Chapter 7
Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

7.1 Prof. Ishikawa’s Work
Prof. Ishikawa contributed widely to several fields as an academician, an engineer,a university president, and so on. Through the conversation of a father and his
high-school son, let us look back upon what he did.
Son Dad, I’ve heard that Dr. Ishikawa was a professor of the University of Tokyo. Is
that right?
Dad Exactly. After the World War II, he went back to his alma mater, the University ofTokyo, where he was appointed Associate Professor. According to his curriculum
vitae, during his associate professorship, he held the chair first at Department ofPetroleum Engineering, the 3rd Petroleum Refinery Engineering Laboratory in
1951, and then at the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1959. Thesechanges of the chairs were due to the reorganizing/renaming of the department. In
I960, he was promoted to Professor. He held the chair at the Fourth Course of the
Department of Fuel Engineering (renamed the Department of Reaction Chemistryin 1971) from its establishment in 1961 until his retirement in 1976. He engaged
in teaching at the Faculty of Engineering for over thirty years’ total. He was
granted the title of Professor Emeritus from the University after his retirement.
After his two-year service as Professor in Science University of Tokyo†, he wasinvited to Musashi Institute of Technology††as President, and worked there until
the end of his life.
Son What did he do at the University of Tokyo?
Dad Prof. Ishikawa taught quality control and experimental design at the Departmentof Fuel Engineering and researched quality control as well as coal sampling. He
sent out graduates including 73 bachelors, 26 masters, and 2 doctors at the†††

Science University of Tokyo: Today, it is renamed as Tokyo University of Science
Musashi Institute of Technology: Today, it is renamed as Tokyo Metropolitan
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PART III Accomplishments of Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa

