What does this partnership represent for TOYO and IQM? 

Toshiya Kohno, CEO, TOYO Corporation 

This partnership reflects the strong alignment between IQM’s world-leading quantum computing technology and TOYO’s core strengths in measurement, analysis, and evaluation. 

Quantum technology is positioned as a key growth area for us, and this collaboration marks an important step as we move into a new domain and help accelerate the implementation of quantum technologies in Japan. 

Jan Goetz, CEO, IQM Quantum Computers 

TOYO is IQM’s first Japanese customer, and the fact that the buyer is an advanced tech company is exactly the right signal. They understand instrumentation and complex systems. They know what advantages direct access to hardware gives you. Capability is built by people who can touch the machine, who can grow with their infrastructure. TOYO joins LRZ in Germany, ORNL in the United States, Galaxy in Poland, and many more. All institutions that decided to own their quantum future. 

 

Why is Japan becoming such an important market for quantum computing right now? 

Kohno 

Japan has global competitiveness in materials science and advanced manufacturing fields, where quantum computing can have a significant impact. 

National-level R&D is progressing, and the technological foundation is steadily taking shape. At the same time, corporate education and practical adoption are still developing, meaning the market is just beginning to take shape. 

This combination makes Japan a highly promising and strategically important market for quantum computing. 

 

Why is this the right moment to invest in quantum infrastructure? 

Kohno 

The environment around quantum computing has shifted dramatically in recent years. 

Beyond technological progress, companies are now exploring concrete use cases, moving from research to implementation planning. 

Since we began offering quantum solutions, we have seen growing demand for real-machine testing, HPC integration, algorithm development, and talent training. These emerging practical needs indicate that now is the right time to invest in quantum infrastructure. 

Goetz 

The question used to be whether quantum matters. That question is answered. The question now is how organizations build the capability to use it. And what it costs them if they hesitate. Every on-premises customer we have, in every country, wants the same thing: a real machine they can run real workloads on, in their own facility, integrated into their own infrastructure. That is what hardware ownership provides. 

Why is owning quantum systems important for TOYO, rather than relying on cloud access? 

Kohno 

Cloud access alone is no longer sufficient to meet customers’ needs for hands-on testing and skill development. 

Many organizations require real-machine evaluation, HPC integration, and practical training environments. 

To support these needs and advance the implementation of quantum technologies in Japan, we decided to own and operate quantum systems ourselves. 

Goetz 

Cloud is a starting point to get comfortable with quantum computing. It lets you try the technology; it does not let you build with it. Advanced users choose ownership for a specific reason: sovereignty is not a slogan, it is a procurement requirement. Hardware in your facility, workloads on your own infrastructure, IP that stays inside your walls, expertise that compounds inside your team. That is what we call Production Quantum. It is what TOYO has chosen. 

 

Why is hands-on access to real quantum hardware so important? 

Kohno 

Quantum computing has a significant gap between theory and real-world hardware behavior. 

Direct access allows users to understand system characteristics and constraints, enabling more realistic evaluation and decision-making. 

Hands-on experience is essential for moving toward practical adoption. It also allows customers to maintain confidentiality for sensitive data that cannot be sent to the cloud. 

 

What makes this partnership different from a traditional vendor relationship? 

Kohno 

This is a strategic partnership aimed at enabling the adoption of quantum technology in Japan, not a simple vendor arrangement. 

Together, we will co-create value through use case development, talent training, and deeper engagement with industry needs. 

By combining TOYO’s expertise in measurement and advanced technologies with IQM’s quantum systems, we aim to bring practical quantum applications to life. 

Goetz 

Vendors do not build quantum ecosystems. Corporations, universities, governments, and HPC organizations build them together. IQM’s job is to provide the ecosystem platform and earn the trust to keep providing it. TOYO brings something we cannot bring on our own: relationships across Japanese industry built over decades. That is the difference between selling a machine and helping a country build a capability. We are interested in the second. 

 

What role will education and talent development play? 

Kohno 

Talent is one of the most critical factors for the practical adoption of quantum computing. 

Even when fault-tolerant quantum computers become available, organizations will only benefit if they have people capable of using them effectively. 

Infrastructure alone is not enough. Human capability must grow alongside it. 

By bringing IQM systems to Japan, we aim to provide hands-on educational and research environments that foster practical, future-ready quantum talent.
 

What does success look like for this partnership over the next few years? 

Kohno 

Success means seeing quantum technologies steadily implemented across Japan, with more real-world industrial and business applications emerging. 

It also means cultivating quantum talent and continuously generating new use cases. 

Both IQM and TOYO share the ambition to bring quantum computing into industry as early as possible and drive innovation. We aim to advance this vision together. 

Goetz 

Success is Japan becoming one of the places where quantum computing gets commercialized, not just studied. Japanese institutions running real workloads, integrating quantum into HPC, training engineers who will lead this field for the next twenty years. That is not a five-year program. It is a generational one. TOYO is the start. 

 

What would you like to see happen in Japan’s quantum landscape? 

Kohno 

Quantum technology is a strategic field that will underpin future economic growth and is essential for shaping the next generation of Japanese manufacturing. 

By introducing an IQM quantum computer, we hope to expand opportunities for industry, government, and academia to engage directly with quantum hardware. 

Competition around HPC integration, use-case development, and talent training has already begun. 

Working with IQM, we aim to accelerate industrial adoption and societal implementation, helping Japan become a global leader in quantum technology. 

Goetz 

Ecosystems compound. Once a country has real infrastructure, the rest follows: researchers find industrial partners, universities train specialists, companies identify use cases, governments invest at scale. None of it happens without the hardware in place first. The quantum era does not arrive when the machine works. It arrives when institutions own it, operate it, and build with it. Japan now has both the hardware and the institution that intends to do all three. The work begins today.