Personal Computer Day

What Is Personal Computer Day?

Every September 28th is "Personal Computer Day" (パソコン記念日, Pasokon Kinenbi) in Japan. On September 28, 1979, NEC (Nippon Electric Company) released the "PC-8001" — a personal computer that is widely considered the machine that launched Japan's personal computing revolution. Priced at ¥168,000, the PC-8001 offered Japanese users a genuinely personal computing experience at a time when computers were still largely institutional machines, and it established NEC as the dominant force in Japanese personal computing for the following decade.

The PC-8001 and Japan's Computing Revolution

The PC-8001 was designed by NEC engineer Shigeaki Uchiyama and featured an 8-bit Intel 8080 processor, 32KB of RAM (expandable to 64KB), and crucially, built-in support for the Japanese katakana character set — essential for Japanese-language computing. Its combination of relative affordability, Japanese-language support, and the backing of one of Japan's largest electronics companies made it the machine around which Japan's personal computing community coalesced. Hobbyists, small businesses, and educational institutions embraced the PC-8001, creating the demand that spurred Japan's domestic software and hardware industries.

Japan's PC-98 Era

NEC followed the PC-8001 with the PC-98 series (1982–2003), which became the dominant personal computer platform in Japan for nearly two decades, capturing over 50% of the Japanese PC market at its peak. The PC-98's comprehensive Japanese-language support, strong software ecosystem (including Japan's major business applications and a rich library of Japanese games), and NEC's distribution network made it the standard tool of Japanese business computing through the 1980s and into the 1990s. It was eventually displaced by IBM-compatible (DOS/Windows) PCs as globalization standardized the computing platform.

Japan's Technology Industry Legacy

Japan's personal computing era produced not only hardware but a rich domestic software industry and gaming culture. Japanese game developers — Nintendo, Sega, Square (now Square Enix), Capcom, Namco — emerged from this ecosystem to create games that shaped global gaming culture. The PC-8001 era was the seedbed from which Japanese video game history grew.

Fun Facts

• PC-98 longevity: The PC-98 platform was used in Japanese industrial control systems and specialized applications until the early 2000s — nearly 20 years after its introduction — reflecting both the depth of its market penetration and the challenge of migrating legacy industrial systems to new platforms.
• Japanese gaming origins: Many of Japan's most influential game franchises — Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Ys — were developed originally for Japanese PC platforms like the PC-88 and PC-98 before moving to consoles and international markets.