University of Tokyo.
He also sent out 25 bachelors in 2 years at Science University of Tokyo. And
he had a class in the undergraduate and graduate schools, respectively, andsupervised 10 master course students as his disciples at Musashi Institute ofTechnology. It is rare for a president to supervise disciples. However, Prof.
Ishikawa strongly desired to do this and did so.
In addition to earnestly contributing to the research on quality control and bulk
material sampling. Prof. Ishikawa had a strong commitment to promote thecountry-wide quality control movement for improving the quality of the Japanese
products which had been blamed for poor quality and had been regarded as “cheap
but shoddy” at the time. Further, he regarded the national standards as animportant basis for the successful development of QC. He was devoted to
improving and administering the national industrial standardization system for thefurther development of QC. In this way, his broad contributions included various
fields.
Son What a giant he was! I’ve frequently heard that he was an authority in the quality
control field, however, I have never heard of bulk… What is that?
Dad That is bulk material sampling. It is sampling method for materials that include a
mixture of powder and such as coal, iron ore, fertilizer and so on.
Son What is the bulk material sampling?
Dad Let me see, how shall I explain it? Do you have any idea what sample surveying
is? For example, during a general election campaign newspaper publishingcompanies run public opinion polls in which they survey the percentage support
for a political party. Do you know how they take these polls? It is impossible toconduct interviews with all of the voters. Sampling is the easiest and the mostappropriate way when the entire number of those being polled is so huge. We canassume the whole Japanese percentage support with errors within plus/minus 2–3
percent only by taking a small sample such as 1,000 or 2,000 of voters as a sample
survey.
Son Are you sure of this? If a pollster asks every attendant at a support meeting: for
the Liberal Democratic Party, I think, its support percentage will go up instantly.
Dad That is the case if the pollster purposively chooses those being polled but that is
not how it is done. How do you select the 1,000 to be polled issue? A pollster
should choose them “at random,” that is to select items of a group in a random
order to obtain an unbiased estimate, often by using a table of random numbers.
This random sampling approach is required in the case of industrial sampling as
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well. For example, coal, Oh No, boys have less opportunities to see coal today, let
us take iron ore. The steel industry is very important for the Japanese economy,
but there is no productive iron ore mine at all in Japan as you know. Therefore,
Japan has to import iron ore from overseas countries. When a boat carrying ironore arrives and our importer must pay the overseas exporter for it, he must
determine how much he will pay?
Son Isn’t the price fixed per ton?
Dad Partly right. He will pay for iron ore but he does not intend to pay for water,
gravel, clay and sand, which might be included among shipping bulk. Iron ore
varies in iron content; some contain a high percentage of iron but others do not.
Then the importer needs to estimate how much iron ore is on the boat because thecontents are varied from low to high. If the entire iron ore were used for analysis,
there would be none left for making steel. There is no method other than sampling
to test using a small portion.
Son That is the easiest way to conduct sampling. Are there any problems?
Dad Yes, a key question is how many pieces you take.
Son Will the sample be as much 1,000 or 2,000 pieces as in the political supporters'case?
Dad That’s a good idea, but what do you mean by one piece?
Son Take one piece of iron ore?
Dad Things would be complicated. Iron ore is the mixture of a lump and powder; theformer contains rather higher iron than the latter. Therefore, the exporter tends topick up a lump as a sample rather than powder so as to sell the shipping bulk put
the highest price he could, while the importer might pick up more powder as asample for the opposite reason. It is not rational at all. In mathematical statistics,
we can get the necessary sample size by deciding targeted precision as an
estimation error percentage. However, mathematical statistics would be useless if
a sample piece is not rationally defined.
Dr. Ishikawa’s contribution in this area is to develop the bridge between bulk
material sampling and mathematical statistics. He introduced the increment
concept, namely, he proposed special scoops for sampling through his data-based
study of the relationship between the increment size and the sampling dispersion.
For his research, we can use the theoretical results of mathematical statistics fordesigning and evaluating bulk material sampling. (See Chapter 13)
Son How difficult it is to define a piece! By the way, what was Dr. Ishikawa’s
involvement in quality control?
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Dad Dr. Ishikawa graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry, the Faculty ofEngineering, at the University of Tokyo in 1939, as you know. After graduation,shortly after he entered Nissan Liquid Fuel Co, he served in the Japanese Navy as
an engineering lieutenant. After his two-year military service, he went back to thecompany while still on the Navy reserve. He was engaged in developing theprocess for liquefying coal into liquid fuel at the company, where he may havegone through various hardships with the line workers.
After the World War II, he returned to the University of Tokyo as Associate
Professor in 1947, where he was involved in research with the theme of brickforming from coal under high pressure. He may have intended to develop amethod to produce a strong coke at compression strength which is necessary forthe steel industry, in order to overcome the weakness of Japanese coal which is
not strongly viscous and therefore the cokes derived from are not suitable for the
steel industry. Through conducting the experiments for his research, I think, he
may have tried to make high viscous cokes by carbonizing Japanese coal and he
may have been faced with difficulty in analytic method because of the sampling
dispersion. Then, he began to study statistics, but, could not find a way to apply it
due to the very abstract mathematical explanations. At that time, he heard of
statistical quality control from his father, Mr. Ichiro Ishikawa, who was the
President of JUSE (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers) and was
appointed the first President of the Federation of Economic Organizations later.
Professor Ishikawa got his inspiration through their conversation that statisticalquality control may have been useful in his research. He visited Mr. Kenichi
Koyanagi, Managing Director, JUSE, for the materials. He agreed to offer them tohim on condition that he would lecture for the seminars in return. Eventually, toprovide the seminar, he had to study quality control. His first intention was tofurther develop his research on “brick forming from coal under high pressure” byapplying statistical methods, but it did not take too long until he got involved in
the statistical methods and became quite devoted later on. As the proverb goes, he
may have gone for wool and come home shorn. His hard experiences in the fieldworks at the Nissan Liquid Fuel Co. may have had great influence on his quality
control studies. The number of his papers and their titles might indicate his having
been very active as if in one’s native element, after his encountering quality
control.
Son What was Dr. Ishikawa’s involvement in sampling research?
Dad Unfortunately, precise stories have not been identified. After his encounter with
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quality control, he frequently visited various production plants, where he may
have found inaccurate data and realized the importance of accuracy of sampling,
analysis, and measurement methods. In Japan, this was the case in the chemical
and the steel industries when they first started quality control. He may have had astrong critical mind on practicing the inappropriate application of sampling andanalytic methods, especially in the steel industry that was the basic industry inJapan at the time. This could be considered as the starting point of his sampling
research. Only precisely analyzing a sample, it is not good enough to prepare theprecise and accurate data. The whole sampling and testifying process including
accurate analysis arid measurement must be considered. If you take an example ofcoal, the available carbon percentage of coal on a ship becomes an issue. Even if
accurate analysis of a prepared sample is implemented, one cannot obtain
available data unless the sampling process in the course of preparing sample isoperated rationally. Many researchers had already paid attention to the effective
analysis methods for a prepared sample; however, less attention was paid to thesampling process for the precise data. Then, Dr. Ishikawa might be interested insampling as the pre-analysis process. He might be interested especially in bulk
material, in which no academic research had been done. On another assumption,
