Commemorative Ceremony For The Launch Of Riken Fugaku Ibm Quantum

On June 24, a ceremony was held at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) in Kobe, Japan, to mark the launch of collaborative operation of the supercomputer Fugaku and IBM Quantum System Two. R-CCS, in collaboration with SoftBank Corp., has launched a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), titled... IBM Quantum System Two—equipped with the 156-qubit Heron superconducting quantum processor—has been installed at R-CCS. Consequently, “Quantum-Centric Supercomputing” operations utilizing both IBM Quantum System Two and the supercomputer Fugaku have been launched. This marks the first such deployment of IBM Quantum System Two outside of North America. At the ceremony, opening remarks were given by the hosts: Makoto Gonogami, President of RIKEN; Akio Yamaguchi, President and CEO of IBM Japan, Ltd.; and Jay Gambetta, Vice President of IBM Quantum.

Congratulatory addresses were given by Kisaburo Tokai, Chair of the Committee on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the House of Representatives (former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology); Motohiko Saito,... Other attendees included Yasutoshi Nishimura, member of the House of Representatives Committee on Economy, Trade and Industry (former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry); Yoshihiro Seki, also a member of the Committee; Shinsuke Suematsu,... Also in attendance was Shigekazu Matsuura, Deputy Director-General of the Minister's Secretariat and in charge of Research Promotion Bureau and Higher Education Policy Coordination at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology... KOBE, Japan, June 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and RIKEN, a national research laboratory in Japan, today unveiled the first IBM Quantum System Two ever to be deployed outside of the United... The availability of this system also marks a milestone as the first quantum computer to be co-located with RIKEN's supercomputer Fugaku — one of the most powerful classical systems on Earth. This effort is supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an organization under the jurisdiction of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)'s "Development of Integrated Utilization Technology for...

IBM Quantum System Two at RIKEN is powered by IBM's 156-qubit IBM Quantum Heron, the company's best performing quantum processor to-date. IBM Heron's quality as measured by the two-qubit error rate, across a 100-qubit layered circuit, is 3x10-3 (with the best two-qubit error being 1x10-3) — which is 10 times better than the previous generation... IBM Heron's speed, as measured by the CLOPS (circuit layer operations per second) metric is 250,000, which reflects another 10x improvement in the past year, over IBM Eagle. At a scale of 156 qubits, with these quality and speed metrics, Heron is the most performant quantum processor in the world. This latest Heron is capable of running quantum circuits that are beyond brute-force simulations on classical computers, and its connection to Fugaku will enable RIKEN teams to use quantum-centric supercomputing approaches to push forward... The new IBM Quantum System Two is co-located with Fugaku within the RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS), Japan's premier high-performance computing (HPC) center.

The computers are linked through a high-speed network at the fundamental instruction level to form a proving ground for quantum-centric supercomputing. This low-level integration allows RIKEN and IBM engineers to develop parallelized workloads, low-latency classical-quantum communication protocols, and advanced compilation passes and libraries. Because quantum and classical systems will ultimately offer different computational strengths, this will allow each paradigm to seamlessly perform the parts of an algorithm for which it is best suited. This quantum computer expands IBM's global fleet of quantum computers, and was officially launched during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 24, 2025, in Kobe, Japan. The event featured opening remarks from RIKEN President Makoto Gonokami; Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Vice President of IBM Quantum; Akio Yamaguchi, General Manager of IBM Japan; as well as local parliament members and... IBM's next-generation quantum computer "IBM Quantum System Two" has been installed at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) in Kobe City and has begun operation.

A commemorative ceremony was held on-site on June 24, unveiling the first IBM next-generation quantum computer ever installed outside the United States. The commemorative ceremony was attended by RIKEN President Makoto Gonokami, IBM Quantum Vice President Jay Gambetta, IBM Japan President Akio Yamaguchi, as well as local Diet members, the Governor of Hyogo Prefecture, the Mayor... This quantum computer is equipped with IBM's 156-qubit Heron processor, which IBM claims is the highest-performing quantum processor in its history. The processor quality, measured by the two-qubit error rate in a 100-qubit layered circuit, is 0.003 (with the best two-qubit error being 0.001), which is equivalent to 10 times better than the previous-generation 127-qubit... The Heron processor operates at a speed of 250,000 CLOPS (circuit layer operations per second), representing more than a 10-fold improvement over the previous-generation Eagle processor within one year. Based on these high quality and speed metrics, this is considered the highest-performing quantum processor at present in the world at the 156-qubit scale.

The IBM Quantum System Two equipped with Heron is installed in the same building as the supercomputer "Fugaku" at R-CCS, one of Japan's leading high-performance computing (HPC) centers. Supercomputer Fugaku at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe (©Sankei by Yasuaki Watanabe) A newly installed IBM quantum computer officially began full-scale operations on June 24 at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe. In a groundbreaking initiative, it will operate in tandem with Japan's flagship supercomputer, Fugaku, with the goal of dramatically enhancing computational power and processing efficiency. This integration of quantum and classical computing is expected to accelerate innovation across a broad spectrum of fields, from drug discovery to cutting-edge materials research. Quantum computers harness the unique properties of subatomic particles like photons and electrons to perform complex calculations.

