Japan's Institute for Molecular Science switched on Shunkai, the country's first full-stack neutral-atom quantum computer. Hitachi and Infleqtion built the system together.
What the machine is
Shunkai starts at 50 qubits and targets 10,000 by 2031. The processor traps neutral rubidium atoms with optical tweezers. It runs at room temperature, without the dilution refrigerator a superconducting machine needs, and reconfigures qubit connectivity on the fly.
The first deployment offers cloud access for research. A company named Yaqumo Inc. will steer commercial use.
Where Infleqtion fits
Infleqtion supplied the quantum core for Shunkai. The company already runs neutral-atom programs in the United States, with a Colorado headquarters and a planned Illinois machine. Supplying Japan's national platform extends that hardware line into a second geography.
The 10,000-qubit target is a roadmap number, not a delivered result. Hitachi and Infleqtion state the goal, and the room-temperature design removes one engineering cost, but the system still has to scale.
Why it matters
Japan has funded superconducting and trapped-ion work for years. Shunkai gives the country a homegrown neutral-atom platform, the same modality companies like Pasqal and QuEra bet on. A national machine with a public cloud interface also creates a local benchmark for researchers who would otherwise rent capacity overseas.
For context on the hardware race, see our quantum processors by qubit count.