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Sony engineers were earnestly working on the final stages of the 5-303. In 1962, the micro-television was finally nearing completion.
Apart from this, Sony had been busy with guests from the start of the new year. The first guest was US Attorney General Robert Kennedy on February 9. Then it was announced that the Emperor and Empress of Japan were to visit the plant on February 29. Ryutaro Azuma, the Governor of Tokyo, was to act as their guide on a tour of Tokyo Tower and other sites in the city, including Sony.
Because of the need for tight security en route to and from the plant and during the tour, the Sony staff had to run rehearsals of the tour, precisely planning and timing every minute of their visit. In the end, the visit had to be postponed, however, because the Empress came down with a sudden cold. The staff decided to run through the tour rehearsal once more to get things down pat. But the tour was postponed again. The staff from the general affairs section in charge of preparations for the tour debated the need for a third rehearsal. Ibuka and Morita agreed that twice was enough.
Finally, a month later, the Emperor and Empress arrived for their tour of the plant. Ibuka acted as guide for the Emperor and Morita provided commentary for the Empress. Ibuka kept his commentary within the allotted time, but Morita got so carried away with detailed explanations that their party began to fall behind. Often the Emperor's group had to stop and wait for the Empress' group to catch up.
The security units became uneasy, saying,  If you run overtime, we'll have to readjust all the traffic lights along the route back, so please stay within the time limits! After touring each production line, they reached the eighth floor auditorium where Sony's radio, tape recorder, television, VTR and new Chromatron color television were displayed. By that time, however, they were running overtime. The security personnel gave up.
It turned out that their Imperial Majesties returned fifteen minutes late.
The two rehearsals had not been much help.
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 | | The Showa-Emperor and Empress of Japan looking at semiconductor chips through microscopes. |
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At the climax of the tour, Ibuka and Morita showed the micro-TV set, which was still under wraps, in the room reserved for honored guests. At the time, they informed the Emperor and Empress that the set had not yet been announced to the public.
This made the headlines of the major weeklies. Emperor is Hushed Up! The article read, Sony's postcard-sized television, produced under top secret conditions, was displayed before the Emperor and Empress in the honored guests' room, while the attention of the other guests was diverted to their color TV set. Their Imperial Majesties were asked to maintain confidentiality.
With the cooperation of the Emperor and Empress, Sony's secret was indeed protected. On April 17, the TV5-303, the world's smallest and lightest micro-television was announced to the press. On the following day, the major dailies and industry papers including Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri and Sankei gave the TV5-303 a generous 3-column coverage complete with a photo. The micro-TV made a splashing debut.
Frank Sinatra was so impressed with the TV5-303, which he saw during his visit to Sony in late April, that he asked Ibuka for one to take back to the United States. Since channels differ in Japan and the US, Morita promised to deliver Sinatra one as soon as they were made to American specifications. Six months later in October, the micro-television went on sale in the US. At the time, Morita was busily coordinating the marketing activities for the TV5-303, but on the day after the sets went on sale, he went to Paramount Pictures where Sinatra was filming to deliver the television, as promised.
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