On August 24, 2022, Kazuo Inamori died at the age of 90. Described as a Japanese tycoon, he founded the Inamori Foundation in 1984.
This foundation has awarded the Kyoto Prize annually since 1985. The Kyoto Prize is an international award to honour those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of humankind.
The activities of the Inamori Foundation reflect the lifelong beliefs of Kazuo Inamori that people have no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of humankind. The future of humanity can be assured only when there is a balance between scientific development and the enrichment of the human spirit.
A tycoon is a businessperson of exceptional wealth, power, and influence. The billionaire Kazuo Inamori began his career as a chemical researcher for Shofu Industries in Kyoto, Japan. He and some colleagues started Kyoto Ceramic (later Kyocera) in 1959.
The company manufactured high-frequency insulator components for television picture tubes for Matsushita Electronics Industries (later Panasonic), silicon transistor headers for Fairchild Semiconductor, and ceramic substrates for IBM. At age 77 he become CEO of Japan Airlines, rescuing it from bankruptcy, and leading it to become the second argest airline in Japan.
His management philosophy is if staff are happy, they’ll work better, and earnings will improve. Kazuo claimed that companies shouldn’t be ashamed to make profits if they’re pursued in a way that benefits society.
Tycoon derives from the Japanese word taikun. Taikun is an old Japanese term of respect for a ruler who did not have imperial heritage.
The taikun was a diplomatic title in the mid 1800s for the Shogun of Japan, who was not the emperor but the de facto ruler of Japan. When the United States forced Japan to open full commercial and diplomatic relations with the West in 1854, the actual power in the island nation was the Shogun.
Officially only a military deputy of the emperor, the seii-taishōgun (barbarian-subjugating military leader), Tokugawa Iesada, controlled the imperial court at Kyoto and ruled the country. Foreigners thought that the Shogun was a sort of secular emperor.
Townsend Harris, the first American consul to Japan, got the idea that the Shogun's title was taikun, spelling it tykoon.
Tycoon became popular in America immediately before and during the Civil War (1861-1865) as an idiom meaning “top leader.” John Hay, President Lincoln's personal secretary referred to Lincoln as The Tycoon.
The term tycoon faded from use after Lincoln’s assassination. However, it was revived in 1920s journalism as a term for a prominent figure in a particular industry who has amassed substantial wealth and power.
Tycoons have traditionally been associated with steel production, railroads, oil, and mining, but modern tycoons have been now associated with technology and Internet companies.
A tycoon is generally considered to be someone with a dominant or even monopolistic power within their industry. Just having great wealth does not imply a tycoon. A billionaire is simply someone whose net worth is over one billion dollars.
There are many billionaires who do not dominate one industry in the same way that a tycoon does. Bill Gates, for example, is currently a billionaire, but no longer a software tycoon.
Kazuo Inamori illustrates an important role of a tycoon; using material gain to enrich the human spirit, not oneself. “With great power comes great responsibility,” is attributed to Uncle Ben in the Spiderman comic books.
This phrase echoes the Biblical story of the Parable of the Faithful Steward in Luke’s Gospel. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) We can all learn to use the gifts each of us have been given or acquired to enhance the human spirit not just to enrich our own lives. This was the original intent of human existence.
