Computer History Museum

Makimoto, Tsugio oral history

This oral history summarizes Japanese pioneer Tsugio Makimoto's many contributions to the development of a global semiconductor industry. He began his engineering career as Japan was recovering from the effects of WW II and its semiconductor industry was in its earliest stages. After graduating from Tokyo University, he started as a young engineer in the Hitachi in 1959 and ended up as General manager of its Semiconductor Division. In 1999, he left Hitachi, after 40 years, to go to Sony Corporation where he was in charge of the company's semiconductor strategy. Along the way he went to Stanford where he received BS and MS degrees and back to Tokyo University for a PhD. In this oral history, Dr. Makimoto discusses the role of technology transfers from U.S. companies such as RCA and Bell Laboratories in the development of the Japanese semiconductor industry. He also talks about his role in U.S. Japan semiconductor "trade wars" as one of the key Japanese negotiators. He was also significantly involved with the formation of the World Semiconductor Council.

Item Details

Date
2009-07-13 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102702130
Organization
Computer History Museum
People
Tsugio Makimoto (Interviewee)
Rosemary Remacle (Interviewer)
Category
Transcript
Extent
28 p.
Place of publication
North America/USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X5430.2009
Subject
RISC, CISC, Semiconductor Memories, Hitachi, Sony Corporation, MITI, World Semiconductor Council, Semiconductor History, Calculators, CMOS, nMOS, Stanford University, Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI), Toshiba Corporation, RCA, Intel, Bell Laboratories, Transistors, Semiconductors, Western Electric, Germanium, Mostek
Archive collection
CHM Oral History Collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection