Notable Moments

Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera Corporation, was born in Japan on January 30, 1932, the second child in a family of seven, in the town of Yakushi-cho (now Josei-cho), Kagoshima City. His father was a careful and prudent man with the spirit of a craftsman; his mother, a cheerful and sociable woman. Both parents ran a home-based business manufacturing and printing paper bags.

Young Inamori was a clingy preschooler, often trailing behind his mother. He was the type of child who would cry without ceasing for up to three hours when his mother's work prevented her from focusing on him.

As he entered elementary school and adjusted to his environment, the little boy once known as a "three-hour crybaby" began to see the playground as his kingdom, spending his days frolicking and scuffling with the other kids, and taking charge of a small faction who made him their ringleader. Under the appearance of child's play, the complex human interactions and events that transpired on that playground became a microcosm of the adult world. His faction would remain unruly unless he exerted control as the boss, yet he would be met with disdain if he tried to order them around. He learned the playground code: if you lacked the consideration to share your sweets with everyone, or the strength and courage to stand up to a challenge, your followers would abandon you without mercy. The lessons Inamori learned on that playground would later prove invaluable when he became a business leader.