  • Fiber gastroscope — Introduced by Olympus in 1964.
• Flexible bronchoscopy — Shigeto Ikeda invented the flexible fiber bronchoscope in 1966.
  • Video bronchoscope — In 1994, Pentax researchers developed video broncoscopes with a charge-coupled device (CCD) video chip located at their distal end.
  • High-definition video bronchoscope — The first high-definition video (HD video) bronchoscope was introduced by Pentax in 2011.
• Friction analysis of galvannealed sheet steel — In 2003, Sumitomo Metal Industries and Toyota researchers conducted the first friction analysis of galvannealed sheet steel using Dr. STAMP technology.
• High-definition video brain surgery — In 1987, a brain surgery was first recorded in HD video using NHK's Hi-Vision analog HDTV technology.
• High-resolution ultrasound machine — Developed by Toshiba between 1971 and 1975.
  • Ultrasound vector monitor — In 1975, JVC introduced the first 8-inch X-Y monitor for ultrasound.
  • Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) — Introduced by Olympus in 1982.
  • HD video endoscopy — In 2002, the Olympus Evis Lucera was the first HD endoscopic video system.
• High-tensile strength plate — In 2007, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal developed the first high-tensile strength plate for improving the fatigue strength of welded joints.
• Medical imaging display monitor — In 1982, JVC introduced a CRT monitor for medical imaging.
  • Medical imaging LCD monitor — In 2001, JVC introduced a 20.8-inch LCD monitor with calibration for 2–3 megapixel medical imaging.
• Medical monitor — In 1957, JVC introduced a medical CRT display with deflection yoke technology. In 1972, JVC introduced the first 12‑inch raster display medical CRT monitor.
  • Flat screen medical monitor — By 1991, JVC had developed a medical LCD monitor. In 2000, they introduced a flat-screen medical CRT monitor.
  • High-resolution medical monitor — In 2000, JVC introduced high-resolution medical monitors, including a 2–5 megapixel CRT monitor and a 3 megapixel LCD monitor.
  • High brightness monitor — JVC's i series (2005) medical diagnostic monitor was the first high brightness color display with more than 450 cd/m² luminance.
• Non-mydriatic retinal camera — The first non-mydriatic retinal camera was the CR-45NM (1976) by Canon Inc.
• Sub-pixel super-resolution imaging — In 2007, JVC introduced the first 15 megapixel LCD medical monitor using independent sub-pixel technology, used for mammography.
  • Multimodality color medical monitor — In 2012, Eizo introduced the first multi-modality color medical monitor, with a 4K resolution (8 megapixel) display used for mammography, cardiology and radiology.
  • OLED medical monitor — Sony's 25-inch PVM-2551MD (2012) surgical monitor was the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved OLED medical grade display.
• Vectorcardiography (VCG) — Taro Takemi invented the vectorcardiograph in 1939.

Finance

See also: Japanese financial system and Economy of Japan

Scheme of a single candlestick chart.

• Bitcoin — Bitcoin's founder is credited as Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the name is believed to be a pseudonym and there is debate over whether or not he is Japanese.
• Candlestick chart — Candlestick charts have been developed in the 18th century by Munehisa Homma, a Japanese rice trader of financial instruments.
• Futures contract — The first futures exchange market was the Dōjima Rice Exchange in Japan in the 1730s.
• ISO 22301 — In 2012, Fujitsu co-developed the ISO 22301 international standard for business continuity management systems.
• Mobile payment — Mobile payments began adoption in Japan during the early 2000s.
  • Mobile wallet — In 2004, NTT DoCoMo and Sony introduced the first mobile wallets, for 3G mobile phones in Japan.
• Okamoto–Uchiyama cryptosystem — Developed by Tatsuaki Okamoto.
  • Efficient Probabilistic Public-Key Encryption Scheme (EPOC) — Developed by Tatsuaki Okamoto.
  • MOV attack — Developed by Tatsuaki Okamoto.
• Smart card — Kunitaka Arimura of the Arimura Technology Institute in Japan independently developed the idea of an integrated circuit card, and filed a smart card patent in March 1970.

Mathematics

See also: Japanese mathematics

A page from Seki Kōwa's Katsuyo Sampo (1712), tabulating binomial coefficients and Bernoulli numbers.

• Amari distance — It is named after Japanese information theorist Shun'ichi Amari and was originally introduced as a performance index for blind source separation.
• Bernoulli number — Studied by Seki Kōwa and published after his death, in 1712. Jacob Bernoulli independently developed the concept, though his work was published a year later.
• Calculus — Seki Kōwa (1642–1708) founded Enri, a mathematical system with the same purpose as calculus.
• Determinant — Introduced in Japan to study elimination of variables in systems of higher-order algebraic equations. They used it to give shorthand representation for the resultant. The determinant as an independent function was first studied by Seki Kōwa in 1683.
• Elimination theory — In 1683 (Kai-Fukudai-no-Hō), Seki Kōwa came up with elimination theory, based on resultant.
  • Resultant — In 1683, Seki Kōwa came up with elimination theory, based on resultant. To express resultant, he developed the notion of determinant.
• Hironaka's example — Hironaka's example is a non-Kähler complex manifold that is a deformation of Kähler manifolds discovered by Heisuke Hironaka.
• Information geometry — The modern theory is largely due to Shun'ichi Amari, whose work has been greatly influential on the development of the field.
• Itô calculus — Developed by Kiyosi Itô in the 1940s. Concepts include Itô integral and Itô's lemma. It is widely used in various fields, especially mathematical finance.
  • Itô's lemma — This result was discovered by Kiyoshi Itô in 1951.
  • Stochastic calculus — Developed by Kiyosi Itô in the 1940s, involving stochastic integrals and stochastic differential equations based on the Brownian motion or Wiener process.
  • Stochastic differential equation (SDE) — Invented by Kiyosi Itô in 1942.
• Itô diffusion — A diffusion process developed by Kiyosi Itô.
• Iwasawa theory — Initially created by Kenkichi Iwasawa, Iwasawa theory was originally developed as a Galois module theory of ideal class groups.
  • Main conjecture of Iwasawa theory — A deep relationship between p-adic L-functions and ideal class groups of cyclotomic fields, proved by Iwasawa for primes satisfying the Kummer–Vandiver conjecture.
• Japanese theorem for cyclic polygons — This result comes from a sangaku tablet dated 1800.
  • Japanese theorem for cyclic quadrilaterals — In geometry, this theorem states that the centers of the incircles of certain triangles inside a cyclic quadrilateral are vertices of a rectangle. It was originally stated on a sangaku tablet in 1880.
• Kenmotsu manifold — Discovered by Katsuei Kenmotsu in 1972.
• Richardson extrapolation — Takebe Katahiro used Richardson extrapolation in 1695, about 200 years earlier than Richardson.
• Sangaku — Japanese geometric puzzles on wooden tablets created during the Edo period (1603–1867) by members of all social classes. The Dutch Japanologist Isaac Titsingh introduced sangaku to the West when he returned to Europe in the late 1790s.
• Soddy's hexlet — Irisawa Shintarō Hiroatsu analyzed Soddy's hexlet in a Sangaku in 1822 and was the first person to do so.
• Takagi existence theorem — Takagi existence theorem was developed by Teiji Takagi in isolation during World War I. He presented it at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1920.
• Two-valued Boolean algebra — Discovered independently by NEC engineer Akira Nakashima. From 1934 to 1936, his switching circuit theory showed that two-valued Boolean algebra can describe the operation of switching circuits.

