My Way of Life and Thinking
The Early Entrepreneurial Life of the Founder of Panasonic


In the late autumn of 1904, Japan was caught up in the Russo-Japanese War. All alone, a nine-year-old boy left his hometown for Osaka to begin an apprenticeship. His mother, in tears, watched him board the train at Kinokawa Station in Wakayama. Her lonely figure as the train pulled out of the station was a scene that was to be deeply engraved in his mind forever. His first days on his own began. Struggling in the big city, he lived through his days with hope for the future.

 

This was the start of the career of Konosuke Matsushita, who went on to live out a life filled with lofty aspirations.

 

In 1918, 23-year-old Matsushita set up his own business and began working on his own inventions. Relentlessly pursuing innovation in products and management, that tiny workshop grew into the global corporation we know today as Panasonic.

 

My Way of Life and Thinking is the self-told story of one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs of the 20th century. No ordinary autobiography, this inspirational volume provides insight into Matsushita’s approach to life and philosophy of management and is a testimony to his lifelong pursuit of entrepreneurship, leadership and an idealistic vision that began at an early age. The implications of his story are powerfully relevant today to people seeking to question what it is to live a meaningful life.

 

E-book  Japanese(日本語ページ)



Price(tax excluded):1,600yen
Paperback
260 pages

Sample Pages

 
Contents

 

Preface

 

Part One (1894-1918)

1. Boyhood

Childhood/To Osaka/Apprenticeship/The Bicycle Shop/Father’s Guidance/

I Sell My First Bicycle/Death of My Father

2. The Electric Light Company

Leaving the Bicycle Shop/The Osaka Electric Light Company/Promotion to

Installation Technician/My First Theater Wiring Job/The Age of Electricity

Dawns/Night School/Marriage

3. My Own Business 

Challenging My Potential/The New Socket/Windfall

 

Part Two (1918-1927)

4. The Ohiraki-cho Works

The Attachment Plug/Hard Work and Good Luck/A TokyoOffice/The

Hoichi Kai/The Fruits of Perseverance

5. A New Factory 

A New Factory/Sure and Steady Progress/The Bicycle Lamp/Fighting Old

Stereotypes/Radical Sales Promotion Method/Expanding Our Sales Network

6. The Great Kanto Earthquake

The Great Kanto Earthquake/Tempest in the Toilet/Reopening the Tokyo

Office/The First Distributors Meeting/Bicycle Lamp Sales Wrangle

7. Friends and Supporters

Taikan Kato/Tetsujiro Nakao/Strength in Both Manufacturing and Sales/

Solidarity and Success/Election Victory

 

Part Three (1927-1933)

8. Expanding the Business

Scrutinizing My Business Approach/Test of Fortune/Birth of the National

Brand/The Electrothermal Business/The “Super Iron”/The Management of

the Electrothermal Division

9. Year of Crisis

The 1927 Financial Panic/The Value of Trust/The Death of My Son

10. Growth During Recession

Second Head Office and Factory/The 1929 Depression/My Private Anti-

Depression Strategy/Rescuing Hashimoto Electric

11. Business and Human Resources

Business Philosophy as a Public Entity / The Development of Human

Resources

12. Radio and BatteryProduction 

Manufacturing Radio Sets / Price and Profit / The National Lamp / Purchasing

the Battery Factory

13. The Missionof Enterprise

Training of the Employees/The Power of Religion/Hints for Better

Management/The Spirit of Management/First Founding Day/Step by Step

14. Birth of a New Spirit

Spring Athletic Meet/People of Caliber / The Staff Training School / Moving

the Head Office / The Seven Principles

 

Appendices

Timeline

Index