he might choose coal as his research material considering the linkage with what hehad been doing so far. This is the research on brick forming from coal. Moreover,he may have considered his research theme as it related to chemistry because of
his occupation in the Department of Applied Chemistry. In addition, he may havegrasped that it is too difficult to complete a paper with such a big theme as quality
control. That was, I think, why he selected the sampling research on coal rather
than quality control as the theme of his doctoral dissertation.
Son How did Dr. Ishikawa carry on his work on quality control?
Dad Good question! He could have conducted theoretical studies of quality control
even within the universities. However, we have to go out for the field of work so
as to study items which are useful for practice. Then he started to go around thefactories which offered various opportunities. Eventually, he encountered actual
quality problems which drove him to go a further step in his studies. He also
discussed various quality issues with his QC colleagues at JUSE researchmeetings. I have heard that curry and rice was offered to the members as a dinnerduring the evening meeting. It was said that this was an incentive for the members
during the crucial time of food shortage after the World War II. He might havecarried out his studies by attending study meetings, applying quality control
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methods to the production process, making literature study, and working over his
ideas of the publications.
Son I’ve frequently heard of Japanese Quality Control. Is there any linkage with Dr.
Ishikawa?
Dad Certainly there is. It was not developed by Dr. Ishikawa alone, but he strongly
influenced a characteristic of new quality control methods in the corporate world
with his colleagues. At that time, most companies in the West left QC matters to
those who were trained as QC specialists; this is so-called professionalism. Dr.
Ishikawa and his colleagues did not think of this system as appropriate for
improving the quality of Japanese products. At the early stages, they alreadyfound it very important that all the employees such as executives, managers,
engineers, foremen and workers over all departments including manufacturing, R& D, design, marketing and general administration throughout the company wereinvolved under the strong leaderships of the top executives. They recommended
and introduced such company-wide quality control, which was developed into theso-called TQC (Total Quality Control) movement later on. In this way, Dr.
Ishikawa devoted his life to QC development. (See Chapters 8 and 9)
Son I have frequently heard that Dr. Ishikawa was “Father of the QC Circle,” too. Is
there also linkage with TQC?
Dad There Is. As I told you, the involvement of the employees is required to improve
the quality of products/services. Nothing could be done without strong quality
consciousness of first line employees at the workplace. “The QC Circle is a small
group which performs quality control activities voluntarily within the same
workplace.” First line workers were considered only in terms of just obeying what
their supervisors ordered all over the world until Dr. Ishikawa and his colleagues
started QC Circle. Their promotion of QC Circle showed many effects on quality
improvement and the great possibility of workers’ devotion to quality. Thisbrought about some kind of a revolutionary movement in the relationship between
workers and managers. Before the introduction of QC Circle, workers werecategorized the same as machines, parts, or material. Dr. Ishikawa started QC
Circle based on his belief that we should make a workplace theself-actualization-site, where workers could work with devotion and display thehuman capability of “thinking.” Dr. Ishikawa strongly emphasized the importanceof “education” so that the workers could exercise their capabilities fully. I think
you could find his idea among his frequently-heard sayings such as “Human being
is a human being” and “Quality control begins with education and ends with
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education.” (See Chapter 10)
Son Dad, at the beginning you said something standard... What is it?
Dad Well, you mean industrial standardization, don’t you?
Son What is industrial standardization?
Dad Let us take the easiest example of a roll of film and a dry battery. You know, anyrolls of film are good enough for your use, wherever you may obtain that. That is
because of the standardized size brought about international standards.
Standardization is widely used in various fields including goods such as like film
and battery, as well as methods like measurement, sampling, and statisticalprocessing, although the latter might be rather difficult to be understood. Throughstandardized sampling and measurement methods, we can analyze and utilize thedata which anyone might obtain by sampling and measuring. If the sampling andmeasurement methods were not standardized, we could not analyze and utilize thedata which are collected at the different sites, even for the purpose of a simple
numerical comparison. Steady activities like standardization promotion isnecessary to circulate scientific information throughout the world. There are two
types of standards, categorized into national and international. For example, JIS(Japanese Industrial Standard) stands for the former and ISO Standards for thelatter. Dr. Ishikawa contributed to the successful preparation of JIS and ISO
Standards for bulk material sampling, making the best use of his studies on thesampling methods. He also contributed to the improvement of the industrial
standardization systems as a member of the committees organized by the Japanese
government. The number of JIS and ISO Standards which he contributed toamounted to 62 and 7, respectively. This record might stand for quite some time
as did the one that Futabayama, a SUMO Grand Champion, set by winning 69
consecutive victories in the tournament. (See Chapter 14)
Son You are using the words “HYOJYUN” and “KIKAKU.” What is the difference
between the two?
Dad Sorry for confusing you. You may think that they are synonymous. You can findthe synonymous English words of “norm” and “standard”: those derivatives arenormal and normalization, and standardization, respectively. Today, “standard”
and “standardization” are frequently used in English-speaking countries rather
than “norm” and “normalization” are used in Latin countries such as ofFrench-and Spanish-speaking. I don’t know the origin of “KIKAKU-KA” and“HYOJYUN-KA” used since the Meiji era (1868–1912). They were probablytranslated in order to differentiate “standardization” from “normalization.” The
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distinctions people have made customarily between the two depending on thecircumstances and, moreover, the usage differs from person to person. Sorry again
for confusing you.
Son Anyway, what a great amount of works that Dr. Ishikawa has done!
Dad Exactly. His works are many over various fields beyond our imagination.
Therefore, we tend to think there would be less linkage between each dedication.
However, Dr. Ishikawa dealt with his works as if they had close linkage with eachother. Moreover, any of his contributions in each field are highly appreciated asworld-leading and distinguished works. He was indeed a giant, wasn’t he?
Son Do you know what the key to his great success was?
Dad That’s a good question. I regret not to have asked him about it. I think his researchmethod was characterized as team work, in which his colleagues got together topromote research. That was the QC Circle version for research.
Rather than theoretical research, many of his contributions were data-based
ones based on a great amount of experiments, data and literature, which needed
great efforts and took a long time. He organized teams to conduct huge number ofexperiments and analyze various data.
Those teams worked not only for the task of promotion but also for the trainingof the younger specialists. Some may suppose that he was on Easy Street. But thisis not true. While he left the precise matters to the members, he led the groupearnestly by suggesting research policies and ideas for overcoming difficulties andremoving barriers to improvement. He chaired several committees including the
JUSE sampling research committee in industry by JUSE, where he was highly
respected by most of the members. I think organization shows Dr. Ishikawa at his
best. We can easily find many countries with many excellent QC specialists, butvery few are outstanding organizer like Dr. Ishikawa.
Son Dr. Ishikawa was famous not only within but also outside home, wasn’t he?
Dad Yes, that’s right. He was widely read and well informed of the world affairs. His
works are well known throughout the world. His publications, Guide to Quality
Control and What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way (English
translation of Japanese Quality Control) are included among the best sellers. His
works could not be explained fully without international activities. (See Chapter
11, Chapter 12)
Son How are all his titles explained in a business card?
Dad That’s a good thought. Let me carry on. President, Professor, Writer, Lecturer,
Researcher, Editor, Organizer, Coordinator, Director, Chairman, Consultant,140