Physics

• Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix — Discovered by Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, it introduced three generations of quarks.
  • Spontaneous symmetry breaking — Discovered by Kobayashi and Maskawa, for which they were awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.
• Ferrite magnet — Yogoro Kato and Takeshi Takei of the Tokyo Institute of Technology synthesized the first ferrite compounds in 1930.
  • Neodymium magnet — Neodymium magnets were invented independently in 1982 by Sumitomo Special Metals and General Motors.
• Gold synthesis — The first synthesis of gold was conducted by Japanese physicist Hantaro Nagaoka, who synthesized gold from mercury in 1924 by neutron bombardment.
• High-temperature superconductors (HTS) — Jun Akimitsu discovered new HTS including magnesium diboride
  • Iron-based superconductor (FeSC) — Discovered by Tokyo Institute of Technology team under Hideo Hosono.
• K2K experiment
  • T2K experiment
  • Super-Kamiokande
  • Hyper-Kamiokande
• Klein–Nishina formula
• Kuramoto model — Developed by Yoshiki Kuramoto.
  • Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation — Developed by Yoshiki Kuramoto.
  • Non-linear synchronization — Yoshiki Kuramoto pioneered the non-linear model of the synchronization phenomenon.
• Meson — In 1934, Hideki Yukawa predicted the existence and the approximate mass of the meson as the carrier of the nuclear force that holds atomic nuclei together. He was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.
  • Pion — First proposed by Hideki Yukawa in 1935.
• Microscopic observation of magnetic field — In 1982, Hitachi researchers made the first successful microscopic scale observation of a magnetic field using electron beam holography.
• Neutron scattering — Seishi Kikuchi demonstrated the scattering of fast neutrons in 1934.
  • Kikuchi lines (physics)
• Nuclear power — In 1934, Tohoku University professor Hikosaka Tadayoshi's atomic physics theory noted the huge energy contained by atomic nuclei and proposed that both nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons could be created.
  • Magic number (physics) — Proposed by Hikosaka Tadayoshi in 1934.
  • Nuclear reaction with particle accelerator — In 1934, Seishi Kikuchi demonstrated nuclear reactions using an accelerator.
• Nuclear shell model — Proposed by Hikosaka Tadayoshi in 1934.
  • Nuclear pile — In 1941, Hikosaka Tadayoshi proposed a pile-type nuclear reactor.
  • Uranium-238 nuclear fission (U238) — In 1941, Hikosaka Tadayoshi reported the chain reaction of uranium fission caused by fast neutrons, noting the fatal factor which breaks the chain reaction is the resonance absorption of neutrons by U238.
  • Fast breeder reactor — Proposed by Hikosaka Tadayoshi in 1944.
• Plasma gasification commercialization — In 1999, a 166-short-ton (151 t) per day pilot plant was built in Yoshii, co-developed by Hitachi Metals. It was certified after a demonstration period during 1999–2000.
  • Thermal cracking by gasification — By 2015, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal had successfully established the first thermal cracking technology using gasification recycling equipment for 100% resource recovery.
• Quantum electrodynamics (QED) — Shin'ichirō Tomonaga co-developed the field of quantum electrodynamics in the mid-20th century, for which he was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics.
  • Lamb shift — Co-developed by Shin'ichirō Tomonaga in the mid-20th century.
  • Schwinger–Tomonaga equation
  • Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid
• Quantum tunnelling — In 1957, Leo Esaki demonstrated tunneling of electrons over a few nanometer wide barrier in a semiconductor structure and developed a diode based on tunnel effect.
  • Quantum Hall effect — First predicted by Tsuneya Ando's University of Tokyo team in 1975.
  • Quantum telecloning — In early 2006, the University of Tokyo, Japan Science and Technology Agency and University of York gave the first experimental demonstration of quantum telecloning.
• Saturnian model (Nagaoka model) — In 1904, Hantaro Nagaoka proposed the first planetary model of the atom as an alternative to the plum pudding model. It was a basis for the Bohr model in 1913.
  • Sakata model — The Sakata model was a precursor to the quark model proposed by Shoichi Sakata in 1956.
• Yukawa coupling
• Yukawa potential

Telecommunication

• Ansafone — Created by inventor Kazuo Hashimoto between 1964 and 1958. He was employed by the company Phonetel, who in 1960 began selling the first answering machines in the US.
  • Caller ID — In 1976, Kazuo Hashimoto built the first prototype of a caller ID display device that could receive caller information.
  • Digital answering machine — In 1983, Hashimoto received a patent for a digital answering machine architecture with US Patent 4,616,110.
• Digital telephony electronic switching system (ESS) — Fujitsu's FETEX-150 (1981), part of the FETEX (Fujitsu Electronic Telephone eXchange) series, was the first fully digital ESS with a full digital telephone switchboard.
• Hands free car phone — Introduced with the 1987 Toyota Crown's Electro Multi Vision system developed by Denso and Toyota.
• Videophone — In 1970, Toshiba developed the first color videophone.

Internet

A thread on 4chan, a popular English language imageboard inspired by Japanese imageboard 2chan.

• Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) — Fujitsu's FETEX-150 (1981) was the first commercial ATM electronic switching system (ESS).
• Digital videophone — The first practical videophone for home use was Mitsubishi Electric's Luma 1000 (1986). It integrated a video camera and display monitor for digital images to be streamed over a phone line.
• Fiber-optic communication — First proposed by Junichi Nishizawa in 1963.
  • Fiber-optic cable — In 1975, NEC and Tokyo Electric Power Company conducted the first comprehensive field test of a fiber‑optic cable system.
  • Fiber-optic communications system — In 1977, NEC developed the first commercial fiber-optic communications system.
  • Multi-core fiber (MCF) — Invented by S. Inao of Furukawa Electric in 1979.
  • Optical fiber connector — Invented by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 1986.
• Gigabit per second (Gbit/s) — In 1979, Takashi Kimura of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) demonstrated 1 Gbit/s fibre-optic transmission over 20 km.
  • Terabit per second (Tbit/s) — In 1996, a Fujitsu research team demonstrated the first 1 Tbit/s fibre-optic transmission over 150 km, using zero-dispersion single-mode optical fiber (SMF) and wideband EDFA.
  • Petabit per second (Pbit/s) — In 2012, NTT demonstrated the first successful 1 Pbit/s fibre-optic transmission over 50 km.
• Image sharing — In the 1980s, NTT's INS-Net introduced an image sharing service supporting high-resolution color digital images.
  • Camera image sharing — The Olympus Deltis VC-1100 (1994) was the first digital camera with image sharing, using an internal modem connected to an external phone line.
• Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) — NTT's Integrated Services Network (INS), also known as INS-Net, was the first ISDN service. After field tests from 1984 to 1987, NTT launched INS-Net in 1988.
  • Broadband fibre-optic network — NTT's INS-Net 1500 was the first broadband ISDN fibre-optic network. After field tests between 1986 and 1987, INS-NET 1500 was launched in 1989.
  • Streaming media — In the 1980s, INS-Net launched with a music streaming service allowing digital music transmission.
  • Video on demand (VOD) — In 1986, a VOD service was first proposed for INS-Net.
• Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) — Originates from Toshiba's Cell Switch Router (CSR) technology in 1994.
  • Multicast MPLS — In 2003, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) first developed multicast MPLS for broadband services.
• Online karaoke — In 1992, Brother Industries introduced Karaoke Joysound, the first karaoke network system via ISDN. In 1993, Brother introduced JS-1X, the first centralized network control system for karaoke establishments.
• Online magazine — The first online magazine was Internet Magazine launched by Japanese company Impress in September 1994.
• Optical communication — First proposed by Junichi Nishizawa in 1963.
  • Optical Transmission System — In 1976, Hitachi successfully demonstrated the first optical transmission system.
  • Synchronous optical network (SONET) — In 1989, NEC and NTT developed the first commercial synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) system.
  • Photonics telecommunications network — Between 2019 and 2021, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) led the development of Innovative Optical and Wireless Networks (IOWN), the first all-photonics telecommunications network.
• Textboard — Textboards like imageboards were invented in Japan. However, unlike imageboards, textboards are relatively unknown outside Japan.
  • Imageboard — The first imageboards were created in Japan. Later imageboards such as 2chan would be created.
• VTuber — In 2010, Nitroplus uploaded YouTube videos with Super Sonico talking to the audience about herself and company releases.

