Kenji Ohmori

Kenji Ohmori is a Chair Professor at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan. After receiving his Ph.D. from The University of Tokyo in 1992, he was a Research Associate and an Associate Professor at Tohoku University. In 2003 he was appointed a Full Professor at IMS.

Professor Ohmori is currently leading large-scale / long-term national projects on the development of ultrafast quantum simulators and quantum computers (2018-2030) generously supported with priority by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Cabinet Office of the government of Japan, expected to be one of the front runners in quantum technologies.

He has been celebrated with many honors. Highlights include the Japan Academy Medal (2007), Fellow of the American Physical Society (2009), Humboldt Research Award from the government of Germany (2012), Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of MEXT (2018), and the National Medal with Purple Ribbon by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan for his achievements on quantum physics (2021). The Medal with Purple Ribbon is awarded for inventions and discoveries in science and technology, and for outstanding achievements in the fields of science, sports, art and culture.

He has served as the Chair of the Committee for Quantum Science and Technology Policy, MEXT, the government of Japan from 2023-2025, after serving as the Vice Chair of the same committee from 2015-2022.

It was officially announced in 2024 that Professor Ohmori and his team established the “Commercialization Preparatory Platform” for their “cold (neutral) atom” quantum computer where 13 topnotch industries and 1 national institute have joined, including Development Bank of Japan Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., Fujitsu Limited, NEC Corporation, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., and the Global Research and Development Center for Business by Quantum-AI technology (G-QuAT) of AIST. The relevant start-up company will be launched in 2025.