A Breath of Fresh Air in May – Lessons from Sony’s Revival
May has arrived, carrying with it the refreshing winds and scents of early summer.
While the world remains as chaotic and uncertain as ever, this brief season—when the sun still feels gentle—is something I always treasure.
Recently, I found myself moved by a column in the Nikkei Newspaper called My Personal History(私の履歴書), where prominent figures reflect on their life journeys.
Last month’s contributor was Kazuo Hirai(平井一夫), former CEO of Sony.
Many executives tend to recount their career paths in terms of titles and accomplishments, or focus on self-congratulatory success stories. While insightful in their own way, these accounts often don’t offer much when it comes to real management philosophy.
But Hirai’s reflections were different.
Perhaps because he’s from the same generation as me, his words hit closer to home.
Sony, once the king of electronics, started with transistors and shaped an entire era with the Walkman. Even Steve Jobs admired Sony in his early days.
Yet, in its later years, Sony struggled—especially in televisions and semiconductors—falling into deep financial trouble.
What stood out to me was how Hirai, who came from Sony’s music and gaming divisions (once considered “outsider” segments), faced immense internal resistance when he became CEO. The most vocal criticism came from former Sony employees who had lived through the company’s golden age.
In a particularly powerful moment, Hirai wrote:
“To be clear, listening to former executives won’t magically lead to new strategies.
I respect the pioneers who built Sony, but nostalgia alone won’t bring it back.
If we remain fixated on the image of ‘the company that created the Walkman,’ we won’t recover or compete globally.
That was the conclusion I reached.”
Reading that, I couldn’t help but connect it with the broader economic picture today.
The global economy is trembling—especially around the possibility of a second Trump presidency.
When we take a closer look at the markets—stocks, currencies, and bonds—we start to see that U.S. dominance is fading.
Despite the confident rhetoric coming from political leaders, money tells the truth.
And people are starting to drift away from a fearful, unstable America.
As this instability grows, it will likely seep into the real economy.
Japan, in turn, will have to stand on its own two feet—economically and diplomatically.
And to do that, we need exactly what Hirai emphasized:
The courage to break from the past.
The willingness to forge a new path.
The energy and optimism to say, “Let’s give it a try.”
And the technological strength to make it happen.
This applies not just to big corporations, but especially to small and medium-sized businesses across Japan.
In a time when the world feels heavy, I was genuinely refreshed by Hirai’s words.
Like a breeze in May, they reminded me that real leadership means letting go of what once worked—and boldly stepping into what comes next.