Mobile phones

See also: Japanese mobile phone culture and Mobile phone industry in Japan

J-SH04, released by Sharp Corporation and J-Phone in 2000, was the first camera phone capable of picture messaging.

• Cellular network — The first cellular mobile network, 1G, was launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 1979, initially available only in Tokyo.
  • Frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) — In 1979, NTT introduced the first mobile phone system using FDMA.
• Commercial cell phone — The Panasonic TZ‑801 (1979) was the first commercial cellular mobile phone, using NTT's cellular 1G mobile network in Tokyo.
  • Pocket cell phone — The NEC P3 (1990) was the first truly portable pocket-sized cellular mobile phone.
  • Flip phone — The NEC TZ-804 (Mova N), launched in 1991, was the first mobile phone with a clamshell design.

Each of the most popular emoji from the 9 major emoji categories according to the Unicode Emoji Frequency study from 2021, rendered in the Noto Color Emoji font

• Emoji — The first emoji was created between 1998 and 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita in Japan.
  • Face with Tears of Joy emoji — NTT DoCoMo's emoji set in 1999 introduced the "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji.
• Lithium-ion battery mobile phone — In 1991, Sony lithium-ion rechargeable batteries were first used in mobile phones.
  • Camera phone — The Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in May 1999, was the first commercial camera phone.
  • Front-facing camera phone — The Kyocera VP-210 Visual Phone, released in May 1999, was the first front-facing camera phone.
  • Mobile videophone — The Kyocera VP-210 (1999) was the first mobile videophone, which also doubled as a camera phone for still photos.
• Mobile Internet — Toshiba's T24D/X (1990) cellular modem enabled laptop computers to connect with a mobile phone and use wireless Internet via mobile network.
  • Mobile computer — NEC's UltraLite Cellular Workstation (1991) was the first laptop computer with an integrated mobile phone.
  • Mobile web — In 1999, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode (1999) was the first Internet access web service dedicated to mobile phones.
• Mobile data — The first 2G digital mobile networks were introduced in Japan, with Personal Digital Cellular (1980s) and Personal Handy-phone System (1989).
  • Mobile broadband — The first 3G network was FOMA, launched by NTT DoCoMo for Japan in 1998.
  • Long-term evolution (LTE) — In 2004, LTE was first proposed by NTT DoCoMo.
  • 4G (LTE+) — In 2004, NTT DoCoMo demonstrated a prototype 4G (LTE+) mobile communication system, VSF-OFCDM, reaching 1 Gbit/s data signaling rate with very high frequency 100 MHz wireless bandwidth.
  • 5G — NTT DoCoMo began development of 5G technology in 2010 and successfully demonstrated 5G in 2013, reaching up to 10 Gbit/s data rate and super high frequency 11 GHz bandwidth.
  • 6G — Proposed by NTT DoCoMo in January 2019.
• Multimedia messaging service (MMS) — Picture messaging was introduced with the J-SH04, released by Sharp Corporation and J-Phone in 2000.
• Ringtone — In September 1996, IDO sold Digital Minimo D319 by Denso. It was the first mobile phone where a user could input an original melody, rather than having to use preloaded melodies. These phones proved to be popular in Japan.
  • Polyphonic ringtone — Polyphonic ringtone technology dates back to 1999, when Yamaha Corporation's MA-1 sound chip was introduced, including four 2-op FM synthesis channels.
• Smartphone — In the 1990s, early Japanese smartphones such as Toshiba's Genio, Kyocera's DataScope and Matsushita Electric's Pinocchio featured handheld PC smart device features and mobile Internet such as i-mode.
  • Foldable smartphone — The earliest commercial foldable smartphone was Kyocera's Echo (2011).
  • Multi-camera smartphone — The Sharp Aquos R2 (2018) was the first smartphone with a dual-camera configuration including separate photo camera and video camera.
• Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) — In 1998, the first wideband code-division multiple access network was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan.

Wireless

A modern high-gain UHF Yagi television antenna.

• Cordless phone with answering machine — In 1989, Sharp Corporation introduced the first low-power cordless phone with an answering machine function.
• Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) — Between 1965 and 1984, the first practical direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service was co-developed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories, NASDA and Toshiba.
• Hands free Bluetooth car phone — Introduced in 2003 with Honda's 2004 Acura TL.
• Meteor burst communications — The first observation of interaction between meteors and radio propagation was reported by Hantaro Nagaoka in 1929.
• Mobile computer with wireless Internet — Fujitsu's MV-BIBLO LOOX (2000) was the first mobile computer with built-in wireless Internet data transmission.
• Multi-tube radio — Matsushita Electric's R-31 (1931) was the first three-tube radio.
  • Pocket radio — The Sony TR-63 (1957) was the first portable transistor radio that could fit in a pocket.
• Near-field communication (NFC) — In March 2002, Sony and Philips established a technology specification for NFC and created a technical outline.
• Radio-controlled wheel transmitter — Futaba introduced the FP-T2F in 1974. It was the first to use a steering wheel onto a box transmitter.
• Semiconductor microwave communication — In 1963, NEC developed first solid-state electronic semiconductor microwave communications line.
  • Transistor repeater — In 1963, NEC developed the first fully transistorized microwave repeaters, using silicon transistors for microwave amplification.
  • Digital microwave communication — Between 1963 and 1968, Masasuke Morita led a team of NEC and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) engineers in developing the first commercial pulse-code modulation (PCM) digital microwave communications system.
• Single channel per carrier (SCPC) — In 1973, Fujitsu developed the first SCPC satellite communications system.
  • Satellite modem — In 1978, Fujitsu developed the first satellite communications burst modem.
• Terahertz band wireless communication (THz) — Tadao Nagatsuma's team demonstrated 120 GHz photonics video signal in 2000 and 10 Gbit/s broadband with 120 GHz signal in 2002. In 2014, Minoru Fujishima demonstrated 1 THz RF CMOS signal.
  • Wireless communication with orbital angular momentum multiplexing (OAM) — In 2018, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) successfully demonstrated the first 100 Gbit/s wireless transmission using OAM multiplexing.
• WiMAX integrated circuit — In 2005, Fujitsu developed the first large-scale integration (LSI) chips for WiMAX-compliant base stations.
• Wireless earphones — Onkyo's W800BT range, launched in 2015, were the first wireless in-ear headphones.
• Wireless game console — The earliest was the TV Tennis Electrotennis (1975) home console by Epoch Co. It connected wirelessly to a TV through ultra high frequency (UHF) antenna technology.
  • Wireless controller — Epoch's TV Tennis Electrotennis (1975).
• Wireless guitar amplifier — Boss Corporation's KATANA-AIR Wireless Guitar Amplifier (2018) was the first fully wireless guitar amplifier.
• Wireless image sharing — The Ricoh RDC-2S (1996) was the first digital camera with wireless image sharing, using the Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) mobile network.
• Wireless outdoor security sensor — In 1983, Japanese company OPTEX developed one of the first wireless outdoor security sensors.
• Yagi antenna — The Yagi-Uda antenna was invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda of Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai, Japan, with the collaboration of Hidetsugu Yagi, also of Tohoku Imperial University.

