Editing Akio Morita

{{Short description|Japanese entrepreneur (1921–1999)}}

{{Western name order|Morita Akio}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Akio Morita
| honorific_suffix   = [[Senior Third Rank]]
| image              = Morita Akio.jpg
| caption            = Morita in 1965
| native_name        = {{nobold|盛田 昭夫}}
| native_name_lang   = ja
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1921|01|26|mf=y}}
| birth_name         = 
| birth_place        = [[Nagoya]], [[Empire of Japan]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1999|10|03|1921|01|26|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[Tokyo]], Japan
| spouse             = Yoshiko Kamei
| children           = 3
| known_for          = Co-founder of [[Sony]]
| education          = [[Osaka University]]
| awards             = [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] (1982)
}}

{{nihongo|'''Akio Morita'''|盛田 昭夫|Morita Akio|extra=January 26, 1921 – October 3, 1999}} was a Japanese entrepreneur and co-founder of [[Sony]] along with [[Masaru Ibuka]].

==Early life==
Akio Morita was born in [[Nagoya]].<ref>[http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html Chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211214320/http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html |date=February 11, 2018}} About Akio Morita, Akio Morita Library</ref> Morita's family was involved in [[sake]], [[miso]] and [[soy sauce]] production in the village of Kosugaya (currently a part of [[Tokoname, Aichi|Tokoname City]]) on the western coast of [[Chita Peninsula]] in [[Aichi Prefecture]] since 1665. He was the oldest of four siblings and his father Kyuzaemon trained him as a child to take over the family business. Akio, however, found his true calling in mathematics and physics, and in 1944 he graduated from [[Osaka University|Osaka Imperial University]] with a degree in physics. He was later commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]], and served in [[World War II]]. During his service, Morita met his future business partner [[Masaru Ibuka]] at a study group for developing [[precision-guided munition|infrared-guided bombs]] ([[Ke-Go]]) in the Navy's Wartime Research Committee.

==Sony==
In September of 1945, Ibuka founded a radio repair shop in the bombed out [[Shirokiya]] Department Store in [[Nihonbashi]], Tokyo.<ref name=chap1/><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html | title=Chronology – About Akio Morita – Akio Morita Library | access-date=April 25, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211214320/http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html | archive-date=February 11, 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Morita saw a newspaper article about Ibuka's new venture and, after some correspondence, chose to join him in Tokyo. With funding from Morita's father, they co-founded ''Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha'' (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, the forerunner of Sony Corporation) in 1946 with about 20 employees and initial capital of ¥190,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199801/ibuka-e.html|title=Sony Global – Press Release – Masaru Ibuka 1908–1997|website=www.sony.net|access-date=May 6, 2017|archive-date=May 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504010811/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199801/ibuka-e.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=chap1>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/1-01.html|title=Sony Global – Sony History Chapter 1 Rebuilding from the Ashes|website=www.sony.net|language=en|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122131354/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/1-01.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1949, the company developed [[Magnetic tape|magnetic recording tape]] and, in 1950, sold the first [[tape recorder]] in Japan. Ibuka was instrumental in securing the licensing of [[transistor]] technology from [[Bell Labs]] to Sony in the 1950s,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.goldmercury.org/leadership/masaru-ibuka/|title=Masaru Ibuka|work=Gold Mercury International|access-date=June 21, 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=December 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203164404/http://www.goldmercury.org/leadership/masaru-ibuka/|url-status=dead}}</ref> thus making Sony one of the first companies to apply transistor technology to non-military uses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prezi.com/opzltzlkth1y/masaru-ibuka/|title=Masaru Ibuka|website=prezi.com|language=en|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708162358/https://prezi.com/opzltzlkth1y/masaru-ibuka/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1957, the company produced a pocket-sized radio (the first to be fully transistorized), and in 1958, Morita and Ibuka decided to rename their company [[Sony]] (derived from "sonus"—[[Latin]] for "sound"—and "sonny", a then-common American expression).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Akio_Morita |title=Akio Morita |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |access-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926015942/http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Akio_Morita |url-status=live }}</ref> Morita was an advocate for all the products made by Sony. However, since the radio was slightly too big to fit in a shirt pocket, Morita made his employees wear shirts with slightly larger pockets to give the radio a "pocket sized" appearance.
[[File:Akio Morita e Laudo Natel (1972).jpg|thumb|Morita presenting a Sony [[Trinitron]] to [[São Paulo|São Paulo]] governor [[Laudo Natel]] in 1972.]]
Morita founded Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, currently abbreviated as SCA) in 1960.<ref name="Nobuo">{{cite news|title=Pioneering firm upsets Japan hiring: Pattern broken|author=Nobuo Abiko|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=March 26, 1966|page=14}}</ref> In the process, he was struck by the mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time.<ref name="Nobuo" /> When he returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers and consider joining Sony.<ref name="Nobuo" /> The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese companies to do the same.<ref name="Nobuo" /> In 1961, Sony Corporation was the first Japanese company to be listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]], in the form of [[American depositary receipt]]s (ADRs).

