Wacky Japanese PC Ads of the 1980s

As an American, to peer into the world of Japanese personal computers in the 1980s is to look into a beautiful, stylish, yet somewhat odd parallel universe of computing history. During that era, the Land of the Rising Sun brimmed with numerous distinctive home computing machines, many of which were never sold in the U.S.

As I researched these Japanese PCs recently, I was struck by the artistry, whimsy, and sometimes wackiness (from an American perspective) of the advertisements that showcased these machines. Japan seems to thrive with playfulness and creativity unbound, and their computer industry in the 1980s was no exception.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a handful of wacky and wonderful Japanese PC ads of the 1980s.

1. Sharp X1 (1982)

It's amazing that as far back as 1982, Japanese PC consumers had their choice of sleek, colorful PCs like the Z80-based Sharp X1, while American PC buyers typically selected from a wide array of gray, beige, or brown boxes. Of course, our PCs weren't advertised with digital fruit hair either, which makes this ad pleasingly wacky.

(Photo: Sharp)

2. Fujitsu FM Towns (1989)

The FM Towns series of machines is almost legendary as a "lost" gaming platform in the West. Its specs leant itself well to gaming, with a CD-ROM drive, impressive graphics hardware, and even a game pad as standard equipment. Apparently, the FM Towns was also extremely heavy, requiring a semi-nude strongman to move.

Just kidding; it's only a wacky ad.

(Photo: Fujitsu)

3. NEC PC-8201A (1983)

As one of the first truly practical laptop computers, the PC-8201A pioneered a new breed of portable machine. This Kyocera-designed PC also appeared (re-skinned and re-branded) in the U.S. as the TRS-80 Model 100.

In this ad, it appears a young American male is robbing a sexy woman, who, in panic, drops her laptop into the hands of a Japanese businessman. If there is latent symbolism here, I don't want to know what it is.

(Photo: NEC / Special Thanks V.Valenti)

4. NEC PC-9801 Models (1988)

The PC-98 series was a hugely successful x86-based platform that spanned from 1982 into the year 2000, and yet none of the machines made it to the US. Unlike the aforementioned bricklike FM Towns, PC-9801 computers were exceedingly light (as seen in this ad), sometimes requiring extra weights added on to keep them from floating away. Even this puny American businessman can hold three at once!

(Photo: NEC)

5. Canon V-20 (198x)

Upon first glance, you might think this is actually a 1980s shampoo ad. Sadly, you'd be mistaken: It's just an ad for a boring old MSX machine called the Canon V-20.

In all seriousness, the V-20 was one of the first machines in the MSX architecture, a standard which would later dominate the low-end of the Japanese PC market. And in all seriousness, that hair is awesome.

(Photo: Canon)

6. Fujitsu FM-77 (1984)

When I said "wacky," I wasn't kidding. Here we see more bizarre, potentially loaded marketing symbolism (or perhaps pure creative madness) from Fujitsu in this ad for the 6809-based FM-77 PC. As they say in every stoner comedy, I want whatever it is he's having.

(Photo: Fujitsu / Special Thanks V.Valenti)

7. Sony HitBit HB-F1XD (1987)

So now we've come to this: the least wacky ad in this series (in fact, this is not a true ad, but the cover of product literature). Consider this promotional layout for two Sony HitBit MSX machines the gentle let-down from the last six examples of wild Japanese imagery. It's time to re-enter the world of calm, mature western thought...where everything is completely normal and appropriate in every way. Right?

Right?

(Photo: Sony)