Transportation

See also: Transport in Japan

A lineup of JR East Shinkansen bullet trains in October 2012

• Automatic ticket gate — Introduced with the opening of the Tokyo Underground Railway in 1927.
  • Piezoelectric energy harvesting walkway — In 2007, East Japan Railway's Tokyo train stations harvested energy from footsteps for ticket gates and EL displays.
• Bullet train — The world's first high volume capable (initially 12 cars) high-speed train was Tōkaidō Shinkansen, which commenced construction in 1959 and opened in 1964.
• Diesel-powered two-wheel tractor — In 1926, Okayama farmer Nishizaki Hiroshi invented a two-wheel tractor with a diesel powered engine.
  • Coaxial rotary tiller — Honda's Lucky FU650, launched in 1993, was the first rotary tiller with coaxial rotating tines.
• Hybrid electric bus — Introduced by Hino Motors in 1991.
  • Hybrid electric tour bus — Introduced by Hino Motors in 1997.
• Inverter-controlled high-speed gearless elevator — Introduced by Toshiba in 1985, using insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) based inverter-controlled gearless drive system, since applied in high-speed elevators worldwide.
• Personal watercraft — Kawasaki were the first to develop stand-up personall watercraft under their trademark Jet Ski. While experimentation with personal watercraft preceded this. The Jet Ski was the first commercially successful and practical PWC.
• Rickshaw — A two or three-wheeled passenger cart seating one or two people that serves as a mode of human-powered transport pulled by a runner draws a two-wheeled cart. The rickshaw was invented in Japan circa 1869.
• Spiral escalator — Mitsubishi Electric unveiled the world's first practical spiral escalator in 1985. Spiral escalators have the advantage of taking up less space than their conventional counterparts.

Automobiles

See also: Automotive industry in Japan

Nissan Altra EV (1997), the first battery electric vehicle (BEV) using lithium-ion batteries.

• 4-valve dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) — The Nissan Skyline GT-R (C10), released in 1969, was the first production vehicle with a four-valve DOHC.
• 4-wheel multi-link suspension — The Nissan Fairlady Z Model Z32 (1989) featured the first four-wheel multi-link suspension system.
• 4-wheel steering (4WS) — Mazda were pioneers in applying four-wheel steering to automobiles, demonstrating it on their Mazda MX-02 (1984) concept car.
  • 4WS speed-sensitive steering — The Mazda Capella (626), released in 1987, introduced the first speed-sensitive 4WS system.
  • 4WS active steering — The Nissan Skyline (V36), released in 2006, introduced the first four-wheel active steering system.
• 5-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) — Isuzu Aska's NAVi5 (1985) introduced the first 5-speed AMT.
  • 5-speed automatic transmission (AT) — Introduced with Jatco 5R01 transmission (1989) by Jatco and Nissan, used in the Nissan Cedric Y31, Cefiro, Nissan Gloria Y31, Nissan Skyline R32 and Nissan Laurel C33.
• Active exhaust system — Introduced with the Mitsubishi 3000GT in 1991.
• Automatic car door — Introduced for Japanese taxi vehicles in 1964.
• Battery electric vehicle (BEV) with lithium-ion battery — Nissan and Sony began researching lithium-ion batteries for automobiles in 1992, culminating in the Nissan Prairie Joy EV (1996), the first electric vehicle (EV) using lithium-ion batteries.
  • DC fast charging — The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (2009) was the first electric car with DC fast charging capability.
• Cam-shifting VVT — Between 1982 and 1989, Honda's Ikuo Kajitani invented VTEC, a variable valve timing (VVT) technology. The VTEC system uses two (or occasionally three) camshaft profiles and hydraulically selects between profiles.
  • VVT diesel engine — In 2010, Mitsubishi Motors developed and started mass production of its 4N13 1.8 L DOHC I4, the world's first passenger car diesel engine that features a VVT system.
• Common rail diesel truck — In 1995, the first mass production vehicle with common rail was the Hino Ranger truck, using the ECD-U2 common rail system developed by Denso.
• Diesel boxer engine — In January 2008, the Subaru EE engine became the world's first passenger car diesel boxer engine. This engine is a turbocharged boxer-four with common rail fuel injection.
• Dual-clutch transmission truck — In 2010, the Mitsubishi Fuso 6-speed Duonic transmission became the first dual-clutch transmission (DCT) to be used in a truck.
• Dual-mass flywheel (DMF) — Introduced with the Toyota Mark II in 1984.
• Electric SUV — The Toyota RAV4 EV, developed from 1995 to 1997, was the first electric sport utility vehicle (SUV).
  • Hybrid electric SUV — Toyota's Lexus RX 400h (2004) was the first luxury hybrid SUV.
• Fluoropolymer automotive paint — In 1988, Nissan introduced painting with fluorocarbon polymers.
• Fuel injection control — Introduced by Toyota and Nissan in 1971.
  • Electronic gasoline direct injection (GDI) – Introduced by Mitsubishi Motors in 1995.
  • Gasoline direct and indirect injection – The 2005 Toyota 2GR-FSE V6 engine was the first to combine both direct and indirect injection. The system (called "D-4S") has since been used in most Toyota engines.
  • Turbocharged GDI — The first turbocharged GDI engine was used in the Mitsubishi Pajero iO 4G93 (2000).
• Head restraint (head rest) — In 1968, Mazda Porter trucks and vans were the first production vehicles equipped with a head rest as standard equipment.
• Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) — The first commercial hybrid vehicle was the Toyota Prius launched in 1997.
  • Atkinson cycle car engine — The first Atkinson cycle car engine was used in the Toyota Prius (1997).
  • Parallel hybrid — The Honda Insight (1999) introduced a parallel hybrid system, Integrated Motor Assist (IMA).
  • BAS hybrid — In June 2001, Toyota introduced a BAS (belted alternator starter) hybrid system under the Toyota Hybrid System-Mild (THS-M) brand name.
  • Mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) — Introduced with the Toyota Hybrid System-Mild (THS-M) in the Toyota Crown Royal Saloon (2001).
  • Hybrid electric sedan — Toyota's Lexus GS 450h (2006) was the first high-performance luxury hybrid sedan.
• Hydrogen car — In 2014, Toyota launched the first production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Toyota Mirai.
• Insulated vehicle glass — In 1985, Nissan introduced insulated rear window glass to improve automotive air conditioning performance.
• Kei car (mini car) — A category of small automobiles, including passenger cars, vans and pickup trucks. They are designed for more affordable tax, insurance and parking costs in Japan.
  • Automatic transmission mini car — Honda N360 AT (1968).
  • 5-valve engine — Mitsubishi Motors were the first to market a car engine with five valves per cylinder, with the 548 cc 3G81 engine in their Minica Dangan ZZ kei car in 1989.
  • Hybrid electric compact car — Toyota's Lexus CT 200h (2011) was the first full hybrid luxury compact car.
• LED headlight — Toyota's Lexus LS 600h L, introduced in 2006, was the first production car with LED headlights.
• Low emission vehicle (LEV) – The first LEV was the Honda Civic in 1995.
  • Ultra-low-emission vehicle (ULEV) – The first ULEV was the Honda Accord in 1997.
  • Super ultra-low emission vehicle (SULEV) – The first SULEV was the Honda Accord in 1999.
• Miller cycle car engine — The Mazda Millenia (1993) was the world's first production car to employ a Miller cycle engine.
• Multi-rotary engine — Mazda Wankel engine (1960s) was the first twin rotary engine, commercialized with Mazda Cosmo Sports (1967). Mazda's 20B (1987) was the first three-rotor engine. Mazda 13J (1987) was the first four-rotor engine.
  • Automatic transmission rotary engine — The Mazda Capella (1970) introduced the Mazda 12A engine, the first rotary engine with automatic transmission.
  • Turbo rotary engine — In 1982, the Mazda Cosmo (929) and Mazda Luce (929) were the first cars with a rotary turbo engine. In 1986, the Mazda Luce (929) introduced a twin-turbo rotary engine configuration.
  • Rotary engine hydrogen vehicle — The Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE (2006) was the first hydrogen vehicle with a rotary engine.
• Modulated displacement (MD) — In 1982, Mitsubishi developed modulated displacement (MD), a form of variable displacement which proved that the technology, first used in Mitsubishi's 1.4 L 4G12 straight-four engine, can function successfully.
• Oxygen storage three-way catalyst — Introduced by Toyota in 1978.
  • NO_x adsorber — Introduced by Toyota in 1994.
• Parallel axis system — Introduced by the Hondamatic system with the Honda N360 AT (1968). The Hondamatic system is used in most Honda automatic and semi-automatic vehicles.
• Partial zero-emissions vehicle (PZEV) – The first PZEV was the Honda Civic GX in 2001. The first hybrid PZEV was the Honda Civic Hybrid in 2002.
  • Zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) — The Nissan Leaf (2009) was the world's first zero-emission vehicle.
• Plasma spark ignition system — Introduced by Nissan in 1982.
• Rear airbag — The Nissan President Model G50 (1993) introduced the first rear seat SRS airbag system, for the left-hand side (curbside) rear seat passenger.
  • Seat cushion airbag — The Nissan Skyline V35 (2001) introduced the first active seat cushion, which works in tandem with the seat belt and SRS airbag.
  • Dual-chamber airbag — Toyota's 2005 Lexus IS was the first car with a twin-chamber front passenger airbag.
  • Rear curtain airbag — In 2008, the Toyota iQ microcar featured the first production rear-curtain shield airbag to protect the rear occupants' heads in the event of a rear-end impact.
  • Center airbag — In 2009, Toyota developed the first production rear-seat center airbag designed to reduce the severity of secondary injuries to rear passengers in a side collision. This system first appeared on the Toyota Crown Majesta.
• Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) — The first large-scale SCR was installed by IHI Corporation in 1978.
• Self-repair car paint — In 2005, Nissan introduced Scratch Guard Coat, the first clear exterior paint that can self-repair scratches.
  • Hydrogen-free diamond-like carbon (hydrogen-free DLC) — In 2006, Nissan introduced the first hydrogen-free DLC coating.
• Semi-monocoque car — The Honda NSX (1990) was the first production car to feature an all-aluminium semi-monocoque.
• Torque vectoring — In 1996, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors released sports cars with torque vectoring systems. Torque vectoring differentials were originally used in auto racing. Mitsubishi rally cars were some of the earliest to use the technology.
• Triple-viscous four-wheel drive (4WD) — In January 1987, Nissan introduced the first triple-viscous full-time 4WD vehicles, with the Nissan Pulsar, Nissan EXA, Nissan Langley and Liberta Villa models.
• Variable-geometry turbocharger — Introduced by the Honda Legend Wing Turbo (1988).
  • Ceramic turbocharger — The Nissan Fairlady Z (300ZX), launched in 1989, was equipped with the first production ceramic turbocharger.
• Vehicular automation
  • Self-driving car — The first self-driving car that did not rely upon rails or wires under the road is designed by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in 1977. It was equipped with two cameras that used analog computer technology.
  • Automatic parking — Toyota's Intelligent Parking Assist System (IPAS) is the first production automatic parking system, developed in 1999 initially for the hybrid Prius and Lexus models. It assists drivers in parking a vehicle.
• Water intercooler — Introduced with the Toyota M-TEU engine in 1983.

