Episode 16 Word Processing Software

Attracted the interest of NEC
“This is our chance.”　Only three months left Worked all night long

ASCII Microsoft had a booth at an exhibition held in Harumi, Tokyo, in the spring of 1983. We, JustSystems, rented space behind their booth. Our purpose was to present “Hikari”, a prototype of a Japanese word processor we were developing, to those who stopped by ASCII’s booth and seemed interested.

Among them, NEC was particularly interested in our work. After a short while, ASCII contacted us, saying that NEC was going to use our work in the PCs they were developing.
However, we were astonished to hear the delivery date. “We will have them on store shelves in October,” that’s what we were told. Considering the timing of sales, we had only three months at most to develop the product. Still, it was the best opportunity we could have hoped for. We could not let it slip away at any cost. Thus, we launched the development of “JS-WORD,” the predecessor to Ichitaro.

One part-time student played a key role in its development.
One day I returned from a business trip in Hokkaido to find a slender student sitting quietly at the edge of my desk. I asked Hatsuko, Managing Director, “Who is he?” Then she told me that he was a second-year student at Tokushima University Faculty of Dentistry. She also said to me, “He is so talented.” According to her, when she had him create a simple software program on trial, he immediately got the gist of it. His name is Tomoaki Fukura, the man who would later lead the development team of JustSystems and whom I also named as my successor.

At the time, Hatsuko also devoted her time to the development of custom-made systems and other tasks. “JS-WORD” was the first word processing software developed by JustSystems, but according to Hatsuko, “If he had not been with us at that time, this would not have been possible.”

Thus began our efforts to develop word processing software. Hatsuko, Mr. Fukura, and other engineers were responsible for programming. Every day we worked all night long. They were all young, so as soon as they ran out of energy, they would lie down on the floor. And it was also my job to support them. At dawn, I would go to the only supermarket nearby that was open 24 hours a day to procure food. I would then make breakfast, and at 7:00 a.m. I would serve breakfast for everyone on the long desk in the office.

In the summer, the sounds of the Awa Odori dance could be heard. Our office was right in front of the festival hall at that time.
Our practice toward the practical application has begun. Our young staff members mindlessly keep tapping away at keyboards on their computers. From outside the window, we hear the lively sounds of musical instruments and musical accompaniment.

Ordinary people might think it was too noisy, but everyone there, except me, was born and raised in Tokushima. So, I remember that everyone continued working without seeming to be bothered at all.
Thus, our “JS-WORD” was completed. However, as it turned out, this product did not gain much popularity. This was due to the fact that the PC that came with this product was NEC’s “PC-100,” and the “PC-9801,” which NEC had already marketed, was a bigger hit. Soon after that, however, we also developed word-processing software that could be installed on their “98 series,” and our business began to take off.

The story goes back a bit to the early spring of 1983, when we were working on the development of “Hikari”. I once took Hatsuko and Mr. Fukura on a business trip to Tokyo. That night, over a glass of wine in the lounge on the top floor of the former Akasaka Prince Hotel, I told them the following story. The night view of Tokyo spread out below us.

“I hope our work will be used in every building with lights that can be seen from here.” I said. If we’re going to do this anyway, let’s aim to be the best in Japan.”

Don’t call it a wild tale. With the advent of Ichitaro, my ambition will eventually be realized.

Design document of “JS-WORD”