Morita Akio
Akio Morita ( Japanese 盛 田 昭夫; born January 26, 1921 in Tokoname in Japan , † October 3, 1999 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese entrepreneur . Together with Ibuka Masaru , he founded the international Japanese electronics company Sony .
family
Morita grew up in a middle-class family in a family that was involved in sake production. After finishing school he studied physics in Osaka . He then went through officer training in the army and was assigned to a military research project at the age of 23. Here he made the acquaintance of Masura Ibuka, who had been in the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy for some time .
His eldest son Hideo (英 夫) is chairman of the Japan Food & Liquor Alliance and his second son Masao (昌 夫) is chairman of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and executive director of Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) .
activity
With family support, Morita and Masaru founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo in 1946 , which developed and built electronic devices. The first tape recorder for the Japanese market was manufactured in 1950 . The company became interested in the newly emerging transistor technology very early on . In 1957, the TR-63 was one of the most commercially successful transistor radios in the world. In addition to a strategic orientation, they were looking for a catchy name for the products. An agreement was reached on a combination of the American buzzword sonnyboy with the Latin word sonus ( sound ) for Sony . The first fully transistorized television set and a video tape recorder followed . With the beginning of color television technology, the groundbreaking Trinitron picture tube and the Betamax video system were developed, which, however , could not prevail on the market against the Video Home System (VHS) .
A portable cassette player called the Walkman began its triumphant advance . In cooperation with Philips , the technology for the compact disc was created in the early 1980s . In 1989 Sony acquired the American film studio and music company Columbia Pictures .
Morita received the Order of the Holy Treasure , 1st class on April 21, 1991 . In 1992 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society and in 1993 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
Akio Morita died on October 3, 1999 in Tokyo after a stroke from which he did not recover. He was succeeded by Norio Ōga .
literature
- Akio Morita, Edwin M. Reingold, Mitsuko Shimomura: Made in Japan. A world career . Droemer Knaur, 1988, ISBN 3-426-03876-5 (autobiography).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 旧 ・ 勲 一等 瑞宝 章 受 章 者 一 覧 (戦 後 の 部) . The Nakano Library, accessed February 20, 2012 (Japanese).
- ^ Member History: Akio Morita. American Philosophical Society, accessed February 4, 2019 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Akio, Morita |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 盛 田 昭夫 (Japanese) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese entrepreneur |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 26, 1921 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Tokoname |
DATE OF DEATH | October 3, 1999 |
PLACE OF DEATH | Tokyo |