Automotive electronics

The driver monitoring system (DMS) on Toyota's Lexus LS 600h (2006)

• 42-volt electrical system (42V) — In 2001, the Toyota Crown Royal Saloon was the first production vehicle with 42V electrical system.
• Active noise control (ANC) — The Nissan Bluebird U13 (1991) was the first production vehicle with active noise control.
  • Active noise cancellation (ANC) — In 2004, Honda's 2005 Acura RL was the first car with active noise cancellation.
• Advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS)
  • Voice warning system — In 1980, the Toyota Mark II was the first car with a voice warning system.
  • Voice command — In 1982, the Nissan Silvia S110 introduced voice recognition for operating the power windows.
  • Automotive head-up display (HUD) — Nissan was the first manufacturer to offer a HUD with the Nissan Silvia S13 (1988).
  • Adaptive cruise control (ACC) — Introduced by Mitsubishi Motors in 1992. They were the first to offer a lidar-based distance detection system on the Mitsubishi Debonair.
  • Blind spot monitor — Introduced by Mitsubishi Motors with their Driver Support System (DSS) in 1998.
  • Active automotive night vision — Toyota's Night View (2002) was the first active automotive night vision system.
• Automatic air conditioner (automatic AC) — Introduced by Toyota and Nissan in 1971.
• Automotive engine microcomputer — The earliest microcomputer designed for an automobile was developed by Toshiba for Ford's Electronic Engine Control (EEC) in the early 1970s.
  • Auxiliary connector — In 1991, the Mitsubishi 3000GT and Galant VR-4 were the first cars with auxiliary inputs for portable devices.
• Carputer — Electro Multi Vision, developed by Denso and Toyota, was an integrated computer system introduced for the 1985 Toyota Soarer and further developed for the 1987 Toyota Crown. Electro Multi Vision introduced new features including:
  • Digital dash CRT display (1985)
  • High-resolution on-board diagnostics (1985)
  • In-car entertainment TV/VCR combo (1985)
  • Touchscreen interface (1987)
• Collision avoidance system (CAS) — Earliest CAS systems were Toyota's Clearance Sonar (August 1989), Nissan's Traffic Eye (December 1989), Isuzu's system (1990), Hino's Safety Eye (May 1992), and Mitsubishi's Distance Warning (October 1992).
  • Driver monitoring system (DMS) — It was first introduced by Toyota in 2006 for its Lexus models. It was first offered in Japan on the GS 450h. The system's functions co-operate with the pre-collision system (PCS).
  • Eye tracking driver monitoring system — In 2008, the Toyota Crown's Driver Monitoring System (DMS) was the first driver eyelid monitoring system.
• Electronic control unit (ECU) — In the early 1970s, the Japanese electronics industry began producing integrated circuits and microcontrollers for controlling vehicle engines.
  • Transmission control unit (TCU) — Transmission control was introduced by Toyota in 1970.
  • Engine control unit (ECU) — Toshiba developed the Electronic Engine Control (EEC) for Ford Motor Company. The core Toshiba TLCS-12 microprocessor CPU was developed from 1971 to 1973. The EEC system entered production in 1974.
  • Electronic Diesel Control — In August 1982, Toyota introduced a microprocessor-based engine control system for diesel engines.
  • Electronically controlled automated manual transmission (AMT) — Introduced with Isuzu Aska's NAVi5 in 1985.
• Electronically adjustable suspension dampers — In 1981, the Nissan Skyline Turbo GT-ES introduced the first electronically adjustable suspension shock absorbers.
  • Continuously variable damping — Invented by Honda engineers Yoshihiko Toshimitsu, Toshihiko Aoyama and Takashi Ishida in 1984.
• Electronically controlled suspension (ECS) — The 1983 Toyota Soarer introduced Toyota Electronic Modulated Suspension (TEMS), the first electronically controlled car suspension.
  • Semi-active suspension (SAS) — The 1983 Toyota Soarer's TEMS system was the first SAS in a production car.
  • Ultrasonic ECS — In 1984, the Nissan Bluebird Maxima Model PU11 introduced Super Sonic Electronic Control Suspension with ultrasonic road surface sonar.
  • Active air suspension — Introduced in 1984 with the Mitsubishi Galant's CECS (Chassis Electronic Control Systems).
  • Electronically controlled air suspension (ECAS) — In 1986, the Toyota Soarer had the first electronically controlled full air suspension (spring constant, variable attenuation force) installed.
• Electronically controlled anti-lock braking system (ABS) – ABS control was introduced by Toyota and Nissan in 1971.
  • Automated emergency braking system (AEBS) – AEBS dates back to the 1997 Nissan 240SX.
  • Brake-by-wire – Electronically controlled brake (ECB) system, developed by Toyota initially for its hybrid and Lexus models and introduced in June 2001, is the first production brake-by-wire braking system.
• Electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (ECVT) — In early 1987, Subaru launched the Justy in Tokyo with an ECVT developed by Fuji Heavy Industries, which owns Subaru.
  • Toroidal continuously variable transmission (toroidal CVT) – Introduced in 1999 with Nissan's Extroid CVT for the Nissan Cedric (Y34) and Nissan Gloria.
• Electronic stability control (ESC) – The 1971 Toyota Crown introduced Electronic Skid Control (ESC).
  • Traction control system (TCS) — Toyota introduced TCS for the Toyota Crown (1987) and improved it for the Lexus LS400 (1989).
• Fully active suspension — The Toyota Celica (1989) introduced Toyota Active Control Suspension, the first fully active suspension without anti-roll bars.
  • Hydraulic active suspension — Nissan's Infiniti Q45 Model G50 (1989) was the first passenger car with hydraulic active suspension.
  • Skyhook suspension — The 1994 Toyota Celsior introduced the first skyhook air suspension.
• Keycard lock — In 1985, the Nissan Skyline (R31) introduced a car lock system that allows locking and unlocking with a card.
  • Laser cut car key — Toyota's Lexus LS400 (1989) was the first major car with a laser-cut key.
• Lane departure warning system (LDWS) — Introduced by Mitsubishi Motors with their Driver Support System (DSS) in 1998.
  • Lane keeping assist (LKA) — The Nissan Cima Model F50 (2001) introduced the first lane keeping assistance system.
• LCD rear-view mirror — The Nissan Laurel C32 (1984) introduced an auto reflex room mirror using automatic anti-glare liquid-crystal display (LCD).
  • Electrochromic rear-view mirror — Invented by Nissan engineers Harutoshi Miyagi, Masazumi Ishikawa and Yasuyuki Murofushi between 1985 and 1986.
• Parking sensor — Toyota introduced ultrasonic Back Sonar on the 1982 Toyota Corona, the first production parking sensor, offering it until 1988.
  • Windshield wiper sensor — In 1983, the Nissan Cedric Y30 and Nissan Gloria Y30 introduced the world's first windshield wipers that adjust to changes in snow and rain sensor levels.
• Pedestrian detection — In 2004, Honda introduced Intelligent Night Vision, the first system with pedestrian detection, on the Honda Legend.
• Power side-view mirror — The Nissan Laurel C32 (1984) introduced electric retractable side-view mirrors.
  • Anti-glare side-view mirror — The Nissan Cefiro A31 (1988) introduced automatic anti-glare door mirrors.
  • Titanium side-view mirror — In 1997, Nissan developed the first titanium clear outside mirror with super hydrophilicity.
• Synchronized down shift rev-matching system (SynchroRev Match) — Invented by Nissan in 2008 for use on the Nissan 370Z and Fairlady Z.

