Episode 04 Notice of Employment from Osaka Electric Light Company

Here, we share the founder’s thoughts and relevant stories available in our company’s historical records.

In 1910, in anticipation of the beginning of the era of electricity, the founder joined the Osaka Electric Light Company (currently Kansai Electric Power Company) at age 15. He worked hard and distinguished himself, leading a fulfilling professional life through engaging in such work as the wiring for Osaka's iconic Tsutenkaku Tower, which was built in 1912 and modeled after the Eiffel Tower. Later, he was promoted to inspector at age 22, the youngest person to attain such a position within the company at the time. The founder looked back on the joy this promotion gave him by stating, "I felt as if a paradise of freedom had opened up before me. To be able to decide things using one's own discretion is what makes life worth living, whether the matter is minor or important." It is safe to say that this formative experience led him to employee entrepreneurship, which he frequently talked about in later years. People find a rewarding sense of satisfaction from work, which can then become their motivation in life, only after making their own creative efforts rather than doing the work as instructed. The founder wanted Matsushita Electric employees to also feel the joy he felt at the Osaka Electric Light Company.