Sony Hirai husband, a CEO who does not take the unusual road

TOKYO - We may unconsciously think of wearing a suit of three suitcases for executives of big companies, but Huriko Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corp., subverts the stereotype. The daily wear of ordinary jeans and sports shoes, measured by Japanese standards, Hirai is completely a 'heterogeneous', which is actually related to his early years of international experience.

Under Hirai's husband, Sony announced on October 31 that it expects to have a record operating profit for the current fiscal year ending March, which will be Sony's first-ever record profit in 20 years. Sony Corporation, Sony has successfully reshaped a balanced business model that generates profitability across a broad range of business operations from electronics to financial services.

He was tall and handsome, always smiling, friendly, and silent in his work, but behind all this was some difficult experiences in his childhood and in his student days.

It all started with his first semester of spring semester in Japan, where his father was a banker and was transferred to the United States at the time, and the family moved to Queens, New York.After a settlement there, He went to a local public school and, on the first day of school, a Japanese boy, completely non-English, was left in the classroom alone after his parents left him, recalling that he felt the indescribable loneliness.

He said most people probably would not believe it, but when he was in school, there were really three cards hanging around his neck in English and Japanese to tell the teacher 'I was sick', 'I want to go to the bathroom' and 'Please Call my parents immediately. '

Forever minority

Hirai and two children living together in a neighborhood of the same age became friends, and his mother often invited the two children to play at his home and serve them instant noodles. Hirai explained that his mother did so in order to Helping him make friends.Hui Jing and his friends spent Halloween and Thanksgiving, until the second grade, his classmates have completely accepted him.

As he slowly adapted to the American school model, he began to forget how to live in Japanese school, so he felt somewhat unwell when he returned to Tokyo for the fourth grade, when returnees like him were not as common as they are now, And perhaps for the tall, American-speaking classmate, who is close to native English, he is overwhelmed and he worked very hard to get in. But just after he was re-adapted, he went to another country.

Hirai finally found his place at the International Christian University in Tokyo (ICU) after a swing-like childhood that was later relocated both in Japan and overseas.After graduating from a U.S. school in Tokyo, he had the option to go American university.However, he thinks, after all, he is Japanese, for the time being or want to settle in Japan.

The ICU returned more than any other Japanese university, but they still belonged to the minority.Hits like Hirai, who had lived overseas before going to the ICU, were fluent in Japanese and were then referred to as' hen -Japa '(hen is Japanese for' the edge ') is the' weird Japanese ', and the other corresponds to' jun-Japa '(Jun Japanese means' pure') from the common Japanese school system. They are 'pure Japanese.' Whether they are 'hen-Japa' or 'jun-Japa', they all have their own groups in school and occasionally communicate with each other.

In those days, the ICU was one of the few pluralized places in Japan that inclusively accepted it as a 'hen-Japa' student. Hirai said he had not experienced an identity crisis because he was a bit sluggish. After a year or two, he finally resolved to live as a Japanese, saying it was a turning point in his life.

His university life was extraordinary, and he made a lot of money by translating and teaching English, which at that time nearly doubled the income of just graduating college students working in Japan.He often drove a used Mazda RX-7 sports car For a joyride, at a student ballroom he is DJing with his older friend, Jon Kabira, now a Japanese TV and radio celebrity, and Hirai recalls showing off to his 'jun-Japa' friends about complex Kanji Learn (kanji, Chinese characters written in Japanese) In fact, he learned from a special cram school for 'hen-Japa' students.

Being 'hen-Japa' is, to some extent, very much like a minority and has an obvious and huge cultural gap with mainstream society, and although they may feel incompatible with most people, they do not suppress themselves for the sake of homogenization They will not categorically reject their point of view, recognizing differences and accepting diversity, which has also become a way of life for Hirai.

Non-traditional image

After graduating from ICU, Hirai joined CBS / Sony Records in Tokyo, where he worked for various companies under the Sony Group, including Sony Computer Entertainment and became head of Sony Group in 2012.

Known for its free and open corporate culture, Sony is actually a multi-layered organization with a relatively new business in music and video games, while audio-visual equipment such as television and video cameras have a long history in the group , Is considered the company's 'facade'.

The two businesses are also culturally different: On one occasion, Hirai visited the 'traditional' business office in Shinagawa, Tokyo, where the top executives met in corporate suits that looked like light brown vests. Hirai is also dressed as usual, and for both, the other side looks altogether different.

Honda has played an even bigger role as Sony employees were largely composed of 'jun-Japa' employees, but as the company is under increasing global pressure, Huali was appointed as chief by then-chairman Howard Skinger Executive Although many 'hen-Japa' graduates hold senior positions in foreign companies, Hirai is probably the first to become the leader of a major Japanese company that has produced the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (the leading business lobby, also known as Keidanren).

Humphrams started to make big business on television and notebooks after getting out of clumsiness, and once Sony lost money when he became chief executive, Sony's profit soared to almost the highest levels in history. An in-house innovation business competition seeks new ideas from employees that have led to the creation of smartwatches and portable fragrances, and Hirai hopes to reinvigorate the spirit of Sony with all these efforts and backed up by employees who have broken the traditional mindset.

Given that Hirai is only 56, it may be too early to consider retirement, but when asked about his plan for retirement, Hirai said his goal is likely to be to participate in global initiatives such as the Global Economic Forum to improve Japan's international image, rather than focusing on domestic activities.And Sony co-founder Morita Akio has been actively involved in Japanese industry after retirement, including Keidanren's vice chairman, and his difference is that Hirai Fu seems to have decided to adhere to the ' hen-Japa 'way to spend your life.

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