Military

See also: Imperial Japanese Armed Forces and Japan Self-Defense Forces

The Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids in 1914.

• Air raid — Early in World War I (1914), the Imperial Japanese Navy ship Wakamiya conducted the world's first carrier-launched air raid.
• Aluminium-zinc alloy aircraft — The Mitsubishi A6M Zero (1939) fighter aircraft was the first vehicle to use the zinc-based 7075 aluminium alloy.
• Amphibious assault ship — The Shinshū Maru (1934) was a pioneer of modern-day amphibious assault ships.
  • Dock landing ship — The Shinshū Maru (1934) is regarded as the first dock landing ship.
  • Landing craft carrier — The Shinshū Maru (1934) was the world's first landing craft carrier ship to be designed as such.
• Diesel-powered tank — The world's first diesel-powered tank, this distinction goes to Japanese Type 89B I-Go Otsu, produced with a diesel engine from 1934 onwards.
• Wireless navigation system — In 1961, Hidetsugu Yagi designed the first wireless navigation system for military use.

Motorcycles

Honda CB750 (1969), the first superbike.

• Air bag vest — Honda introduced the first motorcycle airbag system in 2005.
• Double cradle frame — The Honda CB750, released in 1969, was the first mass-production motorcycle with a double cradle motorcycle frame.
  • Four mufflers — The Honda CB750 (1969) was the first mass-production motorcycle with four mufflers.
  • Straight-four SOHC — The Honda CB750 (1969) was the first mass-produced motorcycle with a parallel four-cylinder single overhead camshaft (SOHC) motorcycle engine.
  • Superbike — The Honda CB750 (1969) was the first superbike.
• Front disc brake — The Honda CB750 (1969) was the first mass-production motorcycle with front disc brake.
  • Hydraulic disc brakes — Honda CB750 (1969) was the first production motorcycle with hydraulic disc brakes.
  • Combined braking system (CBS) — The first CBS was introduced with the Honda RCB1000 in 1976.
• Motorcycle dual-clutch transmission (DCT) — The 2009 Honda VFR1200F is the first motorcycle to use DCT.
• Motorcycle traction control system (TCS) — Introduced with the Honda ST1100 in 1992.
• Oval piston engine — A piston engine utilizing oval cylinders, it was developed by Honda and introduced with the Honda NR500 in 1979.
  • 8-valve engine — Introduced with Honda's oval piston engine for the Honda NR500 in 1979.
• Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) — The term was coined in the 1970s to describe a proliferation of similar Japanese standard motorcycles that became commonplace following Honda's 1969 introduction of its successful CB750.

Navigation

A Japanese taxi equipped with GPS navigation (2004).

• Attitude direction indicator control display unit (ADI CDU) — In 1975, Matsushita Electric developed a HIS ADI CDU system with CRT display for aircraft cockpit.
  • Ruggedized color CRT display — Developed by Toshiba in 1982 for commercial aircraft.
  • Avionic CRT display with electrostatic deflection and magnetic deflection — Developed by Sony in 1983.
  • Air traffic control (ATC) CRT display — In 1986, Sony developed a large Trinitron CRT display for ATC.
• Automotive navigation system — In 1973, MITI and Fuji sponsored CATC (Comprehensive Automobile Traffic Control). In 1980, MITI established JSK (Association of Electronic Technology for Automobile Traffic and Driving) in Japan.
  • Car navigation system — In 1980, the Toyota Crown introduced the Electro Auto Compass, the first car navigation system.
  • Automotive dead reckoning — The first automotive navigation systems relied on dead reckoning, including Toyota's Electro Auto Compass (1980) and Honda's Electro Gyrocator (1981).
  • Digital map — Honda's Electro Gyrocator (1981) was the first car navigation system with a digital map display, using a small CRT display.
  • High-resolution color digital map — In 1987, the Toyota Crown's Electro Multi Vision system introduced car navigation with high-resolution color digital maps, read from a CD-ROM drive onto a high-resolution CRT display.
• Backup camera (rear-view camera) — First production automobile with a backup camera was the Toyota Crown in 1987.
  • Smart camera — Nissan's Rear View Monitor was a smart camera projecting on-screen parking guidelines onto the navigation system screen, introduced for the Infiniti Q45 in 2000.
  • Surround-view system — Introduced in January 2007 with the Mitsubishi Delica's Multi-Around Monitor system.
• Blue LED traffic light — In 1994, Nichia initially commercialized blue LED technology for traffic lights.
• Remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) with fibre-optic submarine communications cable — A. Nakagawa designed the Fiber Optic Cable Underwater Stereo (FOCUS) vehicle, the first ROUV using fiber-optic communication in 1978.
  • Computer-aided voice control — In 1979, A. Nakagawa at the Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC) demonstrated computer-aided voice control with the FOCUS telemetry system.
  • Digital data telemetry — In 1980, Nakagawa co-developed the Miniature Optical Stereo Evaluation System (MOSES), a fibre-optic digital telemetry system.
  • Autonomous ship — In 2019, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) conducted the first Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) voyage, with an autonomous cargo ship using the Sherpa System for Real ship (SSR) navigation system.
• Satellite navigation (satnav)
  • GPS navigation — Pioneer Corporation's AVIC-1 (1990) was the first GPS car satnav system. The Mazda Eunos Cosmo (1990) was the first production car with a built-in GPS satnav system.
  • Voice assisted GPS navigation — In 1992, the world's first voice assisted GPS navigation system was introduced for the Toyota Celsior.
  • Satnav panoramic view — In 1995, Nissan introduced BirdView, the first satnav with 3D over-the-shoulder panorama view. BirdView used a 32-bit CPU and Nissan image processor.
  • Differential GPS (DGPS) — In 1997, a navigation system using differential GPS was developed as a factory-installed option on the Toyota Prius.
• Tactile paving — The original tactile paving was developed by Seiichi Miyake in 1965. The paving was first introduced on a street in Okayama, Japan, in 1967.

