Kahaner Report: Japanese supercomputer purchases

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

  [Dr. David Kahaner is a numerical analyst on sabbatical to the
   Office of Naval Research-Asia (ONR Asia) in Tokyo from NIST.  The
   following is the professional opinion of David Kahaner and in no
   way has the blessing of the US Government or any agency of it.  All
   information is dated and of limited life time.  This disclaimer should
   be noted on ANY attribution.]


  [Copies of previous reports written by Kahaner can be obtained using
   anonymous FTP from host cs.arizona.edu, directory japan/kahaner.reports.]


From:
 Dr. David K. Kahaner
 US Office of Naval Research Asia
 (From outside US):  23-17, 7-chome, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106 Japan
 (From within  US):  Unit 45002, APO AP 96337-0007
  Tel: +81 3 3401-8924, Fax: +81 3 3403-9670
  Email: kahaner () cs titech ac jp
Re: Japanese supercomputer purchases
09/02/94 (MM/DD/YY)
This file is named "j-sc-9.94"


ABSTRACT. Sites at which high performance systems are being installed
(or have recently been installed) in Japan, as part of Japanese government
budget stimulus packages.


In several reports during the past year I have described specifics of
the Japanese government's plans to upgrade high performance capabilities
in public institutions. A major push in this direction was in the (last)
Japanese fiscal year ending 31 March 1994. During the current fiscal
year the purchase or lease of additional systems has been continuing.
What follows is as up to date a summary as I have available. As new
information becomes available I will update this list, and will always
be grateful for any corrections.


In the past, researchers at Japanese universities and public institutes
have not had access to sufficient state of the art computing facilities.
This situation is rapidly changing, and in my opinion the integrated
result of these acquisitions may well mark a transition point.  Although
the infrastructure, including networking, software applications and
tools, visualization capabilities, etc., is still not strong enough, raw
computing power is becoming comparable, and in some cases greater than
what is available at NSF Centers in the US. This increase in resources
comes at a time when the Japanese government is also increasing its
emphasis on basic research for its own needs and to insure that Japan is
viewed as a equitable contributor to the global science community.
Readers might want to reflect on the impact the NSF centers have had on
US science output and the potential for this to occur in Japan.


    Recent Japanese Government Supercomputer Acquisitions and Plans


                Fiscal Year Ending 31 March 1994
                --------------------------------


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION


     Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Tokyo)
         Fujitsu         VPP500/7  (7 cpu)


     Okazaki Institute for Molecular Science (near Tokyo)
         NEC             SX3-34R   (3 cpu)


     Tohoku U Computer Center (Sendai)
         NEC             SX3-44R   (4 cpu)


     Tohoku U Research Institute for Metals
         Hitachi         S3800        (3cpu, 1GB memory)


     Tsukuba U (Tsukuba)
         Fujitsu         VPP500/30    (30 cpu)




MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY


     AIST Research Information Processing System (RIPS) (Tsukuba)
         Cray Research   C916         (16 cpu)


     Angstrom Technology Partnership (ATP)   (Tokyo)
         Fujitsu         VPP500/30    (30 cpu)
         Thinking Mach   CM5E        (128 cpu)




SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY


     National Aerospace Lab (NAL)   (Tokyo)
         Cray Research   YMP/M92
         Intel Paragon   Paragon XP    (330 cpu)
         Fujitsu         VP2600


     Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) (Tokyo)
         Fujitsu         VPP500/28     (28 cpu)


     Power Reactor & Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (N of Tokyo)
         Cray Research   T3D




MINISTRY OF POSTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS


     Communication Research Lab (CRL)    (Tokyo)
         Fujitsu         VPP500/10    (10 cpu)




MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE


      National Cancer Research Center Institute (Tokyo)
         Digital (MASPAR) DECMPP (16K cpu)




MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTS & FISHERIES


     Institute for Agriobiological Resources (Tsukuba)
       Digital (MASPAR)  MP2216 (16K cpu)




METEROLOGICAL AGENCY


      Meterological Research Institute
        Hitachi          S3800  (1 cpu, 1GB mem)




                Fiscal Year Ending 31 March 1995
                --------------------------------


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION


      Tohoku U Research Institute for Fluid Science (Sendai)
         Cray C90            (16 cpu)


      Kyoto University Computer Center
         Fujitsu VP-260E
         Fujitsu VPP500      (16 cpu)


      Tokyo Institute of Technology, Information Processing Center
         Cray C916           (12 cpu)


      Tokyo U Institute for Solid State Physics
         Fujitsu VPP500      (16 cpu)


      Hokkaido University (Sapporo)
         Hitachi S3800       (3 cpu)


      National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (KEK) (Tsukuba)
         Fujitsu VPP500      (16 cpu?)




MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY


      Electric Power Development Company
         Tenders in by 31 Aug 1994


      Government Industrial Research Institute, Osaka
         Tenders in by Nov 1994




SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY


      Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute
         Two computers, tenders in by 30 Sept 1994


----------------------------END OF REPORT-----------------------------