May 10th, 2004 -- Forte Design Systems, Inc. has announced the official opening of Forte Design Systems KK. The wholly owned subsidiary will provide sales and support services for Japanese customers. Ikuo Yamada will lead the Shin Yokohama-based operation as Representative Director, Forte KK, and Director of Sales, Japan.

"Japan has taken a leading role in the adoption of high level design and SystemC," said Jacob Jacobsson, president and CEO of Forte Design Systems. "Yamada-san's longtime experience and strong relations with the Japanese electronics industry will allow Forte to further dedicate itself to the success of its Japanese customers."

"I am very pleased to join the Forte team and look forward to the opportunity to bring behavioral synthesis to the Japanese market," said Ikuo Yamada. "The demand for SystemC-based products, especially synthesis, is growing in Japan as more companies recognize improvements in productivity and quality of results attainable with this flow."

Mr. Yamada has over 20 years of experience in the EDA and electronics industries in technical, sales, and management roles. Prior to joining Forte, Mr. Yamada was a General Manager at Innotech Corporation. He has an engineering degree from Nagoya University. Joining Mr. Yamada, and responsible for technical support in Japan, will be Takashi Sakurai and Takashi Suzuki, both well known in Japan for their early work in the logic synthesis area.