The Miracle
The Epic Story of Asia's Quest for Wealth
Chapter One
The Radio That Changed the World
We should all join to try to make more Japans in other
parts of the world. -Akio Morita
Akio Morita was not amused. The Japanese businessman was
in a restaurant in Dusseldorf in 1953 and ordered a dish
of ice cream. Stuck into a scoop was a miniature
decorative paper parasol. "This is from your country,"
the smiling waiter informed Morita. He probably intended
to make Morita feel welcome in a foreign land, but
instead he inadvertently bruised Morita's pride. "That
was the extent of his knowledge of Japan and its
capabilities, I thought, and maybe he was typical,"
Morita later wrote. "What a long way we had to go."
At that moment, Morita was not confident that Japan
could get as far as it needed. More than eighty years
earlier, Japan had determined to catch up with the West,
yet despite all of its efforts, the Japanese were still
far behind, especially in the realm Morita knew
best-technology. The importance of technology was made
devastatingly clear to him while h ... read full excerpt from: The Miracle ebook