Celebrated for their extraordinary potential, quantum computers are often said to solve problems in one minute that would take a supercomputer 100 years. They are especially effective in quantum chemical calculations, helping scientists analyze the behavior of matter and chemical reactions at the molecular scale. IBM, in collaboration with Japan’s RIKEN research institute, has launched the first IBM Quantum System Two in Japan — marking the first deployment of the advanced quantum computing system outside the United States and... The system is co-located with the powerful supercomputer Fugaku at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe. This strategic integration enables researchers to explore hybrid computing by linking IBM’s latest 156-qubit Heron quantum processor with one of the world’s leading classical machines. Supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), this initiative is part of a national effort to build post-5G communication and computational...

The IBM Heron processor represents a significant leap in quantum performance. It boasts a two-qubit error rate of 3x10⁻³ (with the best performance at 1x10⁻³), and a processing speed of 250,000 CLOPS (circuit layer operations per second) — both ten times better than its predecessor,... This positions Heron as the most performant quantum processor in the world, capable of running circuits beyond the capability of classical simulation. By connecting Heron to Fugaku, RIKEN and IBM are pioneering quantum-centric supercomputing approaches. This collaboration allows for low-latency communication between the two systems, enabling new possibilities in algorithm design, simulation, and practical quantum-classical workflows in fields like materials science and quantum chemistry. IBM and RIKEN, a national research laboratory in Japan, have unveiled the first IBM Quantum System Two ever to be deployed outside of the United States and beyond an IBM Quantum Data Center.

The availability of this system also marks a milestone as the first quantum computer to be co-located with RIKEN’s supercomputer Fugaku — one of the most powerful classical systems on Earth, according to a... This effort is supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an organization under the jurisdiction of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)’s “Development of Integrated Utilization Technology for... IBM Quantum System Two at RIKEN is powered by IBM’s 156-qubit IBM Quantum Heron, the company’s best-performing quantum processor to-date. IBM Heron’s quality as measured by the two-qubit error rate, across a 100-qubit layered circuit, is 3x10-3 (with the best two-qubit error being 1x10-3) — which is 10 times better than the previous generation... IBM Heron’s speed, as measured by the CLOPS (circuit layer operations per second) metric is 250,000, which reflects another 10x improvement in the past year, over IBM Eagle, the media release said. At a scale of 156 qubits, with these quality and speed metrics, Heron is the most performant quantum processor in the world, according to IBM.

This latest Heron is capable of running quantum circuits that are beyond brute-force simulations on classical computers, and its connection to Fugaku will enable RIKEN teams to use quantum-centric supercomputing approaches to push forward... Dec. 2, 2025 RIKEN and AMD sign an agreement to collaborate on science and technology Nov. 28, 2025 Fifteen RIKEN scientists chosen as Highly Cited Researchers 2025 Nov.

27, 2025 Collaborative agreement with NVIDIA Nov. 14, 2025 New system to enhance RIKEN’s hybrid quantum-classical research platform Nov. 13, 2025 Notice on the RIKEN Website Restoration IBM's next-generation quantum computer, now online in Japan, is also connected to the supercomputer Fugaku to accelerate quantum computational power and accuracy

KOBE, Japan, June 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and RIKEN, a national research laboratory in Japan, today unveiled the first IBM Quantum System Two ever to be deployed outside of the United... The availability of this system also marks a milestone as the first quantum computer to be co-located with RIKEN's supercomputer Fugaku — one of the most powerful classical systems on Earth. This effort is supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an organization under the jurisdiction of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)'s "Development of Integrated Utilization Technology for... IBM Quantum System Two at RIKEN is powered by IBM's 156-qubit IBM Quantum Heron, the company's best performing quantum processor to-date. IBM Heron's quality as measured by the two-qubit error rate, across a 100-qubit layered circuit, is 3x10-3 (with the best two-qubit error being 1x10-3) — which is 10 times better than the previous generation... IBM Heron's speed, as measured by the CLOPS (circuit layer operations per second) metric is 250,000, which reflects another 10x improvement in the past year, over IBM Eagle.

At a scale of 156 qubits, with these quality and speed metrics, Heron is the most performant quantum processor in the world. This latest Heron is capable of running quantum circuits that are beyond brute-force simulations on classical computers, and its connection to Fugaku will enable RIKEN teams to use quantum-centric supercomputing approaches to push forward... The new IBM Quantum System Two is co-located with Fugaku within the RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS), Japan's premier high-performance computing (HPC) center. The computers are linked through a high-speed network at the fundamental instruction level to form a proving ground for quantum-centric supercomputing. This low-level integration allows RIKEN and IBM engineers to develop parallelized workloads, low-latency classical-quantum communication protocols, and advanced compilation passes and libraries. Because quantum and classical systems will ultimately offer different computational strengths, this will allow each paradigm to seamlessly perform the parts of an algorithm for which it is best suited.

IBM and Japanese national research lab Riken have deployed the first IBM Quantum System Two outside of the United States and beyond an IBM quantum data centre. The new system, which features IBM’s 156-qubit IBM Quantum Heron chip, is collocated with Riken’s Fugaku supercomputer within the Riken Centre for Computational Science, Japan’s high-performance computer centre. According to IBM, the computers are linked through a “high-speed network at the fundamental instruction level” to be used for “quantum-centric” supercomputing to speed advanced algorithm research, such as fundamental chemistry problems. “This low-level integration allows Riken and IBM engineers to develop parallelised workloads, low-latency classical-quantum communication protocols, and advanced compilation passes and libraries,” IBM explained. “Because quantum and classical systems will ultimately offer different computational strengths, this will allow each paradigm to seamlessly perform the parts of an algorithm for which it is best suited.” “The future of computing is quantum-centric and with our partners at Riken, we are taking a big step forward to make this vision a reality,” said IBM Quantum VP Jay Gambetta.

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