Written by Sage | May 7, 2026
The year is 1946. There were two guys. One, an engineer and the other, a physicist. The two founded the company.
Akio Morita: January 26, 1921 – October 3, 1999. He was born in Nagoya, Japan. He is the oldest of four siblings. His family was involved in the production of sake, miso and soy sauce. His father trained him as a kid to take over the family business. Akio, had other plans and found his calling in mathematics and physics, and in 1944 he received a degree in physics, at the University of Osaka Imperial.
Masaru Ibuka: April 11, 1908 – December 19, 1997. He was born to an architectural technologist and the first son of his father. His ancestral family were chief retainers of the Aizu Domain. Early in his life, he would tragically lose his father, so his grandfather took him in. Later, he would move to Kobe, when his mother remarried. When he moved to Kobe, he was enrolled in a Boys’ School. Where he passed the entrance exam and was very happy about the success. In, 1933 after graduation from Waseda University he would work at a photo-chemical laboratory, the company specialized in the process of movie film. Later, he would serve in the Japanese Navy. In 1945 he left both the company and the navy.
Now that you know of both of their early life and education. Let’s move onto the part you have been waiting for. The birth of “SONY”.
It all started in 1946, as a radio repair shop, in a Bombed out Shirokiya Department Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. By Masaru Ibuka. The same year in 1946, a researcher, Akio Morita, saw an article in the newspaper about Ibuka’s new business venture and decided to join him in Tokyo. They would co-found Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation with funding from Morita’s father. Which in 1958 would become known as Sony Corporation.
Fun Fact: Do you remember or heard of, The “Walkman”? Yes? No? It was created by Masaru Ibuka, because he wanted to listen to music on long flights. He would then ask the company’s engineers in 1979 to make him a portable music device. The company’s engineers accomplished his vision, by modifying a portable tape recorder. He liked it so much that he passed it to the company chairman Akio Morita, who decided to manufacture it.
Thank you for tuning into another one of my blog’s.
Stay blessed and always remember to focus on your goals.
