Konosuke Matsushita Museum / Aiming for reliable radio
The exterior of the museum building emulates the exterior of the Panasonic headquarters building constructed in 1933. The museum was opened in 1968 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works (now Panasonic). The Konosuke Matsushita Museum traces the historical development of Japan's household appliances industry. (For more information, see the January 2010 issue of the PR magazine pla-topia.) http://panasonic.co.jp/history/museum/
Production of radios started in 1931. They cost 45 yen in the money of the day, but this was considered quite expensive. It did win first prize in the Tokyo Broadcasting (currently NHK) radio set competition, and it was sold under the pet name "Winning Model." Konosuke Matsushita set his target as a radio that would not break down. In order to improve the quality, his belief was that without also making the parts in-house, a good product could not be made and this was the same philosophy as for material development. The point of proper control of quality through to the parts for products made by the company became legend.