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Advisor, and Counsellor. These are not good enough to explain what he hadcontributed. How many in all? Will you count for me?
Son Let me see, one, two, three, 13 in all. He had 13 different faces!
Dad Interesting, isn’t it! By the way, please bring a piece of paper and a pencil? Let’s
figure his works. That’s it.
Son Great! Wasn’t Dr. Ishikawa a workaholic?
Dad Though being extremely busy, he managed his time to enjoy chatting over a bottleof whisky, playing golf, taking pictures with his family and colleagues. Some may
think of him as a master storyteller/stylist. However, I do not agree with this. In
my personal opinion, he was not a master when it came to storytelling and rhetoric.
He preferred easier words/phrases for the better understanding of theaudiences/readers rather than a needlessly decorated style or complicated phrases.
I think, he didn’t need rhetoric to express his ideas/thoughts because they werebased on his broad experiences over the years. That’s why his lectures andpublications were popular among-the QC people. We might find the same thingwith his English speeches/lectures. Though he was not so good at speaking
English, many people in the world had been moved and motivated by him. (See
Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 12)
Son How do you explain about Dr. Ishikawa in a word?
Dad Let me see. I would say “A PRAGMATIC THINKER AS WELL AS A GREATORGANIZER WITH FARSEEING WISDOM.” I suppose that the expression ofMrs. Keiko Ishikawa, “The man who lived his life many times over” fits in very
neatly. (See Postscript)
Son How was he as a professor?
Dad He did manage a lot of jobs enthusiastically, as I told you. He put most emphasison his university jobs, especially when supervising and taking care of his
doctor/master/undergraduate students. He was always saying/joking mockinglythat once one works as a teacher or a monk three days, he never resigns in his life
time. He seemed to supervise his students with his special enthusiasm and a warm
heart. His enthusiasm also appeared in his seminars after he became a university
president. He showed less interest in students cramming. I think his intention
mostly was to educate each student to display his/her abilities fully for the further
development of the society. (See Chapters 3 and 7)(Noriaki Kano)

