“Make Products that Others Want to Imitate”

Even after his success as a business entrepreneur, Tokuji’s passion for making things never declined. With the same passion he brought to creating with his own hands the Tokubijo belt buckle, the Sharp Pencil, and the crystal radio, he always kept a watchful eye from a developer’s perspective and was there to help the engineers on TVs, solar cells, electronic calculators, and microwave ovens. Tokuji’s most famous words are: “Make products that others want to imitate;” in other words, popular products that sell well. He saw being imitated by others would be effective advertising and thought that it would expand the market. He also said, “Imitation creates competition, raises the level of technology, and eventually leads to social development.” Because manufacturers in the vanguard will always be chased from behind, they must never be satisfied with the status quo and always think about what comes next. However, his thinking was that, if one develops something that is even better and tries to put out products that are always imitated, in the end, it would lead to the development and growth of his company.