YPC-1000 Basic-alpha

YEAR: 1985
ITEM: Digital Computer
COMPANY: Yamazaki Machinery Works
COUNTRY: Japan
IN OUR COLLECTION: Yes

Interesting computer made in Japan but there is very little information on it. It was built by Yamazaki Educational Equipment Company, LTD. This 8-bit microcomputer was known as the Basic·α (Basic·alpha)and as the YPC·1000. Both names appear on the original box and on the computer.

The computer is really SMALL! It's about 2" wider than my Samsung Galaxy smartphone and about twice as thick....roughly 7" x 5" x 1". It came in its original box and has a set of instructions with it, unfortunately (for me), the instructions are in Japanese. But from the pictures, it is clear that the YPC-1000 was a kit computer that the owner put together him/herself. It runs on four AA batteries and has an LCD screen that displays 1 line of 16 characters.

According to epocalc.net, the computer was made in the 1980s.¹

It seems to have been made by the Yamazaki Machinery Works. We came across an article in the NY Times from 1981 that was about the company opening a manless manufacturing factory....what is now called an automated factory!

The scene here is one of eerie, antiseptic efficiency. Everything is clean, oiled and steely. No coffee cups, cigarette butts or the other flotsam of human activity is to be found.

You get high-quality products with this system regardless of the quality of the workers, Mr. Yamazaki said. That's why we have so many foreign inquiries.

Industries in Japan are not driving for the manless factory per se, said Kenichi Ohmae, managing director of the Mckinsey & Company office in Tokyo. They are after flexible, low-cost manufacturing systems. If you get rid of people completely, you lose some of the flexibility that comes with human intelligence, he added. ²

One wonders was this early automation process related to the company developing the YPC-1000 and offering it for sale.

¹http://www.epocalc.net/php/liste_models.php?nom=Y&nocomp=pc

²https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/13/business/new-in-japan-the-manless-factory.html

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Documents

Documents for this item have not yet been scanned or not yet posted. There are a lot of pages...contact us if you have an immediate need. (Although there are not a lot of "immediate needs" for a 70+ year old computer!)

Exceedingly Rare

Actually we cannot find any other examples of this unusual computer. We have found very little information. I suspect there are more of these tucked away in some basements in Japan. But since we cannot find any others at this point (2023), we will rate it as exceedingly rare (fewer than 10). And we can hope that the rating changes as more of these surface.

If you know the location of any other of these items, please let us know by contacting us at Director@TheComputerChurch.com .

OUR DEFINITIONS OF RARITY

One of a Kind: Only known existing item.
Exceedingly Rare: Only 2 to 10 known to exist.
Very Rare: Only 11 to 25 are known to exist.
Rare: Only 26 to 50 are known to exist.
Difficult: Difficult to find.
Available:Can be commonly be purchased.
Unknown: We cannot make a determination.

(For comparison: Many people consider the Apple-1 computer to be rare. As of 2025 there are 92 confirmed and probable Apple-1 computers.)

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