Other technology

See also: Science and technology in Japan, History of science and technology in Japan, and Electronics industry in Japan

A lithium-ion battery pack for a laptop computer.

• Artificial snowflake — The first artificial snowflake was created by Ukichiro Nakaya in 1936, three years after his first attempt.
• Automatic door with infrared sensor — Invented in 1980 by OPTEX, a Japanese company founded by Toru Kobayashi. It was developed using far infrared technology.
• Double-coil bulb — Invented by Junichi Miura of Hakunetsusha (Toshiba) in 1921 using a coiled coil tungsten filament. They began mass-producing coiled coil filaments by 1936.
  • Compact fluorescent bulb — Toshiba began development after the 1973 oil crisis and had a trial run in 1978, before commercially releasing it as the "Neo Ball" in 1980.
  • Blue LED lighting — Invented by Shuji Nakamura and commercialized by Nichia in 1994.
  • White LED lighting — Developed by Yoshinori Shimizu's team at Nichia in 1995.
• Dry cell battery — In 1885, Sakizō Yai invented the world's first dry cell battery in Meiji era Japan and founded Yai Dry Battery Limited Partnership Company.
  • Lithium-ion battery — Akira Yoshino's team at Asahi Kasei invented the modern lithium-ion battery in 1985. Sony released the first commercial lithium-ion battery in 1990 and it entered mass production in 1991.
• Electro-hydraulic actuator — In 1959, FANUC developed the first electrohydraulic pulse motor.
• Kama (tool)
• Mechatronics — The term "mechatronics" was coined and defined by Tetsuro Mori, an engineer from Yaskawa Electric Corporation, in 1969.
• Permanent fuse — Introduced by Mitsubishi Electric in 1969.

QR code for the URL of the English Wikipedia mobile main page

• QR code — The QR code, a type of matrix barcode, was invented by Denso Wave in 1994.
• Self-holding reed switch — In 1971, Fujitsu made the first practical application of self-holding reed switches.
• Third industrial revolution — Led by Japan during the mid-to-late 20th century, with the country's important role in the optical, semiconductor and information revolutions.
• Ultra-supercritical steam generator — In 1989, Toshiba developed the first large-capacity ultra‑supercritical pressure steam turbine.
  • Advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) — Developed by Toshiba, Hitachi and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. In 1996, the first ABWR entered commercial operation in Japan.
• Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) — In the early 1950s, Fuji Electric developed an early UPS, demonstrated in 1954.
  • Vector-control inverter — Introduced by Toshiba in 1979.
  • Microprocessor-based numerical relay — Introduced by Toshiba in 1980.
• Washi — The washi papermaking technique was developed in Japan during the Heian period circa 805 to 809.

Chindōgu

Main article: Chindōgu

Chindōgu is the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, Chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, Chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful". The term "Chindōgu" was coined by Kenji Kawakami.

Domestic appliances

See also: Electronics industry in Japan

Electric rice cooker

• Bladeless fan — The first bladeless fan was patented by Toshiba in 1981.
• Bread machine — The bread machine was developed and released in Japan in 1986 by the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company.
• Electric rice cooker — In the late 1940s, Mitsubishi Electric invented the first electric rice cooker. In 1955, Toshiba introduced the first automatic electric rice cooker.
• Electronic waste recycling plant — In 1999, Mitsubishi Electric opened the Higashihama Recycling Center, the first recycling plant for the household appliance industry.
• RFIQin — An automatic cooking device, invented by Mamoru Imura and patented in 2007.
• Ductless air conditioner (mini-split) — In 1961, Toshiba introduced the first ductless mini-split air conditioner (AC).
  • Cross-flow fan — In 1968, Mitsubishi Electric introduced the first wall-mounted mini‑split AC with cross-flow fan.
  • Portable air conditioner (AC) — In 1968, Toshiba introduced the first set-free room air conditioner that could be moved around the room.
  • Ductless multi-split AC — Multi-zone ductless AC systems were invented by Daikin in 1973. It was first sold in Japan.
• Dual flush toilet — The system was developed by Japanese sanitary product manufacturer Toto in 1960.
  • Washlet — Toto began development in 1978. In 1980, Toto introduced the Washlet G, with functions that include rear cleansing, drying and heated seat.
  • Smart toilet — Invented by Toto in the 1980s.
• Helical air compressor — In 2000, Toshiba released the first AC with helical compressor, the Modular Multi System using R407C refrigerant.
  • DC twin rotary compressor — In 2017, Toshiba developed the first DC twin rotary air compressor, the world's largest capacity for INV Chiller.
• Individual quick freezing (IQF) — A quick freezer for whipped cream was developed by Norio Owada of Abi in the 1970s.
  • Dual-swing refrigerator — In 1989, Sharp Corporation introduced the first dual-swing refrigerator, with doors that opened from both the left and right.
  • Cells Alive System (CAS) — Refrigeration technology developed by Norio Owada of Abi from 1992 to 1998.
• Inverter air conditioner (inverter AC) — In 1980, Toshiba released the first inverter AC, as an alternative to the standard home window AC.
  • Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) — VRF systems (which can be thought of as larger multi-split systems) were invented by Daikin in 1982. It was first sold in Japan.
  • Energy-saving air conditioner — In 1994, Mitsubishi Electric released the first energy-saving household AC.
  • Light commercial AC — In 2001, Toshiba released the first light commercial AC, the Super Power Eco using DC inverter rotary compressors (R410A refrigerant).
  • Voice control air conditioner — In 2011, Toshiba released the first voice-controlled AC.
• Japanese kitchen knife
  • Santoku — A general-purpose kitchen knife originating in Japan. This knife was created in the 1940s, known as the santoku bōchō.
• Microwave oven with turntable — Between 1964 and 1966, Sharp Corporation introduced the first microwave oven with a turntable, an alternative means to promote more even heating of food.
  • Sensor microwave oven — In 1979, Sharp introduced the first microwave oven incorporating sensor and microcomputer technology.
  • Microwave oven smart device — In 1999, Sharp introduced the RE-M210, the first Internet-capable smart microwave oven. It allowed users to download recipes and heating instructions from the Internet.
  • Microwave oven drawers — Sharp's KB6014MSC andKB6015MSC, released in 2007, were the first microwave drawers.
• Numerical control straight stitch sewing machine — Introduced by Brother Industries in 1974.
  • Computerized sewing machine — Brother's ZZ3-B820 "Opus 8" (1979) was the first computerized sewing machine.
• Plasma air purifier — Sharp Corporation's Plasmacluster, developed between 1998 and 2000, was the first plasma air purifier.
  • Air purifier with mosquito trap — Sharp's FU-GK50 (2016) Plasmacluster is the first mosquito-catching air purifier.
• Stainless steel vacuum bottle — Nippon Sanso and Honda invented the first stainless steel vacuum flask with a double-layer structure and without glass. The product was launched in 1978.

