Ever since our founding, the motto of our company has been “Contributing to the constructive development of the industry.” We have faithfully adhered to this principle in our work, and it has been our code of conduct as well. If the industry does not develop, our company is not going to develop either. We must build a marvelous industry that is the envy of other businesses.
Once, a long time ago, I asked myself about our industry. What is the core of the industry? I understood the answer to this question to be products. And I reached the conclusion that the constructive development of the industry depends on product development, or market creation. That was my understanding of our industry.
In other words, I looked at the industry not from the usual perspective of “makers and distributors” but from the standpoint of “users, makers, and distributors.” Perceiving human existence to be the backbone of market creation, I fully embraced users as members of our industry. And I emphasized the time axis in market creation.
Among the expressions I coined in the process was “Tomorrow today, yesterday today.” One of my pet theories, and the starting point of my behavior, is “Success only lies in thinking from tomorrow.” This means making conclusions by predicting and thoroughly examining the future and thus reaffirms the importance of the time axis.
If I were asked whether I could forecast things in a century’s time, I would answer haughtily, “Yes I can.” After all, in 100 years’ time, human beings will still exist, and emotions and everyday behavior will not have changed.
Leonardo da Vinci wrote that water is the fluid of life on the arid earth. Just as blood rises from a lower place to the brain, so water flows from the bottom of the ocean up to the caverns of the earth, its organs, and then rushes out of burst branching veins and returns to the lower place. Water circulates constantly in this fashion.
Da Vinci described water as the driving force of all nature. The movement of water and its energy, he said, occupy the center of the universal system.
I believe that our industry and market creation today are in the same boat. The products sought by users are the water; they must be full of life. Makers are the heart of the industry, creating the products (the water), and retail stores fulfill the role of delivering products, as the fluid of life, to users on the arid earth.
Over the past few years we have been fervently reforming our business structure, and now, to borrow da Vinci’s words again, we have come to a peak in the process of circulation. I believe we are on the verge of making a powerful new step forward.
Now that the House of Councillors election is over and the twisted Diet has been ironed out, people have become more optimistic and forward-looking. Although there are bound to be ups and downs, I feel sure that the negative elements we have struggled with so far are going to be washed away. Therefore, our industry must continue to provide the products that users are craving for---in other words, a constant supply of water that never dries up.
In particular, we must hasten to regenerate the audio business, because the baby-boom generation, the bubble generation, and the baby-boom generation’s children are once again seeking relaxation in music and films. Today our industry has a wonderful opportunity to come together, deploy active marketing, and propose high-quality lifestyles.