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稲盛和夫（いなもり かずお、1932-2022）は、京セラ株式会社とKDDI株式会社を創業した日本の実業家。著書『生き方』は累計1,000万部超のロングセラーとなり、「経営の神様」として国内外に知られた。2010年には経営破綻した日本航空（JAL）の再建を指揮し、劇的な黒字転換を成し遂げた。
Kazuo Inamori (January 21, 1932 – August 24, 2022) was a Japanese entrepreneur and business philosopher born in Kagoshima City. As a child he survived a serious battle with tuberculosis, an experience that deepened his sense of life’s preciousness and shaped the human-centered philosophy he would later teach. After graduating from Kagoshima University in applied chemistry, he struggled to find employment before joining Shofu Industries, where he developed advanced fine ceramics technology largely on his own.
In 1959, at the age of 27, Inamori co-founded Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd. (now Kyocera Corporation) with seven colleagues and initial capital of just three million yen. Under his leadership, Kyocera grew into one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers. In 1984, he founded DDI (later KDDI) to challenge NTT’s monopoly on telecommunications, dramatically reducing costs for Japanese consumers. In 1997, he underwent lay Buddhist ordination (在家得度) at Enpuku-ji Temple under the Rinzai sect and was given the dharma name Daiwa, after which he returned to secular life to continue serving society.
In 2010, Inamori was asked to become Chairman of Japan Airlines (JAL), which had filed for bankruptcy protection. Within just over a year he led JAL to its highest-ever operating profit, and two years and eight months after joining he guided the airline back to a Tokyo Stock Exchange listing — one of the most celebrated corporate turnarounds in business history. His book “Ikikata: The Most Important Thing as a Human Being” (Sunmark Publishing, 2004) has sold over ten million copies across Japan and China. Known as the “god of management,” Inamori taught that ethical leadership and an altruistic mindset are the true foundations of lasting success. He passed away peacefully in Kyoto on August 24, 2022, at the age of 90.