Konosuke Matsushita “With a Heart Willing to Learn, the World Becomes Your Teacher”—Stories Behind Panasonic History Episode 06

Here, we share episodes about Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of the Panasonic Group, from our company’s historical records. In this episode, we look at Konosuke’s first trip abroad, when he visited the United States of America.

On January 18, 1951, a plane carrying Konosuke Matsushita took off from Haneda Airport, its destination the US. Leaving behind the difficulties of post-war Japan, he immediately turned his eyes to the wider world. For Konosuke, then 56, it marked his first overseas visit.

Before his departure, on January 6, Konosuke told the Annual Management Policy Meeting at Matsushita Electric (the predecessor to today’s Panasonic Holdings).

“At last, the time has come for us to genuinely follow our wishes and take action. I want to see us take our management approach so far back to the drawing board, and to rebuild Matsushita Electric with a global outlook. To swiftly achieve this result, we should approach management with the mindset that Matsushita Electric has just begun again as a business today. With the attitude of starting a business afresh will come humility and passion, and this will reveal the best aspects of Matsushita Electric’s traditions.”

Continuing, he went on:

“I will soon visit the US. It is important that I learn from the world’s most advanced management methodologies and come up with more reasoned policies. I will also work to ascertain products that can be exported or technologies we should be introducing. I believe I will return with a bountiful harvest, and I leave full of that expectation.”

The employees in attendance were taken aback by Konosuke’s announcement, given his lack of travel experience or English ability.

While Konosuke had intended to spend a month in the US, it eventually became three months. The 16 letters he sent back to Japan from his visits across the US were published in the company newsletter as “Letters from America.” The letters are evidence of his awareness of a range of issues.

• Electrical appliances are commonplace. We have to make the same advances in Japan and improve people’s lives.
• To export products to the US, we will need to establish a brand reputation.
• The rebuilding of Matsushita Electric will need to be centered on New York.
• Having two days off a week will play an important role in future management.
• The entry into working life of women is remarkable, Japan should also have the kind of society where women can play an active role.
• If we can learn from the US, Japan’s future will be much brighter.

In his final letter from the US, he asked, “Who will be the ones to bring about the future we are due? It must be us, the Japanese, ourselves. In that spirit, let us make this year a big one.”

During his first visit abroad, Konosuke got a real sense of the difference between Japan and the US seen through the prosperity of the latter’s society and the overwhelming technological differences between the two in the field of electronics. His belief that there was a lot to learn from the US led in to various developments: the setting up of design divisions^*1 in 1951, conclusion of a technical cooperation agreement with Philips^*2 in 1952, establishment of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (MECA) in 1959, and establishment of a five-day work week in 1965.

Konosuke set out his desire, “I want Matsushita Electric to take the lead in making lives in Japan richer as soon as possible.” To that end, and with a great deal of foresight, he began to incorporate what he had learned in the US into management.

*1: Konosuke had recognized that design was an effective means of improving product value, and set up in-house design teams at a time that was large unheard of in Japan.

*2: As Konosuke later explained, “The technical cooperation agreement was not to help Matsushita Electric develop, nor to make Konosuke Matsushita famous, it was born out of a desire to quickly make Japan’s electronics industry world-class.”

Konosuke said that, “With a heart willing to learn, the world becomes your teacher.” Thirty years later, in January 1981 and at the age of 86, he announced a plan to relocate to the US for one year, stating, “I want to bring back my youthful enthusiasm, revisit our founding philosophy, and start from square one in the US,” which once again shocked employees. Opposition to this idea meant that it did not happen, but with his doctor he was able to go back to the US for two weeks. This was to be Konosuke’s final overseas visit.