Inamori's first book, "Elevate Your Mind and Expand Your Business," was published in 1989. Since then, he has authored 42 publications and co-authored 18 others, with translations in 19 languages. Inamori is the creator of the Amoeba Management System, a "management by all employees" approach that has been implemented by approximately 700 companies, including Kyocera and KDDI -- as well as Japan Airlines, where he led a successful financial turnaround as an unpaid volunteer from 2010 to 2013.
In 2015, when Inamori's titles reached the 10-million-copies milestone, almost half were in circulation in Japan, where his companies were founded. In the last five years, as the total number has doubled, sales and readership have grown faster outside Japan. Of more than 20.17 million copies* worldwide today, about 6.62 million (33%) are in Japan and 13.55 million (67%) are in other nations. |
"A Compass to Fulfillment," one of Inamori's major works, has reached 4.32 million copies outside Japan, far exceeding the 1.37 million copies published in the Japanese market. Response from readers in China has been particularly strong, accounting for more than 94% of all copies published outside Japan as interest in Inamori's management philosophy there continues to grow.
Following are Inamori's five most popular books published in Japan and other nations:
* You can scroll this table sideways.
Title | Total Prints | In Japan | Outside Japan (China, U.S., etc.) |
"A Compass to Fulfillment" | 5.681 | 1.365 | 4.316 |
"Hatarakikata" or "The True Meaning of Work" |
1.699 | 0.294 | 1.405 |
"Amoeba Management" | 1.153 | 0.31 | 0.843 |
"A Passion for Success" | 1.056 | 0.362 | 0.694 |
"Inamori Kazuo no Jitsugaku" or "Kazuo Inamori's Practical Study of Management and Accounting" | 1.049 | 0.64 | 0.409 |
*as of October 2020