Global supercomputer leader Cray today announced that one year after the company welcomed a new president of Cray Japan and initiated an aggressive marketing program in that country, Cray has made important new inroads into the Japanese high-performance computing (HPC) market. Cray Japan President Mamoru Nakano has overseen the adoption of Cray systems by a number of key academic institutions and industrial companies across Japan. Japanese organizations that have installed Cray systems over the last year include: -- Toyota Auto Body Co. This chief affiliate of Toyota Motor Corp. uses a Cray XD1 system and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software to conduct complex crash simulations and safety analyses. -- Sony Information Technologies Laboratories. This Sony lab employs the world's largest Cray XD1 system for key research and development work. -- Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). Located in Kanazawa City, JAIST is one of Japan's premier academic research centers. It uses a Cray XT3 massively parallel processing system to speed advances in the development of new computing algorithms and large-scale simulations and visualizations in the areas of nanotechnology, biomechanics and computational science. -- Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). JST purchased a Cray XT3 system for the Scalable Software Infrastructure project at the University of Tokyo's Department of Computer Science. The project is devoted to testing new software libraries for advanced, large-scale simulations. -- CD-adapco Japan. A prominent international HPC software developer and consultancy, CD-adapco recently acquired a Cray XD1 supercomputer for operations in its Yokohama office. The company provides advanced computationally based engineering solutions, including computerized fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers, computer-aided design (CAD)-integrated options, expert system tools, training and CFD engineering/consulting services. This is the fifth Cray XD1 system that CD-adapco has installed worldwide. -- Software Cradle. Osaka-based Software Cradle chose a Cray XD1 supercomputer as the company's platform for software development and consulting. The firm develops and markets the widely used SC/Tetra multipurpose CFD application, as well as a suite of other CFD-related software. "In a July 2005 IDC study of industrial HPC users, Cray scored high when we asked which vendors Japanese users preferred for their next HPC system procurements," said Earl Joseph, IDC research vice president for high-performance systems. "The growth of our sales in Japan in the last year demonstrates Cray's commitment to this market, and also reflects Cray's dedication to providing responsive service and support to our Japanese customers," said Cray Japan President Nakano. "We expect the market for all the systems in Cray's product line to expand as we foster the Cray user community in Japan, and users continue to achieve excellent results with our systems." "Japan is home to several of the most powerful supercomputers in the world and is one of the largest HPC markets, making it an important piece of our international growth," said Cray CEO and President Peter Ungaro. "We at Cray are excited that these leading Japanese institutions and companies have chosen Cray supercomputers from among the most advanced HPC systems available."