As an investment promoter, it comes as no surprise that my feed has been flooded with news of Kazuo Inamori’s passing these past few days.

If you’ve had any exposure to entrepreneurs, you’ve surely heard of him.

After all, Mr. Kazuo Inamori is the only entrepreneur in the world to have founded two Fortune 500 companies.

His life—from facing immense hardship and setbacks to building two Fortune 500 companies, saving Japan Airlines from bankruptcy in just 424 days, and becoming a master of management philosophy in his later years—is truly legendary.

Who is Kazuo Inamori?

If I had to sum up the first half of Kazuo Inamori’s life in one phrase, I believe it would be: defying fate and reshaping his destiny.

Born in 1932 in Kagoshima to a family that ran a printing shop, Inamori lived in abject poverty until the age of 15 due to wartime turmoil and even suffered from tuberculosis. He managed to get into a modest local university, but upon graduation, the Great Depression had hit, leaving him unable to find a decent job.

It was only through the recommendation of a university professor that Kazuo Inamori eventually joined an electrical porcelain manufacturing plant in Kyoto.

It was a company on the brink of bankruptcy, unable to pay its employees.

He considered quitting, but his family opposed the idea. Given the economic climate at the time, a stable job was hard to come by, so he had no choice but to stay.

Through a combination of study, experimentation, and work, he became a key member of the R&D team, leading a group that secured an order from the Panasonic Group and brought the company back from the brink of collapse.

However, after facing hostility from his new boss, the 27-year-old Kazuo Inamori, along with one manager and eight like-minded colleagues, left the company to found Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics Co., Ltd.).

From then on, he steered Kyocera through countless challenges, propelling it into the ranks of the Fortune Global 500.

In 1984, he embarked on another entrepreneurial venture, founding DDI (Nippon Daini Telephone Telegraph Co., Ltd.). He was 52 years old at the time.

In 2000, following the merger of NTT Second with two other telecommunications companies, KDDI Corporation was officially established. This marked the second Fortune Global 500 company founded by Kazuo Inamori.

Today, Kyocera has evolved into a major multinational conglomerate active in fields such as advanced ceramics, semiconductors, and photovoltaics. KDDI has become Huawei’s primary competitor in the 5G market in Japan.

In 2010, at the age of 78, Kazuo Inamori was called upon to take on the challenge of serving as chairman of Japan Airlines, which was undergoing bankruptcy restructuring.

Over the following 424 days, he not only turned Japan Airlines from a loss-making to a profitable enterprise but also generated an unprecedented profit of 188.4 billion yen before stepping down.

He lived in poverty amid the ravages of war until the age of 15; failed his university entrance exams during the Great Depression at 23; worked in R&D at a company on the brink of bankruptcy before the age of 27; founded two Fortune 500 companies before the age of 52; retired and entered monastic life at 65; returned to the business world at 78 to lead the bankrupt Japan Airlines to become the world’s number one carrier; and passed away peacefully at the age of 90.

With a background in technology and R&D, he achieved great success as an entrepreneur, establishing his philosophy, his way, and his people. Kazuo Inamori’s life was nothing short of legendary.

The Management Philosophy of the “Saint of Management”

Reviving Japan Airlines was not the only time Kazuo Inamori turned the tide.

In fact, during the years of Japan’s economic depression, Kazuo Inamori and his company Kyocera helped numerous Japanese firms on the brink of bankruptcy turn a profit through equity investments and mergers and acquisitions.

This is why he is hailed as Japan’s “Saint of Management”—he is not only an entrepreneur but also a philosopher.

▲ His official website even features a page dedicated to his philosophical ideas

In his later years, Kazuo Inamori left behind dozens of books, such as *The Way to Live*, *The Way to Work*, *The Way of the Heart*, and *Amoeba Management*.

However, without a certain level of life experience and basic management concepts, reading his books is like drinking a bowl of thick “chicken soup for the soul”—without a spoon in hand.

For example—accumulate good deeds and think of others.

The original text states, “With a heart of altruism and through altruistic actions, one’s fate will naturally improve.”

To simply interpret this as “good deeds are rewarded” isn’t wrong.

But if you understand that “when both buyers and sellers act with goodwill, the transaction costs for society as a whole decrease,” or that “the starting point of all business is to benefit the consumer,” the meaning becomes crystal clear.

Another example: the meaning of life and the value of existence lie in elevating one’s character and refining one’s soul.

These ideas do indeed sound rather simple.

Entrepreneurship requires storytelling, and entrepreneurs need new role models. Although Kazuo Inamori is highly revered, he might well be the subject of private jokes.

To those who are short-sighted and focused on quick gains, his “inspirational platitudes” are not a panacea; he simply succeeded in his own era.

It is only when one hits a wall in the business world that the old master’s constant reminders might occasionally come to mind.

The Core of Inamori’s Philosophy

"Chicken soup" may be a genre of inspirational literature, and while Kazuo Inamori’s journey is indeed inspiring, the core of his philosophy has never been mere "chicken soup."

In 1979, in his internal company speech titled “Betting on Technology Development,” Inamori raised a critical question: When advanced nations in Europe and America cease to transfer technology to us, where do we go from here?

At that time, Japan had risen from the postwar ruins to become the world’s second-largest economy; the trend of globalization was intensifying, and tensions between nations were beginning to ease.

Yet even then, Inamori believed that in the coming 1980s, friction between nations would only intensify, not subside.

He believed that Japan’s rise had been driven by the introduction of technology from advanced Western nations. As Japan’s technological capabilities gradually caught up, it would inevitably provoke apprehension and criticism from countries around the world.

Americans, wearing the mask of liberalism, might not turn to protectionism, but the technology transfers that had fueled Japan’s rapid economic rise would likely come to a halt.

In 1987, his prophecy came true.

The Japan-U.S. semiconductor dispute of that era bears a striking resemblance to today’s U.S.-China trade and technology wars.

It is said that in 2001, Ren Zhengfei made a special trip to Japan to seek advice from Kazuo Inamori on how to overcome “Huawei’s winter.” Upon returning home, he established HiSilicon, which would go on to achieve great success 18 years later.

Today, Ren Zhengfei is once again sounding the alarm about “cold winds.” Although his mentor has passed away, Kazuo Inamori’s philosophy will continue to influence Huawei—and indeed, the entire business world.

Kazuo Inamori, who began his career in R&D, is known for two widely embraced philosophies.

First, one must cultivate character before building a business, upholding “reverence for heaven and love for people” as the highest principle of corporate management; second, one must rely on scientific research and innovation to build a corporate moat, enabling the company to navigate the troughs of every economic cycle.

All of his “inspirational advice” is, at its core, aimed at building a talent system suited to the enterprise—it is not merely superficial “success philosophy.”

These ideas will never be forgotten.