34 years ago in TIME: Announcing its first foreign head last week was a big step for Sony. If the Dutch can produce goods of excellent quality, said Akio Morita, the Japanese could do it too.

Announcing its first foreign head last week was a big step for Sony, the Japanese electronics giant that was founded and run for years by AKIO MORITA.

A young businessman named Akio Morita made his first trip outside Japan in 1953 to investigate export prospects for his struggling little electronics…