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The Tree of Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa (Drawn by Shiro Ohtake)7.2 Prof. Ishikawa and the University of Tokyo
Professor Kaoru Ishikawa’s return to the University of Tokyo was determined
before the end of World War II, but it was only officially announced on January 18,
1947, when he was appointed assistant professor on the Third Course of Oil Refining
Engineering (led by Professor Shingo Ando), in the Department of Petroleum
Engineering at the First Faculty of Engineering. This course was subsequently renamed
the Fuel Engineering Course (1949) and the reorganization of the Department ofPetroleum Engineering resulted in the course becoming part of the Chemical
Engineering Program in the Department of Applied Chemistry (1951), before beingtransferred to the Department of Chemical Engineering (1959). With the restructuring
and expansion of the Department of Applied Chemistry in April 1961, the course wasmerged with the department’s course in explosives engineering to create the Department
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Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at Universityof Fuel Engineering. In 1971, the department was reorganized into the Department ofReaction Chemistry. Accordingly, Professor Ishikawa’s career path was as follows:
Appointed assistant professor (1947)
Third Course of Oil Refining Engineering, Department of Petroleum
Engineering (1947–49)
Fuel Engineering Course, Department of Petroleum Engineering (1949–51)
Fuel Engineering Course, Chemical Engineering Program, Department ofApplied Chemistry (1951–59)
Fuel Engineering Course, Department of Chemical Engineering (1959–61)
Promoted to full professor (1960)
Fourth Course [Applied Combustion Studies], Department of FuelEngineering (1961–71)
Fourth Course [Reaction Management Engineering], Department of Reaction
Chemistry (1971 until reaching mandatory retirement age in 1976)
Note: This article has mainly been compiled with reference to the book The Centenary of the
University of Tokyo. Professor Masahiko Munechika was also of great assistance inthe compilation of this section.

