Home > Biography > 1920 – 1973 Days of President (until 78 years old)
1894 – 1918 From Birth to Starting a Business (until 23 years old)
1920 - 1973 Days of President (until 78 years old)
| Years | Ages | Items |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 25 | The company logo and trademark which contains a letter "M" is registered. Forms "Hoichi Kai" with all 28 employees of the company (dissolved when its labor union was formed in 1946). Opens Tokyo branch office.   |
| 1922 | 27 | Completes construction of first plant in Ohiraki-cho, Kita Ward (now Fukushima Ward), Osaka. The number of employees grows to 50. Adopts a live-in employee method. |
| 1923 | 28 | Designs a bullet-shaped battery-powered bicycle lamp and starts its manufacture. |
| 1924 | 29 | Holds first distributors' meeting. |
| 1925 | 30 | Sells the bicycle lamp's exclusive right for nation-wide sale and "EXCEL" logo to Yamamoto Store. Elected to district council. |
| 1927 | 32 | Establishes electro-thermal division. Begins production and sale of electric irons and heaters. Introduces square lamps as the first product under the "National" brand. |
| 1929 | 34 | Changes company name to Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Works. Sets forth Basic Management Objectives and Company Creed. Completes the second head office and factory in Ohiraki-cho. Overcomes the recession by halving production and factory work hours while continuing to pay full salaries without dismissing any employees. (New York stock market crashes and Great Depression begins.) |
| 1932 | 37 | Establishes trading department, and begins an export business. Declares Panasonic's true mission at a celebration on May 5. Designates May 5 "Foundation Day" and the year 1932 as first year of "Meichi" or awareness of the corporate mission. |
| 1933 | 38 | Establishes division system. Starts morning/evening meeting system. Constructs new headquarters and factories in Kadoma, Osaka. Sets forth Five Principles (revised as Seven Principles in August 1937).  |
| 1934 | 39 | Founds Staff Training School, and assumes the post of president. |
| 1935 | 40 | Incorporates Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Works as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI) Reorganizes the company into nine divisions under MEI. Establishes Basic Internal Rules for all employees. |
| 1940 | 45 | Holds the first annual management policy meeting. (later became an annual tradition.). Constructs Matsushita Hospital (now Matsushita Memorial Hospital). |
| 1945 | 50 | Calls a meeting on August 16 and appeals to executive staff to rebuild Japan by restarting production of household appliances immediately. |
| 1946 | 51 | Matsushita Industries Labor Union is formed in January. (Renamed Matsushita Electric Industrial Labor Union in 1947.) Konosuke attends the opening ceremony voluntarily and gives a speech of congratulations. Matsushita Electric and 32 affiliated companies are designated "restricted concerns" by Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) (designation lifted in October 1950). Matsushita family is marked as "zaibatsu (financial clique) family" (cleared in late 1949). Matsushita labor union and sales distributors petition for exemption of company president from purge. Founds PHP Institute, Inc on November 3. |
| 1947 | 52 |
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| 1949 | 54 | Proclaim business difficulties at an annual management policy meeting. Solicits voluntary retirements for corporate downsizing and rationalization of management for the first time. Matsushita Electric debt reaches 1 billion yen, and dubbed as "King of Tax Arrears." |
| 1950 | 55 | Zaibatsu designation and other restrictions are lifted. Business starts to recover. Announces at an emergency management policy meeting that company is ready for a fresh start. Resurrects division system. PHP activities stop temporary (restarted in 1961). |
| 1951 | 56 | Declares at an annual management policy meeting, "I want to manage the company with such a mind that Matsushita Electric would start business again from today." Makes the first visit to U.S. and Europe.   |
| 1952 | 57 | Concludes a technical tie-up with Philips. |
| 1954 | 59 | Matsushita Electric takes over Victor Co. of Japan. Advocates "Rebuild Japan by Tourism" in Bungeishunju, a monthly magazine in May. Inaugurates company in-house magazine Shofu. |
| 1956 | 61 | Launches a five-year plan at an annual management policy meeting. Receives a Medal with Blue Ribbon (one of Medals of Honor in Japan). |
| 1957 | 62 | Forms National Shop Meeting. Starts a National Shop (an exclusive group of retailers) system. |
| 1958 | 63 | Receives title of Commander in the Order of Orange Nassau from Dutch government. Appears in a New York Times article, "Inventor Konosuke Matsushita." |
| 1959 | 64 | Establishes Japan-Netherlands Society of the Kansai and assumes the post of chairman. Establishes Matsushita Electric Corporation of America in New York. Appears in the Financial Times. |
| 1960 | 65 | Announces the plan to institute five-day workweek in five years. Establishes Matsushita Electric Kogakuin (a vocational school). Visits the Netherlands with his wife, Mumeno. |
| 1961 | 66 | Retires as president of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to assume the post of chairman. Restarts PHP activities at Shinshin-an (now a private guesthouse for Panasonic Corporation) in Kyoto. Becomes an honorary citizen of Wakayama City. |
| 1962 | 67 | Time runs a cover story on Konosuke Matsushita. Erects a shrine to the Great Power at Shinshin-an. |
| 1963 | 68 | Attends Time Inc. "Party of the Century" marking 40th anniversary of its founding. |
| 1964 | 69 | Holds Atami Conference with sales companies and distributors to solve the problem of flagging sales in Japan. Takes up the position of acting National sales manager to implement reforms of distribution network and sales system. Starts a management research forum. Life runs article, "Meet Mr. Matsushita.  Becomes the first honorary citizen of Kadoma City. |
| 1965 | 70 | Institutes the system of five-day workweek. Receives the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from Japanese government. Receives honorary doctorate in law from Waseda University. Announces "Dam Management" at the Kansai Economic Seminar. |
| 1967 | 72 | Announces the plan to surpass European wages within five years at an annual management policy meeting. |
| 1968 | 73 | Matsushita Electric House of History (now Konosuke Matsushita Museum) opens. Receives medal for distinguished service in culture from Brazilian government. Panasonic's 50th anniversary is celebrated. Appointed chairman of Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. Appointed chairman of the Ryozen Memorial Society. Erects the statue of Pioneer of Science and Industry.  |
| 1970 | 75 | Participates in Expo '70 (Japan World Exposition) with "Matsushita-kan." Receives Order of the Sacred Treasure, First Class from Japanese government. First English edition of PHP magazine published.  |
| 1971 | 76 | Appointed chairman of Asuka Preservation Foundation. Receives honorary doctorate from Keio University. |
| 1972 | 77 | Receives Order of the Crown from King Baudouin I of Belgium. |
| 1973 | 78 | Panasonic's 55th anniversary is celebrated. Resigns as chairman and assumes the post of executive advisor. |