In March 1968, Morita set up a joint venture in Japan between Sony and [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]], with him as president, to manufacture "software" for Sony's hardware.<ref name=chap22>{{cite web|title=Sony History Chapter 22 CBS/Sony Records is Established in First Round of Capital Deregulation|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-22.html|website=www.sony.net|access-date=May 7, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921011042/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-22.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Morita became president of Sony in 1971,<ref name=var>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|page=3|date=October 4, 1999|title=Sony co-founder Morita dies}}</ref> taking over from Ibuka who had served from 1950 to 1971.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/20/business/masaru-ibuka-89-engineer-and-sony-co-founder-dies.html|title=Masaru Ibuka, 89, Engineer And Sony Co-Founder, Dies|last=Sterngold|first=James|date=December 20, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 13, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328193245/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/20/business/masaru-ibuka-89-engineer-and-sony-co-founder-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1975, Sony released the first [[Betamax]] home [[videocassette recorder]], a year before the [[VHS]] format came out.

Ibuka retired in 1976<ref name=":0" /> and Morita was named chairman of the company.<ref name=var/> In 1979, the [[Walkman]] was introduced, making it one of the world's first portable music players and in 1982, Sony launched the world's first [[compact disc player]], the [[Sony CDP-101]], with a [[compact disc]] (CD) itself, a new data storage format Sony and [[Philips]] co-developed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Photos: The history of the digital camera|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/photos-the-history-of-the-digital-camera/|last=Trenholm|first=Richard|website=[[CNET]]|language=en|access-date=April 30, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016091943/https://www.cnet.com/news/photos-the-history-of-the-digital-camera/|url-status=live}}</ref> In that year, a 3.5-inch [[floppy disk]] structure was introduced by Sony, and it soon became the [[defacto]] standard. In 1984, Sony launched the [[Discman]] series, which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products.

Under the vision of Morita,<ref name="Fackler">{{cite news|author=Fackler, Martin|title=Cutting Sony, a Corporate Octopus, Back to a Rational Size|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=C.1|date=May 29, 2006}}</ref> the company aggressively expanded into new businesses.<ref name="Christian" /> Part of its motivation for doing so was the pursuit of "convergence", linking film, music and digital electronics.<ref name="Christian">{{cite news|last1=Caryl|first1=Christian|last2=Takayama|first2=Hideko|last3=Itoi|first3=Kay|last4=Wehrfritz|first4=George|last5=Sparks|first5=John|last6=Hastings|first6=Michael|title=Sony is Not Japan; the Appointment of a Foreign CEO is a Sign of how Far the Iconic Company has Fallen in the Japanese Corporate Elite|work=[[Newsweek]]|date=March 21, 2005|pages=30–}}</ref> Twenty years after setting up a joint venture with CBS Records in Japan, Sony bought CBS Records Group<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-11-19-fi-22750-story.html | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | first1=Paul | last1=Richter | first2=William K. | last2=Knoedeiseder Jr | title=Sony Buys CBS Record Division for $2 Billion After Months of Talks | date=November 19, 1987 | archive-date=October 15, 2016 | access-date=August 14, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015214717/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-11-19/business/fi-22750_1_cbs-records | url-status=live }}</ref> which consisted of [[Columbia Records]], [[Epic Records]] and other CBS labels. In 1989, they acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment ([[Columbia Pictures]], [[TriStar Pictures]] and others).<ref name=chap22/>

[[Norio Ohga]], who had joined the company in the 1950s after sending Morita a letter denouncing the poor quality of the company's tape recorders, succeeded Morita as [[chief executive officer]] in 1989.<ref name=stonybrook>{{cite web|url=https://stonybrook.digication.com/navaldeep_singh/Investigate_and_Analyze_the_company_s_History_and_|title=Digication e-Portfolio :: Navaldeep Singh :: Investigate and Analyze the company's History and Growth|website=stonybrook.digication.com|language=en|access-date=June 4, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025232223/https://stonybrook.digication.com/navaldeep_singh/Investigate_and_Analyze_the_company_s_History_and_|url-status=live}}</ref>

Morita suffered a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] in 1993 while playing tennis<ref name=var/> and on November 25, 1994, stepped down as Sony chairman to be succeeded by Ohga.

==Other affiliations==
Morita was vice chairman of the [[Japan Business Federation]] ([[Japan Federation of Economic Organizations]]), and was a member of the Japan-U.S. Economic Relations Group, also known as the "Wise Men's Group". He helped [[General Motors]] with its acquisition of an interest in [[Isuzu]] in 1972.<ref name=var/> He was the third Japanese chairman of the [[Trilateral Commission]]. His [[amateur radio]] call sign is JP1DPJ.

