The new president of Microsoft Japan said Wednesday the U.S. software giant will continue to invest heavily in the Japanese market and played down the contentious nature of the ongoing hearings with the Fair Trade Commission.

Darren Huston, a Canadian who took office as president of the Microsoft Corp. subsidiary this month, said Microsoft is determined to continue to build partnerships with electronics companies here, including Fujitsu Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp., as well as with schools and the government.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., dominates Japan's PC software market as it does in other nations, and it also boasts a relatively positive image here.