Professor Ishikawa’s Final Lecture at the University ofTokyo: In the auditorium in Faculty of Engineering
Building No. 11 (February 24, 1976)

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The University of Tokyo and Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa
Jiro Kondo
Professor Kaoru Ishikawa’s outstanding achievements in the field of quality
control will doubtless be described by many others in this memorial issue, so I would
like to focus on the active role played by the Professor at the University of Tokyo.
As is well known, the Professor was the first-born son of the late Ichiro Ishikawa,
who gave such sterling service as the Chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic
Organizations (Keidanren). After graduating from the old Tokyo High School, theProfessor entered the Department of Applied Chemistry at Tokyo Imperial University’s
Faculty of Engineering, graduating in 1939. He then spent two years in the Navy on ashort-term posting as a naval engineering officer.
The war was still going on at the time of his demobilization, and he became
involved in the design and construction of a new plant at Nissan Liquid Fuel Company
for producing liquid fuel from coal, spending the rest of the war dealing with its runningand related research.
For his graduation thesis, the Professor studied under the late Professor Naoto
Kameyama (the first President of the Science Council of Japan), specializing inelectrochemistry. He was a contemporary of such figures as Takashi Mukaibo, whowent on to become President of the University of Tokyo and Vice-Chairman of theJapan Atomic Industrial Forum. After the war, the Department of Applied Chemistry
was restructured into a number of departments, eventually being named the Departmentof Reaction Chemistry.
While the Professor was working as an engineer for Nissan, he would work until
around midnight every night, repeatedly carrying out various tests to check whether theequipment that he had designed and built was working properly. It appears that this gave
him valuable experience and understanding that chemical devices do not always work inaccordance with academic theory. This is doubtless something not confined to chemistry,
but which is true to some extent in engineering as well; at any rate, this practicalexperience gave him a rather different outlook from the academics who had remained in
the classroom ever since graduate school.
Returning to the university seems to have required a great deal of determination on
the part of the Professor who was away from research for a while. At first, he visited his
old teacher Professor Kameyama and asked, “I don’t suppose the university needs
someone like me, who left academia and has been getting his hands dirty in the field
since then?” Professor Kameyama replied, “It’s precisely those rough and ready people
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whom the university needs right now, so please do come back.” And so, Professor
Ishikawa made up his mind to return. Accordingly, in 1947, not long after the war ended,
he was employed as an assistant professor and served as a professor in the Faculty ofEngineering for 29 years, until 1976.
In around 1948, the Professor began to study statistical methods, because the data
he was obtaining from experiments varied considerably and he was unable to reach aconclusion; this in turn led him into the field of quality control.
The Professor often used to say that Faculty of Engineering students should nothave come specifically to learn physics, chemistry, mathematics, or electricalengineering. Rather, he argued, engineers and development researchers at the very leastneeded to clarify their objectives and utilize their knowledge of these disciplines asmethodologies for contributing to society.
He experienced the fierce student unrest at the University of Tokyo from 1968 to
1969 and, as a member of the Management Subcommittee on University Reform
formed during this crisis, recommended that assistant professors and professors alikeshould spend only a maximum of ten years in their posts, but this suggestion was
ultimately not translated into reality, due to widespread opposition within the university.
As this shows, if you are trying to achieve something great, there will be those close to
you who will oppose it, so it will be difficult to succeed unless you can persuade them.
One of the Professor’s sayings was, “You’ll find your enemies among those closest toyou.”
The coal sampling method that was the subject of the Professor’s degree thesis
later became an international technical standard. It was a time when the degree system
was changing and the ceremony for the conferment of academic degrees was held while
the Professor was overseas, so his wife attended in his stead; in fact, I myself received
my academic degree on the same day. Having built up this stellar record of achievement,
the Professor retired from the University of Tokyo upon reaching the mandatory
retirement age of 60. When the Professor retired, I was Dean of the Faculty ofEngineering, so I remember having the opportunity to express to him in person myregret that he had to leave.
I hope that this description of just a few of Professor Ishikawa’s achievements
while at the University of Tokyo will serve as a suitable memorial to him.
(Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo;
President, Science Council of Japan)

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Idealistic Leading Engineer
Yoshio Kamiya
I first met Dr. Ishikawa in 1952, when my graduation thesis was assigned to Prof.
Ando’s Laboratory, in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology,
School of Engineering, at the University of Tokyo, in which I was engaged in the themeof coal oxidization. Dr. Ishikawa was an associate professor at that time, and tookcharge of coal relations. He did not mention any small details about experimental
method, but responded to me seriously by taking me on laboratory visits to companies,
arranging samples for experiment and attending discussions on the results ofexperiments. Dr. Ishikawa, constantly on the move for QC at that time, managed asuperhuman schedule by traveling back and forth on the night train to the Kansai region.
I remember there were two baskets of cold soba noodles on his desk, on the day he waspresent at the laboratory. “Be an engineer,” “It is your job to foster engineers,” and “Theimportant thing is to have a sense of engineering” were his favorite phrases. His best
and brightest talent was, especially an excellent sense to decipher the core of problems
instantly, by judging whether the goal was reasonable and feasible in a short period oftime, respecting autonomy of each member in the group and looking after them at thesame time, mobilizing the collective efforts of the group, and leading the group from thefront. Efforts to try to acquire this sense, gave me courage to face difficulty in later
years of my life.
Fond memories will not end; I was strongly told, not to ruin the autonomy ofstudents working on graduation theses, by giving them small directions; I made Dr.
Ishikawa’s blood freeze by my driving at beginner’s level while I studied in Canada; I
was impressed by his power to stand his ground, by saying exactly the right thing
during a campus riot; Everyone relied on him, as a sense of good, for the 5th building ofengineering department for a long time.
I would like to pay my heartfelt respects and gratitude to him with a gentle heart
for supporting me, by devoting his valuable time, while giving daggers to me, who waswondering by a difficult steering, in the last year of my duty at the University of Tokyo.
I esteemed highly his calm and sincere attitude when he was in hospital for a surgicaloperation of kidney in the same year. What I regretted was that I did not stand in thelong queue for greetings at his conferral celebration party, because he seemed alreadytired. I never expected this would become the last chance.
I believe that Dr. Ishikawa was real engineer. After 60 years of age, I was amazedafresh by his greatness, and felt ashamed of being an unworthy student.
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Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University(Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo;
Professor, Department of Industrial Chemistry,
Faculty of Engineering, Science University of Tokyo)