==Publications==
In 1966, Morita wrote a book called ''Gakureki Muyō Ron'' (学歴無用論, Never Mind School Records), where he stresses that school records are not important to success or one's business skills. In 1986, Morita wrote an autobiography titled ''[[Made in Japan (biography)|Made in Japan]]''. He co-authored the 1991 book ''[[The Japan That Can Say No]]'' with politician [[Shintaro Ishihara]], where they criticized American business practices and encouraged Japanese to take a more independent role in business and foreign affairs. (Actually, Morita had no intention to criticize American practices at that time.) The book was translated into English and caused controversy in the United States, and Morita later had his chapters removed from the English version and distanced himself from the book.<ref>City Mayors [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/tokyo_mayor.html Shintaro Ishihara Governor of Tokyo 7 September 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501033232/http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/tokyo_mayor.html |date=May 1, 2016 }} Retrieved on September 22, 2012</ref>

==Awards and honours==
In 1972, Morita received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business|access-date=July 27, 2020|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032022/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business|url-status=live}}</ref> Morita was awarded the [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] by the United Kingdom's [[Royal Society of Arts]] in 1982, the first Japanese to receive the honor. Two years later, he received the prestigious [[Legion of Honour]], and in 1991, was awarded the First Class [[Order of the Sacred Treasure]] from the [[Akihito|Emperor of Japan]]. He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1992 and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Akio+Morita&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=March 31, 2022 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Akio Morita |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/akio-morita |access-date=March 31, 2022 |website=[[American Academy of Arts & Sciences]]|language=en}}</ref> That same year, he was awarded an honorary [[Order of the British Empire|British knighthood (KBE)]]. Morita received the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award from the [[University of Manitoba]] in 1987. In 1998, he was the only Asian person on ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's list of the 20 most influential business people of the 20th century as part of their [[Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century]].<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html|title=Builders & Titans|date=December 7, 1998|access-date=August 9, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523112333/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] in 1999. In 2003, [[Anaheim University]]'s Graduate School of Business was renamed the Akio Morita School of Business in his honor. The Morita family's support for the program led to the growth of the Anaheim University Akio Morita School of Business in Tokyo, Japan.

==Television commercials==
*[[American Express]] (1984)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yochelson |first1=John N. |title=Loving and Leaving Washington: Reflections on Public Service |date=2016 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|isbn=9781612348353 |language=en}}</ref>

==Death==
Morita, who loved to play golf and tennis,<ref>[http://www.akiomorita.net/contents/10th/010.html Talk about "Akio Morita"/ Naoyuki Agawa, Professor of Keio University (2001)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126201523/http://www.akiomorita.net/contents/10th/010.html |date=November 26, 2015 }} (in Japanese)</ref> suffered a stroke in 1993, during a game of tennis.<ref name=var/> The stroke weakened him and left him in a wheelchair.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ASIANOW – Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony Corp. dies – October 2, 1999 |url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/east/9910/02/morita.obit/index.html |access-date=May 16, 2022 |website=[[CNN]] |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112065358/http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/east/9910/02/morita.obit/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> On November 25, 1994, he stepped down as Sony chairman. On October 3, 1999, Morita died of [[pneumonia]] at the age of 78 in a Tokyo hospital, where he had been admitted since August 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pollack |first=Andrew |date=October 4, 1999 |title=Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony and Japanese Business Leader, Dies at 78 |language=en-US |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/04/business/akio-morita-co-founder-of-sony-and-japanese-business-leader-dies-at-78.html |access-date=May 16, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516134546/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/04/business/akio-morita-co-founder-of-sony-and-japanese-business-leader-dies-at-78.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Morita, Akio. ''Made in Japan'' Dutton, 1986 {{ISBN|0-451-15171-2}}
* Morita, Akio. ''Never Mind School Records'' (1966) {{ISBN|4-02-260415-8}} in Japanese
* Morita, Akio (Co-Author) and Shintaro Ishihara. ''The Japan That Can Say No'' Simon & Schuster, 1991 {{ISBN|0-671-75853-5}}, {{ISBN|4-334-05158-8}} in Japanese

==External links==
*{{Wikiquote-inline}}
*{{Commons-inline}}
*[https://akiomorita.com/en/ Akio Morita Library]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080306071650/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989790,00.html ''Time magazine'', AKIO MORITA: Guru Of Gadgets]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010128213800/http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/morita1.html ''Time Asia'', Time 100: Akio Morita]
*[http://www.sony.com/SCA/press/morita_bio.shtml Sony Biographical notes]
*[https://www.pbs.org/transistor/album1/addlbios/morita.html PBS notes]
*[https://biography.yourdictionary.com/akio-morita Akio Morita Facts]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Masaru Ibuka]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title= Chairman of [[Sony]]|years= 1976–1994}} 
{{s-aft|after= [[Norio Ohga]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sony Corp}}
{{IEEE Founders Medal}}
{{Asian of the Century}}
{{International Emmy Directorate Award}}
{{Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Japan|Biography|History|Business}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morita, Akio}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century Japanese businesspeople]]
[[Category:Japanese company founders]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure]]
[[Category:People from Nagoya]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Tokyo]]
[[Category:Sony people]]
[[Category:Osaka University alumni]]
[[Category:International Emmy Directorate Award]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy officers]]
[[Category:Japanese industrialists]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Japan]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in electronics]]
[[Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods]]