Is Progress more Important than Tradition?
Princess Diana wearing a Sony cap when she opened a Sony factory in Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan, 1982
The man that made Japan known for Quality.
Technology and culture have always overlapped. Electronic devices and services directly shape the way society consumes music, movies, and arts in general. Consumer Tech often reflects and influences cultural norms and behaviors. However, it hasn’t always been this way. Before the end of World War II in 1945, most technologies were meant for military purposes. One company has been more than instrumental in bringing modern technology to the masses: Sony. The Japanese company emerged right after the war, in a deeply wounded and weakened Japan. At the time, the country was known for cheap copycat products, and the economy wasn’t what we know of the land of the rising sun.
But Sony’s emergence as a technological powerhouse in the postwar era is a testament to the vision of its founders, such as Akio Morita. Sony had a vision bigger than any other company at the time: making Japan known for quality; a purpose larger than just Sony itself. Morita’s ambition to redefine Japan's global image as a beacon of innovation and quality was not only revolutionary but transformative. This shift didn’t occur in a blink of an eye, as it raises a broader dilemma juxtaposing progress and the preservation of identity. Japan remained deeply rooted in traditions and its rich cultural heritage. Progress represents an imperative for economic recovery, but it can also threaten traditional values and practices.
As technology continues to accelerate, the rapid pace of change can supplant the old and create a sense of displacement. This raises important questions about what aspects of tradition should be maintained and how they can be integrated with new technologies to enrich rather than diminish cultural identity. Sony's story is a small piece of this larger debate.
Akio Morita: The Godfather of Consumer Tech
Akio Morita, photograph by Kazumi Kurigami
In this modern era, we often praise companies and tech founders such as Steve Jobs and Apple, or even Jeff Bezos and Amazon, for their amazing products or the way their companies streamline the manufacturing process or manage their employees. However, it’s important to recognize that Akio Morita’s philosophies and practices laid the groundwork for the modern tech industry, making him a blueprint for subsequent generations of entrepreneurs. Steve Jobs himself even stated there wouldn’t be an Apple if it wasn’t for Sony.
Masaru Ibuka
Despite being a pioneer in the tech world, Morita came from a traditional family of Sake, Soy sauce, and Miso producers, which had been in the business for over 300 years before his birth. However, Akio chose to study and pursue physics instead. In 1946, along with Masaru Ibuka, they established Sony and started manufacturing rice cookers, which began to gain popularity in Japan. Sony’s attempt was a failure as the rice wasn’t cooked properly, and the devices were clunky, primitive, and not well-received. They quickly shifted towards something new and different: the transistor radio.
The company gained recognition for creating the first radio with transistors in 1955, miniature gates that can either let electricity flow or stop it. This allowed the device to be portable and fit into a pocket. Before them, transistors were primarily used for military purposes. This feat propelled Sony to new heights, resulting in the creation of even more revolutionary and higher quality products for the masses.
Akio Morita in Sony uniform, via Toutiao
The company went from making frail all-transistor portable TVs in the early 1960s to manufacturing one of the first and highest-quality color televisions on the market, the Trinitron. During that same period, the Japanese brand also produced a tape recorder. It represented a significant milestone in the evolution of portable audio recording technology. While not the first portable reel-to-reel recorder to hit the market, the TC-50 set itself apart through its compact design, exceptional build quality, and reliability. Its legacy was cemented when NASA selected it for use during the Apollo missions, underscoring its technological prowess.
Sony’s influence transcended the Japanese realm and adopted new business models to scale the company and streamline the manufacturing process of their creations.
Can progress and tradition coexist?
Sony’s first Discman, 1984, photograph by Sony/Getty Images
Current generations often associate Sony with the Walkman, the first portable cassette player released in 1979, which revolutionized personal music listening. Furthermore, Sony was pivotal in popularizing personal video recording through portable camcorders, leading to the widespread adoption of camcorders by the general public. They took another major step forward by co-creating a new format to store music on and later videos and pictures: the CD (compact disc). Sony became crucial in sharing and spreading culture through their different ventures and devices. This convergence between music, film, and digital electronics positioned Japan as a leader in the tech space and anchored in a cosmopolitan world, as their products were loved by foreign markets, especially the United States.
Akio Morita led Sony to become the first Japanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961. They particularly targeted the growing American middle class that increasingly consumed more during the postwar era. The American economy was also soaring at the time, allowing Sony to thrive globally by adopting efficient American business models. However, such strategic moves drew criticism from Morita's own people, who reproached Sony's adoption of new Western ways and its pursuit of progress. Some feared the "electronic noise," redirecting the attention of end users or even Japanese companies' focus toward foreign activities, far from their identity and values.
Nevertheless, Sony succeeded in revamping and elevating Japan to another level. The brand became a source of inspiration for other Japanese brands as well, and the country started being regarded as a beacon of quality and innovation, besides becoming an economic superpower. Sony's technological advancements also paved the way for documenting and archiving Japanese culture. Their progress was an opportunity to redefine and enrich cultural identity.
19th-century illustration representing Kimono-clad women participating in a Japanese tea ceremony by Toshikata Mizuno, photograph by Bridgeman
Today, Japan is well-known for its soft power. The rest of the world is familiar with their ancient traditions such as the Tea Ceremony because technology allows people to experience them without physically moving. People from all around the world watch anime, listen to J-Pop, wear Japanese brands and want to visit the country’s temples. On another hand, Morita states that Japanese have the faculty to context-switch, meaning it’s easy for them to embrace progress and technological advancements while conserving their identity and old ways. Not only did other giant car manufacturers and tech multinationals, such as Nintendo, Toyota, Nissan, or Toshiba, believe in his philosophy of embracing a globalized and modern world, but they also understood the higher purpose Akio Morita was trying to establish while keeping their culture and traditions.
Japanese values are aligned with humility, kindness, peacefulness, and serenity. Today, Japan as a whole is still seen as such, meaning they have retained their authenticity despite the ever-evolving world of technology. They represent the best example of balance between old and new without fully overlooking one side. This may be the reason why the country is home to over 5000 museums, ranging from historical to futuristic types.
Time magazine cover featuring Sony’s visionary founder Akio Morita in 1971, via Time Magazine
Today, Japan stands as the most exciting cultural and technological hub in the world. The juxtaposition of the old and the new in Japan complements each other and sparks the curiosity of millions of tourists every year. Thanks to technology, the world has become familiar with Japan's spiritual concepts like Wabi-Sabi, Ikigai, or even Kaizen.
In Sony's case, the company's success demonstrated that progress and tradition are not mutually exclusive. Sony's innovations, from the Walkman to the PlayStation, did more than just redefine industries; they also influenced global culture, changing how people interact with music, games, and each other. These devices became cultural icons, blending technological progress with a design aesthetic that often paid homage to simplicity and elegance, principles deeply ingrained in Japanese tradition.
Morita infused the perfect balance between tradition and innovation as he came from a traditional family of sake brewers and advocated for embracing the globalized world through technology.
The question of whether progress is more important than tradition is perhaps less about choosing one over the other and more about finding a harmonious balance that allows for the coexistence and mutual enrichment of both. One sure thing is, 'to understand your future, you must know your past.’