Kazuo Inamori Studies
Biographies and Critical Studies
Explore a selection of prominent biographies and critical studies of Kazuo Inamori.
A Boy's Dream: The Origins of Kazuo Inamori's Vision
| Title | A Boy's Dream: The Origins of Kazuo Inamori's Vision |
|---|---|
| Author | Katsumi Kato |
| Publisher | Shuppan Bunka Sha (*First edition published by Gendai Sozosha) |
| Year of Publication | Revised in 2004 (*First edition published in 1979) |
| Format | Shiroku-ban (127 × 188 mm), paperback, 437 pages |
| List price | 1,524 yen (excluding tax) |
|
ISBN |
9784883382958 |
|
Language |
Japanese |
Description
This is the first biography of Kazuo Inamori. Journalist Katsumi Kato's detailed reporting meticulously records Inamori's life trajectory from childhood to his 40s, including his establishment and leadership of Kyocera.
The first meeting between Kato and Inamori occurred during an interview for the magazine Economics and Culture (November 1975). After October 1978, Kato rented a reception room at Kyocera headquarters in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto, and conducted careful interviews with Kyocera employees, in addition to directly meeting with Inamori's parents, brother Toshinori, and friends from his youth in Kagoshima. About 90 people were interviewed, with handwritten transcripts filling ten notebooks.
In the afterword of the revised edition, Kato states, "The period during which I conducted these interviews was the last time it was possible to view Kyocera from the first-person perspective of 'Kazuo Inamori and his gang.'"
Upon the first edition's publication in 1979, Inamori contributed a preface titled "To Young Readers."
Table of Contents
- Part 1: A Coward Jumps Over the Ditch
- Crybaby
- Illness and the Mind
- Burnt Ruins
- Leaving Home
- Shofu
- Part 2: Men Running Fast
- Destiny
- Flow
- Betting and Transformation
- Warning
- Crisis
- Madness
- Dreams
Without Evil Thoughts: Kyocera Founder Kazuo Inamori
| Title | Without Evil Thoughts: Kyocera Founder Kazuo Inamori |
|---|---|
| Author | Yasutoshi Kita |
| Publisher | Mainichi Shimbun Publishing (paperback: PHP Institute) |
| Year of Publication | 2019 (paperback: 2022) |
| Format |
Shiroku-ban (127 × 188 mm), hardcover, 548 pages |
| List Price |
2,200 yen (hardcover, excluding tax) |
| ISBN |
9784620324258 (hardcover) |
| Language |
Japanese |
Description
Author Yasutoshi Kita explores Kazuo Inamori's life and career, from childhood through the founding of Kyocera and DDI, and the revival of JAL, based on lengthy interviews with the subject, peripheral interviews with related parties, and extensive research.
The manuscript expands significantly on a 110-part newspaper series originally published in Mainichi Shimbun from October 3, 2017 to March 27, 2018. New material includes the first publication of a letter to Inamori's father, Kesaichi, dated November 15, 1958, which records Inamori's struggles and achievements at Shofu Industries and his strong determination to establish his own company (Kyocera).
Table of Contents
- Prologue: An Oath Signed in Blood
- Chapter I, "King of the Playground" Finds Victory Elusive
- Chapter II, Encountering Fine Ceramics
- Chapter III, Global Ambitions: Kyocera
- Chapter IV, Challenge: Daini Denden
- Chapter V, Miraculous Revival: JAL
- Chapter VI, Altruism Forever
