As many of you will have seen from the extensive media coverage, on July 1st, Walkman® celebrated its 40th anniversary. This August also marks the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of Sony Prudential Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (currently Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.). Then in September, it will be 20 years since the launch of Sony Assurance Inc., and exactly 30 years since Sony announced the acquisition of Columbia Pictures. In this way, 2019 is a year of major milestones for many of the companies that symbolize Sony's diversity. In this blog, I would like to look back on these important milestones while touching on the company's direction moving forward.

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■ Walkman® 40th Anniversary

On July 1st, 1979, Sony launched the first Walkman® portable stereo cassette player, TPS-L2, a dedicated playback device with no recording function. The original model, priced at 33,000 yen (approximately $300), was outside my price range as a university student at the time, and I was unable to purchase one, but I became a Walkman® user beginning with WM-101, the first model to adopt a "gum stick"-like rechargeable battery.

WM-101

The initial idea for the development of Walkman® came about when Ibuka-san, the founder of Sony and a frequent business traveler, requested a light, portable stereo player so that he could listen to music in flight. This went on to became a product that created an entirely new lifestyle of allowing people to enjoy their favorite music anytime, anywhere. The fact that Walkman® is so beloved all around the world even after forty years, and holds such memories for so many people, is nothing short of remarkable.

I look forward to everyone working in our audio business, including Walkman®, continuing to build on the strong foundations the Walkman® brand has established, to drive the further growth and evolution of this business. At the same time, I want to work alongside all of you to create many more such iconic products, services, and content that will ensure we remain a beloved brand for creators and users all around the globe.

■ Sony Life 40th Anniversary, Sony Assurance 20th Anniversary

August 10th will mark the 40th anniversary since Sony and Prudential Financial first entered into a joint venture. I have often spoken of how Sony's direct to consumer (DTC) business has its origins in Sony Life Insurance, and its life insurance specialists called "Lifeplanner," who drive the company's business. In one of my previous blogs, I shared my experience speaking at the Sony Chapter of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), comprised of high performance Lifeplanner sales employees from Sony Life Insurance who exceed certain industry defined performance criteria. Sony Assurance is another pioneer of Sony's DTC services, and in this 20th anniversary year, they have expanded their business, having exceeded two million contracts in direct automobile insurance for the first time.

At the Sony Chapter of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

As one of the businesses at the forefront of our DTC offerings, I hope that everyone in the Sony Financial Group, including Sony Life and Sony Assurance, will strive to get even closer to people (users) by further strengthening collaboration with the Sony Group's R&D teams, and continuing to leverage the advanced technologies such as AI and data analytics that we possess within the Sony Group. I am confident that by doing so, we can generate new customer value.

■ Sony Pictures 30th Anniversary

Finally, this September will be the 30th anniversary since Sony announced the acquisition of Columbia Pictures. Some of you may remember the impact of the ground-breaking news that a Japanese company was acquiring an iconic Hollywood film studio. There is actually a very precious video of one of the founders of Sony, Morita-san himself speaking on the reasons behind the acquisition of Columbia Pictures, as well as Sony's entry into the music business previously through the 1968 joint venture with CBS Records, so I would like to take this opportunity to share his valuable words with all of you.

■ Harnessing the Power of One Sony to Turn Our Diversity into Strength

On July 11th and 12th, we held this year's U.S. Business Meeting at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in Culver City. The theme of this meeting was "New Value Creation as One Sony," as a continuation of our discussions at the Management Conference in May. As all of you are aware, Sony has many diverse businesses, but a diverse business portfolio in and of itself is not a differentiator. Our strength lies in the fact that each of our businesses are world-class, and the potential we have in creating new value working together.

At the US Business Meeting dinner, celebrating SPE's 30th anniversary

Throughout its history, Sony is a company that has brought together diverse and talented individuals, and grown its business into many different areas. And our most important and valuable asset is the Sony brand, which has been built up over the years through the efforts of everyone in all of these businesses, and has come to be so beloved and trusted by people around the world. The recently published One Sony Report highlights some of the outstanding initiatives that are being carried out to further strengthen our brand, and generate synergies and new value across the Sony Group, so I encourage everyone to give it a read. I look forward to your continued support so that we can turn Sony's diversity into our strength and unleash the power of One Sony.