Printing

Timelapse of a 3D printer in action

• 3D printing — Invented by Hideo Kodama in the 1970s. In 1980, he invented two additive methods for fabricating 3D plastic models with photo-hardening thermoset polymer.
• Automatic photo print washer — In 1951, Noritsu founder Kan'ichi Nishimoto invented an automatic photo print washer by applying the principles behind a water wheel.
  • Film processor — Noritsu's RF−20E (1961) black-and-white film processor automated the black-and-white film development process for the first time.
  • ISO 400 — Fujifilm's Fujicolor 400 (1976) was the first ISO 400 color print film.
  • Minilab — The first minilab, the QSS-1 (Quick Service System 1), was introduced by Noritsu in 1976.
  • Digital minilab — Fujifilm's Frontier (1996) was the first digital minilab.
• Color instant-print camera — The Fujifilm FinePix PR21 (1999) was the first digital camera with built-in color printer.
• Compact copier — The Fuji Xerox 2200 (1973) by Fujifilm was the first compact photocopier.
  • Fuzzy logic copier — The Canon NP9800 (1990) was the first high-speed photocopier incorporating fuzzy logic.
• Digital printing — Seiko Epson's EP-101 (1968) was the first compact digital printer.
  • Electronic printer — The EP-101 (1968) was the first electronic mini-printer.
  • Desktop laser printer — An early laser printer was developed in 1975 by Canon Inc. The Canon LBP-10 (1979) was an early desktop printer using a semiconductor laser.
  • Laptop computer printer — In 1993, Canon and IBM Japan developed the first notebook computer with built-in printer.
• Inkjet printing — Inkjet printing technology was first extensively developed in the early 1950s at Canon Inc. While working at Canon, Ichiro Endo suggested the idea for a bubble jet printer.
  • Compact photo printer — In 2001, Canon introduced the first "camera direct" inkjet printer allowing digital pictures to be printed directly from a digital camera.
  • Large-format printer with ambient light sensor — Canon's ImagePROGRAF iPF6100 (2007) was the first large-format printer with an ambient light adjustment function.
• Ise katagami — The use of stencils was known by the Nara period, as is evident from objects in the Shōsōin.
  • Screen printing — Screen printing originates from Japanese Ise katagami, in turn influenced by block printing from China.
• Multi-function printer (MFP) — The Canon PC Printer 70 (1984) combined a photocopier, printer, computer and monitor in an integrated unit. The Canon CLC800 (1994) combined a photocopier with a laser printer.
  • All-in-one printer (AIO) — The Inkjet All-in-One MFC-7000FC (1997) by Brother Industries was the first color inkjet AIO printer.
• Outer space printing — In 1998, the Epson Stylus Color 800 was the first color printer in space, launched on board the Space Shuttle Discovery.
• Printer tracking dots — Developed in the mid-1980s by Canon, Fujifilm and Xerox.
• Purikura (print club) — Conceived in 1994 by Sasaki Miho for Atlus, who released the first purikira arcade machine with Sega as Print Club in 1995.
• Serial impact dot matrix printer — In 1968, Oki introduced the first serial impact dot matrix printer (SIDM), the Oki Wiredot. It supported a character generator for 128 characters with a print matrix of 7 × 5.
• Thermal transfer printing — The SATO M-2311 (1981) was the first thermal transfer barcode printer.
  • IoT label printer — The SATO CL4/6NX (2015) was the first Internet of things (IoT) ready label printing solution.
• Water transfer printing (hydrographics) — Invented in Japan. Taica Corporation claims to have invented cubic printing in 1974. However, the earliest hydrographic patent was filed by Motoyasu Nakanishi of Kabushiki Kaisha Cubic Engineering in 1982.

Robotics

See also: Japanese robotics

DER-01, a Japanese actroid (an android intended to be very visually similar to humans)

• Android — Waseda University initiated the WABOT project in 1967, and in 1972 completed the WABOT-1. It was the first android.
  • Intelligent robot — WABOT-1 was the world's first full-scale humanoid intelligent robot.
• Actroid — DER 01 was developed by a Japanese research group, The Intelligent Robotics Lab, directed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, and Kokoro Co., Ltd.
• Bipedal robot — Invented at University of Tokyo in 1967.
  • Quadrupedal robot — Invented by Shigeo Hirose in 1978.
• Climbing robots — Invented by Shigeo Hirose in 1979.
  • Wall running robot — Developed by Hitachi in 1986.
• Demining robot — Invented by Shigeo Hirose in 1997.
• Giant boarding robot — Kuratas, revealed in 2012, was described as the first giant boarding robot, modelled after the mechs from mecha anime and manga.
• Medical robot nurse — The first was RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), developed by Riken and Tokai Rubber Industries (TRI) in 2009.
• Micro robot — NEC's ARMS-D, introduced in 1981, was the first industrial robot with micrometre level precision, enabled by NEC 8085 microprocessor technology.
  • Industrial robot with linear motor — NEC's ARMS-D (1981) was the first industrial robot to use linear motors.
• Mole robot — In 2001, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) developed the first non-soil discharge mole robot, used to install a conduit without excavation.
• Multi-arm robot — In 1977, Nissan and Toshiba developed the first multi-arm robot. It performed the work of four conventional industrial robots, with simultaneous multi-spot welding capabilities.
• Karakuri puppet — Karakuri puppets (からくり人形, karakuri ningyō) are traditional Japanese mechanized puppets or automata, originally made from the 17th century to the 19th century. The word karakuri means "mechanisms" or "trick".
• Robotic exoskeleton for motion support (medicine) — The first Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) prototype was proposed by Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor at Tsukuba University.
• Running humanoid robot — Sony's QRIO (2003) was the first humanoid robot capable of running.
  • Swimming humanoid robot — The first was Swumanoid, developed by Motomu Nakashima's team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology between 2007 and 2012.
• Snake robot — Invented by Shigeo Hirose in 1972.
  • Spider robot — Invented by Shigeo Hirose in 1976.
• Soft robotics — Shigeo Hirose invented the first soft robotic gripper in 1977.
• Toy robot arm — Tomy's Armatron, introduced in 1982, was the first toy robot arm, moved by dual analog control joysticks. It had a significant influence on the development of modern robotics and artificial intelligence.
  • Video game peripheral robot — Nintendo's R.O.B. (1985) was the first robot peripheral for a video game.
• Wind-up toy robot — Lilliput, a Japanese robot introduced in 1932, was the first wind-up toy robot.

Textiles

See also: Japanese craft

• Automatic power loom with non-stop shuttle-change motion — Invented by Sakichi Toyoda, who implemented the principle of Jidoka (autonomation or autonomous automation), with the 1924 Toyoda Automatic Loom (Type G).
• Vinylon — The second man-made fiber to be invented, after nylon. It was first developed by Ichiro Sakurada, H. Kawakami, and Korean scientist Ri Sung-gi at the Takatsuki chemical research center in 1939 in Japan.

Weapons

See also: Samurai, Ninja, and Imperial Japanese Armed Forces

Katana

• Fire balloon (balloon bomb) — The Fu-Go balloon bomb was an experimental fire balloon weapon launched by Japan from 1944 to 1945, during World War II.
• Fukiya

• Japanese sword
  • Japanese sword mountings
  • Katana — Traditional Japanese sword used by samurai warriors of ancient and feudal Japan. The swords originated in the Muromachi period (1392–1573).
  • Ninjatō
• Kanabō
• Kusarigama
• Naginata
• Nuclear weapon — In 1934, Tohoku University professor Hikosaka Tadayoshi proposed that the huge energy in atomic nuclei could be used to create nuclear weapons.
  • Nuclear fission weapon — Proposed by Japanese scientist Takutaro Hagiwara in the early 1940s.
  • Thermonuclear bomb — First proposed by Takutaro Hagiwara in 1941.
• Pepper spray — An early form of pepper spray was metsubushi, used by samurai in feudal Japan as a form of policing.
• Shuriken — The shuriken was invented during the Gosannen War as a concealed weapon, primarily for the purpose of distracting a target.
• Tantō
• Yumi

Writing

See also: Japanese writing system

Model B in Pink

• Correction tape — Correction tape was invented in 1989 by the Japanese product manufacturer Seed. It is an alternative to correction fluid.
• Gel pen — The gel pen was invented in 1984 by the Sakura Color Products Corporation of Osaka.
• Japanese typewriter — The first typewriter to be based on the Japanese writing system was invented by Kyota Sugimoto in 1929.
• Mechanical pencil — In 1915, Sharp Corporation founder Tokuji Hayakawa invented a mechanical pencil.
• Rollerball pen — The first rollerball pen was invented in 1963 by the Japanese company Ohto.

See also

• History of science and technology in Japan
• History of typography in East Asia
• List of automotive superlatives
• List of Chinese inventions
• List of Chinese discoveries
• List of Korean inventions and discoveries
• List of Taiwanese inventions and discoveries
• Science and technology in Japan
• Ten Japanese Great Inventors

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