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BOOK
REVIEW
OF
MADE IN JAPAN
- AKIO MORITA
With EDWIN M. REINGOLD & MITSUKO SHIMOMURA
(It had to be something different, something that nobody else was making.) – Akio Morita

Morita Akio. Made In Japan, Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, a
review with academic purpose by Paneru Abhash.

Submitted By:
Abhash Paneru
MBA 1st Trimester
Section B
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Introduction:

‘Made in Japan’ is a book written by Akio Morita with assistance of Edwin M. Reingold
and Mitsuko Shimomura. This book is an autobiography of Akio Morita and can be also
reviewed as the history of Sony Corporation. It gives an account of Morita's upbringing
in a wealthy family, the war years of Japan, the birth of Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering Corporation (later renamed Sony Corporation) with Masaru Ibuka, and
Sony's successive rise to international standing as electronics Giant.

Akio Morita was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan at January 26, 1921. He was born as
eldest son and 15th generation heir to one of the Japan’s finest and oldest sake brewing
family. He was the son of Kyuzaemon Morita and Shuko Morita. His father was a good
businessman and his grandfather and ancestors were aesthetic persons devoted for fine
arts and crafts. He got married with Yoshiko Kamei and they had two sons Hideo and
Masao also a daughter Naoko.  He graduated from 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 in the Navy's Wartime Research Committee. His Major
publications were Never ‘Mind School Records’ in 1996 where he stresses that school
records are not important to success or one's business skills and he also 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.

Plot:

The book starts with the story of atom bomb attack at Japan. The author had shown what
was going on their mind and how the each day used to be after the attack. This book is
divided in nine sections where the book starts with topic War: Survival and Hope. The
book skillfully picturize the topics dealing with Japanese History, Politics, Culture,
International relations and speaks about Japan's business relations mainly with America
and aggressive Japanese business empire-building. It gives a complete picture of the
determination, innovation and passion of the Japanese in the post war period, in simple
narration and language flow.

The most important part in first half of book starts with the gathering of twenty people on
the 3rd floor of a burned out department store building at Tokyo to establish a new
company, Tokyo Telecommunication Engineering Corporation, which was later to
become the Sony Corporation. Similarly elements of autobiography and company history
are combined on first half. Technological changes and numerous trips abroad to further
the business (As Sony was the first Japanese firm to license the transistor patents from
Western Electric) receive equal time with stories of family and friends.
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Both Ibuka and Akio were person with high interest in electronics. So, Ibuka developed a
short wave adapter that was fitted to AM Radio, which enabled the listener to hear the
short-wave radio broadcasts, the Product yielded a positive response during the post war
in Japan. As Ibuka’s objective was always to manufacture High-Tech Equipment. He saw
a tape recorder machine created by Ampex and using magnetic tape manufactured by
Minnesota Mining and 3M, when he went to deliver the Mixing unit to Japan
Broadcasting. He managed to bring the tape recorder to his factory, to give his workers
live demonstration. Except the company accountant, everyone liked the idea of going to
manufacturing tape recorders. But main hurdle was the company knew nothing about
how to manufacture Magnetic Tape. So, Ibuka, Morita and Nobtoshi Kihara made efforts
to learn how to manufacture Magnetic tape. Initially they tried using Cellophane, but was
rejected due to material can be stretched too easily twisting the sound. They also tried
using craft paper as the base onto which the magnetic coating was applied. Once they
were able to source some better plastic material, they were then able to start producing
magnetic tape of consistent quality and durability.
Talking about the second half of the book it consists of informal essays on topics such as
personnel management; the differing corporate styles of East and West; the importance of
competition; and Japan's role in world trade. Similarly he also presents how he conquered
the world despite facing various difficulties. He presents how much important is the
knowledge about marketing and business is and the experiences that he get from his
family helped him. In his journey he also explain with the flow that about legal issues he
faced and how he solved all those. In general he also represent the difference in American
and Japanese styles along with showing the technological phenomenon and competition.

My understandings and Conclusion:

In his book Made in Japan, Akio Morita has expressed a very strong view on almost
everything including his views on the world economy, the economic development across
the world and the management strategies employed by the west vs. Japan was all very
informative. This is a good book on management but also provided me deep insights into
world affairs and Japanese culture and also of World War 2. The authors chart the
mesmerizing journey of Sony, through the unsteady early stages, when neither of the
founders knew anything about manufacturing their product, to their status as a world
leader. The founders realized early on that marketing was to be as important as the
product, and so allocated resources accordingly; they also realized that the “no pressure”
sales technique was very effective, and opened a showroom simply for people to look.
Their strategy of establishing sales and marketing before expanding manufacturing
overseas made sound financial sense, as did the policy of hand picking every employee,
even when the company drastically expanded. Sony was based on the Japanese beliefs of
family business and harmony management, both of which have served it well.
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The author had written the book in a polite tone and easy language which is the most
convincing thing for the readers. Despite of the use of various Japanese language he has
explained them well. Similarly the inclusion of various photographs between page
numbers (141 to 149) made it a documentary and interesting for the readers. This book
grants a proper motivation and encouragement to young entrepreneur which is the major
strength of the book itself. Talking about weakness is he had reveal some of the illegal
activities and access of information to him after being off duty from the navy force. Also
he has narrated in brief about Ibuka who was also there with him along with describing in
brief about Sony as organization. The book's two coauthors (TIME magazine's Tokyo
bureau chief and a Japanese journalist) have done a good job of making this a readable
book while allowing the author's personality and passion to shine through.
Lastly the book “Made in Japan” helps to understand the background & circumstances
that lead Akio Morita to become a visionary, innovator & an inventor of the world-
changing consumer products. Morita was also Japan’s greatest ambassador-at-large, and a
thoughtful architect and dynamic builder of the new global economy. He could not only
dream the big dreams, he could make them come true so in my opinion AKIO MORITA
was not only a unique citizen of Japan, but also a unique citizen of the world. I am
confident this is one of the best book which I have inspected yet. People, who are
enthusiastic about History, Management or to understand the social qualification in the
middle of East and West, will all welcome the book. I would recommend it to everybody
planning to grasp the rising and headways of Japan.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The references were taken from the various secondary sources mentioned below along
with the book itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akio Morita
www.google.com
www.slideshare.net
www.goodreads.com
www.mouthshut.com
www.enotes.com
www.youtube.com