was a monthly released microcomputer magazine in Japan, published by

ASCII Corporation was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works. The company published ' ...

from 1977. It targeted business users who used a

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

in their home and office, but it sometimes introduced computer games and

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...

. It was also known as the written along with the title from Vol. 2 No. 4, and distinguish with the founded in 1997. The ASCII was rebranded as the in 2008, and ceased in 2010. Its news website and the Weekly ASCII are continuing as in 2016. The , a computer game magazine, was first published as an extra issue of the ASCII in 1982, and the was branched from the LOGiN.

Foundation

Japanese PC Shipments by bit designs 1983-1993

In 1976,

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

released the

TK-80 The TK-80 (μCOM Training Kit TK-80) was an 8080-based single-board computer kit developed by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1976. It was originally developed for engineers who considered using the '' μCOM-80 family'' in their product. It was ...

, a single-board computer kit, and it became popular among hobbyists in Japan. joined foundation of the first Japanese microcomputer magazine ''I/O'' ( ja) as an editor when he was a student at the

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. The I/O initially served information for assembled microcomputer systems with a few video game columns. Growing the video game market, it was shifted to a video game magazine. Against it, Nishi considered that personal computers must have far more potential than video games. In April 1977, Nishi left the company, borrowed money from his grandmother and visited the

West Coast Computer Faire The West Coast Computer Faire was an annual computer industry conference and exposition most often associated with San Francisco, its first and most frequent venue. The first fair was held in 1977 and was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Reil ...

held in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Then, he realized the difference between Japan and the United States. "In Japan, the TK-80 just caused a microcomputer craze. While in the United States, it seems the beginning of the personal computer revolution. Each persons try to face a personal computer, based on their own identity," he said. On May 24, 1977, Nishi founded with his friends, and . They published the ASCII as a microcomputer magazine for business, while the I/O was for hobbyists. The first issue was sold 5,000 copies. It became one of the most popular computer magazine in 1980s in Japan. In 1999, the magazine reached its largest circulation of 170,000 copies. A profile of Satoshi Endo, an editor of the ASCII in 1990s, was broadcast on Japanese TV in 2016.

References

External links

ASCII.jp
{{in lang, ja Defunct computer magazines Defunct magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1977 Magazines disestablished in 2008 Magazines published in Tokyo Monthly magazines published in Japan