Born on November 27, 1894, the third son of the landlord Matsushita Masakusu in Wasa village, Kaiso District, Wakayama (today Wakayama City). In childhood his father failed in the rice market and the family fell; at 9 he left primary school and went to Osaka as an apprentice. Working at a bicycle shop, a brazier shop, and Osaka Electric Light, he was drawn to electricity, and in 1918, at 23, with his wife Mumeno and brother-in-law Iue Toshio (later founder of Sanyo Electric) — three people — he founded the 'Matsushita Electric Appliance Manufacturing Works' in Nishinoda, Kita Ward, Osaka, and began making attachment plugs in a dirt-floor workshop of two tatami mats. In 1923 his bullet-shaped bicycle lamp and in 1927 the National Lamp became huge hits, and in 1929 the company was renamed 'Matsushita Electric Manufacturing.' In 1932 he presented the 'tap-water philosophy' to employees, establishing the management philosophy. After the war the company was designated as a zaibatsu by GHQ but was released in 1950. It built the era of the 'three sacred treasures' — black-and-white TV, washing machine, and refrigerator — and led the high-growth era. In 1961, at 67, he stepped down to chairman but continued as substantive leader. He founded PHP Research Institute in 1946 and the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management in 1980. He died on April 27, 1989, at 94.