Pioneering Sony Engineer Dies at 84

By Daisuke Wakabayashi

Nobutoshi Kihara, one of the first engineers ever hired by Sony Corp., played an instrumental role in developing technologies that would later serve as the foundation for a generation of iconic consumer electronics products. He died Sunday at age 84.

Mr. Kihara joined Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, later renamed Sony, in 1947. In a career spanning nearly 50 years at the company, his work in magnetic recording and playback technologies provided the backbone for the Walkman, VCR and other Sony products.

“I am not exaggerating when I say it would be impossible to speak of the history of Sony’s technologies without mentioning Mr. Kihara,” said Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer in an internal company memo announcing Mr. Kihara’s death.

Starting from his days as a mechanical-engineering student at Waseda University, Mr. Kihara worked closely with Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka, who was a guest lecturer at the school. Once he joined the company, Mr. Kihara worked to turn Mr. Ibuka’s ambitious technological requests into reality.

Those efforts led Mr. Kihara to develop Japan’s first tape recorder and magnetic recording tape. That combination contributed to a dizzying number of products for Sony including the transistor radio and television, and the world’s first videotape recorder for home use.

Later in his career, Mr. Kihara said that his greatest pleasure as an engineer was putting a smile on Mr. Ibuka’s face by meeting his mentor’s requests. Mr. Ibuka, for his part, called Mr. Kihara “a godlike person” because of his protégé’s ability to create a handmade model of anything he asked for by the next day.

As Sony grew from a postwar start-up to the world’s biggest consumer-electronics maker, Mr. Kihara delivered one breakthrough after another, paving the way for modern camcorders and digital cameras. His role as a mentor to legions of Sony engineers earned his development division the moniker “Kihara Academy.”

While Mr. Kihara is identified as “Mr. Walkman” in some media reports, it was actually another engineer who created the first Walkman prototype for Mr. Ibuka, an honorary chairman at the time. However, the Walkman wouldn’t have been possible without Mr. Kihara’s advancements with tape recorders.

Among his many honors, Mr. Kihara was awarded a Medal with Purple Ribbon, given to individuals who have contributed to academic and artistic development, improvements and accomplishments, in 1990 by the Japanese government. And in 1982, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers presented him with the David Sarnoff Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions to electronics.

In his memo Tuesday, Mr. Stringer said Mr. Kihara once wrote, “If I were asked whether the work I did was of use to the world, I would answer ‘Yes!’ with confidence.” Mr. Stringer then added: “I must say I envy his ability to speak with such pride.”

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