The Japanese tycoon Mr Akio Morita, who co-founded the electronics giant Sony Corp, died of pneumonia yesterday in hospital, a company spokesman said. He was 78.
As the news of his death broke, the nation went into mourning for one of its major business leaders, who spearheaded Japan Inc and boosted the status of Japanese electronics abroad.
Senior politicians and business leaders arrived at his Tokyo home late yesterday to pay their respects. "I prayed for the repose of his soul," the Prime Minister, Mr Keizo Obuchi, told reporters waiting outside.
"Together with Honda, Matsushita and Toyota, he helped develop the Japanese economy as it is now, and made Sony an international enterprise," he said. "I told myself that the great man is gone now."
The Finance Minister, Mr Kiichi Miyazawa, said: "His name will go down in the world's culture history of the 20th century. He proved the high quality of Japanese technology."
Even rivals applauded his achievements. "I heartily respected him as our senior in the same circle," said Mr Yoichi Morishita, president of Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd.