AX architecture

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AX (Architecture eXtended) was a Japanese computing initiative starting in around 1986 to allow PCs to handle double-byte Japanese text via special hardware chips, whilst allowing compatibility with software written for foreign IBM PCs. It was developed by a consortium including Sony, Hitachi, Sharp, Oki, Casio, Canon, Kyocera, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, etc. but notably excluding NEC, Toshiba and Fujitsu (who were the market leaders and hence the 'opposition').

To display Kanji characters with sufficient clarity, AX machines had JEGA screens with a resolution of 640x480 rather than the 640x350 EGA standard prevalent elsewhere at the time. Users could typically switch between Japanese and English mode by typing 'jp' or 'us', which would also invoke an IME enabling the input of Japanese characters.

AX later came to be superseded by IBM's DOS/V, which accomplished the same goals purely in software thanks to advances in typical PC capabilities such as memory, speed, etc.