Dr. Kazuo Inamori has paid a visit to Tsinghua SEM and delivered a speech titled "Great Wisdom of Leap in Depression" on June 9, 2009. 300 people including faculty and students from Tsinghua SEM as well as professionals from business community attended the speech.

Dr. Inamori's speech was delivered on the occasion of the current global economic recession. In his speech, Dr. Inamori introduced process of establishing Kyocera Corporation and DDI Corporation (now KDDI), shared his business philosophy about dealing with challenges brought by the economic depression.

In his speech, Dr. Inamori said the business operator should keep an optimistic mind when facing economic recession, believing that "the depression gives an opportunity for growth." Dr. Inamori compared a company's development to the growth of a bamboo. As he said, “a company's overcoming depression is like a bamboo sending up a joint, and it is such a kind of 'joint' that will be the supporting force for the company to grow for the second time.“

Dr. Inamori talked about five measures helping a company go through the difficult time brought by economic depression, including all-staff-member-marketing; developing new products in full efforts; decreasing the cost in a fundamental way; keeping up a high production efficiency; and developing a harmonious interpersonal relationship. "Cherry blossoms come out in spring; it is said that cherry blossoms will be in full bloom after experiencing a harsh winter ; no matter a company or an individual, should take adversity as momentum to realize a greater leap", said Dr. Inamori in the end of this speech.

Dr. Inamori ranks as one of the great Japanese entrepreneurs since World War II, along with  Kounosuke Matsushita, Akio Morita and Soichiro Honda.

Dr. Kazuo Inamori was born in 1932 in Kagoshima. He graduated from Kagoshima University in 1955 and has received honorary doctorates from several universities in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan.

In 1959, at age 27, he established Kyocera Corporation, which has grown into a multinational high-tech conglomerate employing over 65,000 people globally, supplying a wide range of products including cellular phones and printers and copiers.

In 1984, he founded DDI Corporation, which is now Japan's second largest telecommunications network.

Using his own funds, he established The Inamori Foundation in 1984. A large endowment from the foundation backs the Nobel-class Kyoto Prizes: international awards that honor significant contributors to humanity in the fields of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy.

As an entrepreneurial visionary, his commitments include technological and social innovation, solving urgent world problems, and "contributing to the material and intelletual happiness of humanity and society."