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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Kaz Hirai has recalled that, while leading Sony’s PlayStation home-console business, he sometimes went his own way when Sony executives—including then-chairman Howard Stringer—gave direction. GameObserver reported his line about the attitude: “What the headquarters says is irrelevant. We are PlayStation” (laughs). That is an English rendering of a Japanese interview, not a verified transcript.
What Hirai said about Sony headquarters
GameObserver says the anecdote came from a conversation between Hirai and Takaya Awata, CEO of Toridoll Holdings, published by Japanese business outlet Nikkei XTrend. GameObserver’s report attributes the quoted remark to Hirai and says he described going his own way when headquarters or other executives directed him. The original interview was paywalled in the material available for this report, so the Japanese wording and the full exchange have not been independently checked. GameObserver’s account is therefore the source for the English quotation, not a confirmed verbatim transcript.
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The report also says Hirai recalled visiting more than 20 countries and close to 50 cities repeatedly during his six years as Sony president. Those figures are likewise attributed to the reported conversation, rather than independently corroborated.
Which part of Hirai’s Sony career the story concerns
The anecdote is about Hirai’s leadership of PlayStation’s home-console business at Sony Computer Entertainment. “Former Sony head” refers more broadly to his later role as Sony president; the reported remark should not be recast as a description of how he managed the entire company throughout that presidency.
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Nor does the account establish the details of a particular order, a formal dispute, or the outcome of ignoring any specific instruction. It is a recollection reported by a secondary source, not documentation of a specific Sony directive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How this differs from Hirai’s later Sony-wide message
As Sony president, Hirai also promoted KANDO—the company’s stated mission of delivering emotional impact across its businesses. In Sony’s official 2018 corporate strategy speech, Hirai said, “The primary reason for this is that our mission of delivering KANDO has not changed,” while discussing a transformation he had announced. Sony’s 2018 strategy speech documents that company-wide message. Sony’s 2023 strategy materials also discuss KANDO as a company theme.
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In a later Japanese-language interview with McKinsey, Hirai discussed delivering KANDO across Sony’s businesses and said embedding the idea took six years. That is his perspective on his corporate leadership; it does not show that the PlayStation anecdote caused Sony’s broader strategy. McKinsey’s interview with Hirai provides that separate context.
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