Propaganda

The response to my three recommendations--- the pure audio renaissance declaration, the super-quality declaration, and the two-way theater declaration---has been terrific, and they are spreading strongly among people in the industry. I am extremely delighted.

Soon 40 years will have passed since I started this work, and I have been making proposals and declarations on the pages of journals ever since my younger days. My first major proposal was the "shell-attached cartridge declaration." Then in 1971 I made a declaration of "the first year of tape," proclaiming the creation of the cassette audio market, and a symposium of hardware and media makers became a regular event. My proposal for a"dealer's system component"developed into the formation of the system component market. Furthermore, in 1980 I issued four recommendations that, among other things, contributed to the birth of the"mini component "and gave rise to"high components". I continued to issue proposals and declarations in this manner because, ever since joining our company, I considered our policy of "contributing to the constructive development of the industry" to be a most wonderful idea and wanted to put it into practice.

The true value of my recommendations is that they have placed the user within the industry circle. Previously the conventional wisdom was that the industry meant the makers and the distributors. I objected to that trend and instead advocated the trilateral theory, arguing that first of all there had to be users. My understanding, which I put into practice, was that the industry consists of users, makers, and dealers.

For me, at any rate, it is the user who comes first. Accordingly, I believe that makers and dealers only exist if they are trusted by the user and that this is an eternal and unchanging truth. Therefore, a critical spirit stirs within me whenever I see industrial circles ignoring the user and becoming self-conceited, acting haughtily, doing nothing but chase after money, or falling into hegemonism.

The industrial circles must always create markets and be vibrant. They must strongly possess the foresight to look at the present from the future. That will lead to gaining the trust of users and being envied by other industries.

The kind of proposals and declarations that I have made will not become forceful unless we have the media to circulate them. The special magazines for the consumer that we issue all play an important role as propaganda for market creation, and today also they are doing well.

Quarterly Audio Accessory focuses on pure audio and proclaims its enjoyment and wonder. It is only natural that many audio fans are devoted readers of this journal. Surprisingly, Analog has many wealthy readers. They include many well-known people in Tokyo and in the regions, and when new names join the list, the circulation goes up. Collaboration with other businesses, such as Suntory and Cosina, is lively as well. The baby-boom generation is steadily returning to the Quarterly Audio Accessory and Analog magazines.

Being recognized as an existence for the creation of new markets is gratifying. AV Review, Home Theaterphile, and the Phile-web portal site are all contributing to the development of the industry and want to create new markets. Among them, the Phile-web site registered 140 million hits in the month of September, and its elevation to the 10 million page-view stage will further enhance the recognition of the proposals and declarations. I would be happy if you have high expectations of us.