Episode 17 The birth of Ichitaro

With the aim of becoming the “Best in Japan”　 Operability improved
Challenge under our own brand name

It happened after we released version 2 of “JS-WORD”. Tomoaki Fukura, who led the development of the software, suddenly stopped
showing up for work.

Although “JS-WORD” was developed by us, it was sold under the ASCII brand at the time. Fukura used to complain to those around
him about this, saying, “Why can’t we sell the software we developed under our own name?”

At the time, we did not have sufficient funds. Therefore, we thought it would be extremely difficult for us to advertise and market to
dealers on our own. However, Fukura had a point.

“Can’t we at least sell half of them under the Just Systems brand?” I asked ASCII, only to receive a tepid response, “We can’t do that.” I
also had a strong desire to sell the product under our own brand.

“JS-WORD is mouse-based and certainly advanced, but in reality, I think a word processor that is easier for everyone to use would be
more popular.” As mentioned previously, these words by Makoto Naruke of ASCII Microsoft left a lasting impression on Hatsuko.

At that time, news came from IBM Japan that a new personal computer would be equipped with word processing software. That was the
“jX-WORD” released in 1984. This led to the development of “jX-WORD Taro” for NEC’s PC-9801, which in turn led to its successor,
“Ichitaro”. Both were released in 1985, and Ichitaro would eventually become the representative product of JustSystems.

I had an extraordinary attachment to the name “Taro”. One of the high school students whom I tutored as a student was named “Taro”.

He was an excellent student with good grades, and went on to a university in the Kansai region. However, one day, when I was still
working on selling office computers (so-called “off-comp”) after starting a business with Hatsuko in Tokushima, I received the news that
he had passed away.

It was a hot day, I was told. He had taken the neighborhood kids out for a field athletic, but did not wake up the next morning. Taro was
a kind guy. I was so sad. From that time on, I had always thought that one day I would borrow his name when I developed something I
could be proud of.

However, there was a problem. The name “Taro” was already being used by SANYO Electric for its vacuum cleaners. When I inquired
with SANYO about it, they said, “We have no problem with it,” but since they were to license the trademark of that vacuum cleaner to
Oki Electric Industry (OKI), they said, “Kintaro, Momotaro, whatever you want to call it, could you slightly arrange the name Taro
before using it?”
Then I gave it a thought. The fate of JustSystems rests on this word processing software, which we are going to market under our own
brand. I am also proud to have incorporated the best of our technology.

“We aim to be the best in Japan, Taro.”

With this in mind, I named this product “Ichitaro”. The package design consisted of white calligraphy on a red base. I wrote these
characters myself, as I was not satisfied with those written by the designer. I was an associate instructor in the calligraphy club I
belonged to during my university years, and I had some confidence in my calligraphy. So I brought an inkstone and a brush to the office
and wrote the calligraphy with all my heart for my former student who had passed away.

Ichitaro, thus created by our hands, became a big hit right after its release. The shelves of electronics stores were filled with bright red
Ichitaro packages.

By the way, how did we manage to get Ichitaro on the shelves of retailers nationwide without relying on ASCII, even though we did not
have the sales capability at the time? The answer lies in an encounter with a newly founded company called Softbank Japan at the time.

The word “Ichitaro” was handwritten