Japan Activates First Domestically Built Photonic Quantum Computer in Research Setting
Tokyo-based startup OptQC and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have activated “MoQuren” (モクレン), a domestically produced photonic quantum computer, at AIST’s G-QuAT research center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture — marking what the companies say is the world’s first deployment of a commercially oriented domestic photonic quantum computer in a public research environment.
The announcement came on July 21, 2026. Unlike the dominant superconducting quantum computers — used by IBM, Google, and others — which require cooling to temperatures near absolute zero (around -273°C), MoQuren operates at room temperature and ambient pressure. Photonic quantum computers use particles of light, called photons, to carry and process information, exploiting a quantum physics phenomenon called “quantum entanglement” to perform calculations impossible for conventional computers.
According to PR Times (OptQC’s official press release), MoQuren will serve as “System O,” a key node within ABCI-Q, AIST’s broader quantum-classical hybrid computing platform currently under construction. The platform is designed to pair quantum processors with traditional supercomputers to tackle real-world problems, with planned applications including drug discovery, new materials development, financial optimization, and AI model development. The project is funded in part through Japan’s Cabinet Office BRIDGE program, a government initiative to connect research and development with the goals of Society 5.0 — Japan’s vision of a technology-integrated society.
Optronics Online, a Japanese optics and photonics industry publication, noted that MoQuren’s room-temperature operation directly addresses growing concerns about data center power consumption driven by the AI boom. Conventional quantum computers generate substantial heat-management overhead from their cryogenic requirements; photonic systems, in contrast, are described as compact and energy-efficient, making them more compatible with existing data center infrastructure. OptQC CEO Kan Takase said in a statement, “We are confident that our core ‘optical method’ technology, which operates at room temperature and ambient pressure and is highly compatible with existing infrastructure, is the technology capable of advancing next-generation computing infrastructure to the practical phase the fastest.”
Kyodo News reported that pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions are among the anticipated customers once OptQC opens commercial access. OptQC — a startup spun out of the University of Tokyo and founded in September 2024 — is also developing a free software development kit (SDK) so that researchers and companies can begin writing quantum algorithms and testing them via simulation before direct hardware access is available.
The “world’s first” claim carries a footnote in OptQC’s own release, specifying it applies to “a commercially oriented domestic photonic quantum computer deployed in a public institution’s R&D environment,” based on the company’s own survey of public information as of July 2026. Quantum Spectator, a specialist quantum industry publication, reported that Masahiro Horibe, Deputy Director of AIST’s G-QuAT, said the installation would “serve as a catalyst to further advance technical verification and use-case development with practical application in mind.” The current phase focuses on hardware stability testing and integration into the ABCI-Q infrastructure before external access is opened to businesses and research institutions more broadly.
Japan has been accelerating government-backed investment in quantum computing as part of broader efforts to compete with the United States and China in strategic deep technologies. MoQuren’s activation — covered only by Quantum Spectator and other specialist publications in English at the time of publication, with no pickup from major international outlets — signals an early but concrete step in Japan’s push to bring domestic quantum hardware out of the lab and toward commercial use.
Sources
PR Times (OptQC press release) — “OptQCと産総研、光量子コンピュータ1号機「MoQuren」を構築し稼働開始” (Japanese, Japan)
Jiji.com — “OptQCと産総研、光量子コンピュータ1号機「MoQuren」を構築し稼働開始” (Japanese, Japan)
Optronics Online (オプトロニクスオンライン) — “OptQCと産総研、光量子コンピュータ1号機「MoQuren」が稼働開始” (Japanese, Japan)
Kyodo News via 47NEWS — “光量子コンピューター稼働 産総研、新薬や素材開発へ” (Japanese, Japan)
Quantum Spectator — “OptQC & AIST install Japan’s first photonic system for R&D” (English, International)