ABSTRACT
Sony Corporation assumes a unique place in the assemblage of global media giants. It owns one of the six major motion picture studios and is one of the three dominant corporations in the music industry, and it is the lone corporation that belongs to both of those groups. The launch of the Sony Corporation can be traced back to post-war Japan, but the relationship on which it was built was formed during the bombing of Tokyo in March 1945. Sony is a multinational conglomerate with operations around the world but, despite the fact that more of its shareholders are outside Japan than within, its Japanese home impacts on corporate governance and strategic planning. The cultural profile of the Sony Corporation remains more ambiguous than with other media giants, not tied to a specific nation or product. The trans-Pacific nature of Sony complicates the analysis of its cultural impact and embedded ideologies.
