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Soon after their move to the Tokuya Building in Ginza, Totsuko was asked by NHK(national broadcasting station) to convert military-use wireless equipment into relay receivers for broadcasting applications. NHK's facilities had been severely damaged during the war, as had most communication facilities in Japan. It was vitally important for NHK to repair its studios and build wireless relay receiving stations throughout the country, in order to restore a national broadcasting network. This was a top priority for Japan's post-war recovery. Shigeo Shima, who was then working in the Facilities section of NHK, was in charge of this project.
Since Japan lacked all kinds of materials and supplies, Shima thought of utilizing military war reserves. The army's communications equipment reserve, in Yamanashi Prefecture, included many "Ground-2" air-search short- and medium-wave wireless receivers with plug-in coils. Shima obtained these receivers from the government, promising to "use them for Japan's peaceful reconstruction."
Shima had a good reason to ask Totsuko to repair and remodel the "G-2" receivers. At that time, almost all Japanese companies in the telecommunications industry were working exclusively on restoration of telephones in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications. There were a few companies working on wireless equipment, and these were strictly bound by rigid contracts and could not adapt quickly to any design changes. Besides, the cost was very high and NHK's budget was limited. But Shima was sure that Ibuka's company could do the job. This became Totsuko's first connection with NHK.
At that time, Totsuko's employees enjoyed their lunchtime more than anything else. While it is natural for a company today to provide a cafeteria, in those days food was so scarce that it was rare for any company to serve rice. Totsuko's lunches were prepared at their Ginza office, put in rucksacks and carried on crowded trains to the factories in Kichijoji and Mitaka. When lunchtime neared, workers would take out their own side dishes and wait impatiently, frequently poking their heads out of the factory windows, wondering when their rice would arrive.
The work environment at Totsuko was healthy and its business with NHK and the government was going well. But just when Totsuko was beginning to realize a steady profit, the owner of the factory in Kichijoji began pressuring the company to leave -- he said he planned to begin production work himself. Perhaps the real reason had to do with electricity. At that time, electricity would be cut off when consumption exceeded the allowed quota. Since Totsuko's employees worked day and night, not caring about such restrictions, the factory owner feared that his own power would be cut off.
It was inconvenient for the company to have factories and offices in three different locations spread far from each other. This also made the company incur higher operating costs. So Ibuka and Morita began looking for another place to rent, a place big enough for everyone to work together.
It was at the end of 1946 when Ibuka and Morita began their search. Because the company had sold its only truck, a used Datsun, Ibuka and Morita had to make their search on foot during the increasingly cold nights.
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In front of the Gotenyama factory (From left to right: Akira Higuchi,
Kazuo Iwama, Masuru Ibuka, and Akio Morita). |
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After a long search, they finally found a location at Gotenyama, in Shinagawa. It was a building which had been used by Nippon Carburetor Co., Ltd. as a warehouse. (This incidentally is the same location as Sony Corporation today.) Although the factory building was very shabby, everyone was happy that they could now, for the first time, all work together.
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