Chewed out for Fielding the Professor’s Fly
Tadao Yoshida
I came to know Dr. Ishikawa in 1955, when I was a senior student of the
Department of Applied Chemistry, at the University of Tokyo, and received his “Designof Experiments” lecture. His lecture was one of the unique ones which incorporated
workplaces for understanding. I think this heritage is one of the reasons why hedeveloped “Quality Control” in Japan and proceeded with it to TQC.
After graduation, I joined the Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. I often heard of the nameof Dr. Ishikawa because the Quality Control movement was active in the company atthat time. I was secretly proud as being a person who had received his lectures. When
Nippon Kayaku applied for the Deming Prize, I had an opportunity to explain thecontents of my job. Dr. Ishikawa remembered the time I was a student, when I greetedhim.
At the invitation of Dr. Namba, I made a career transition to the faculty of fuelengineering at the University of Tokyo, in which Dr. Ishikawa was there as a senior. As
Dr. Namba got along well with Dr. Ishikawa, Dr. Ishikawa was kind to me.
I spent a good time with Dr. Ishikawa at various drinking parties. He was
big-hearted and loved drinking alcohol. After the party, Dr. Ishikawa gathered young
people and enjoyed debating with them over drinks. One proof of getting drunk was Dr.
Ishikawa spilt out “Kisama, bustard…” which he had a habit of saying, as he served in
the Navy. Dr. Ishikawa treated young people like us, in a frank manner, without
prejudice, even though he was so accomplished.
I played baseball only once with Dr. Ishikawa, which was a match between
Ishikawa laboratory and Namba laboratory. It was when he was 50 years old. Dr.
Ishikawa hit a fly ball to left. As I played left field, and caught his ball, I was scolded by
the students.
“That’s a no-no, Dr. Yoshida. You ruined Dr. Ishikawa’s hit.”(Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo;
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Hosei University)
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7.3

Prof. Ishikawa, as Remembered by Students and Staff Whom He
Supervised at the University of Tokyo

Professor Ishikawa taught 73 undergraduate students, 26 graduate students on themaster’s program, and 4 graduate students on the doctoral program (2 of whom droppedout). In addition, he was the doctoral dissertation supervisor for the following 5
candidates, serving as the chief examiner for the thesis examination.
1. Doctoral degrees following a course of study
Hitoshi Kume, A Study of Work Sampling (March 1965)
Noriaki Kano, A Study of Interaction (March 1970)
2. Doctoral degrees by thesis only
Takashi Miyazu, A Study of the Industrial Standardization of Coal and Coke
Analysis Methods (March 1961)
Toshimi Fujimori, A Study of the Industrial Standardization of Coal and Coke
Analysis Methods (February 1973)
Jiro Nitori, A Study of International Oil Classification and the Standardizationof Coal Analysis Methods in Japan (February 1975)
The fact that the dissertations of all three thesis-only doctoral candidates concernedcoal analysis is closely related to the fact that the theme of Professor Ishikawa’s own
degree thesis was coal sampling (1956). Furthermore, Masumasa Imaizumi undertook
research under the guidance of Professor Kaoru Ishikawa and was awarded a degree forhis thesis, A Study of Process Analysis and Steel Type Design in the Steel Industry after
the Professor had retired from the University of Tokyo (June 1980).
The Professor’s weekly activity schedule at the University of Tokyo had beenstandardized, as follows:Morning
08:00–10:00
Mon.
Tue.
Wed.
Thu.
Fri.
Sat.

Afternoon
10:00–12:00

12:00–13:00

15:00–18:00

Research and promotion of quality control outside the university, various committees
LectureLectureLunch with
Colloquium(Heat management)(Quality control)
students(seminar)
Research and promotion of quality control outside the university, various committees(and occasionally golf?)
Attending departmental and faculty
Away from the university
meetings
LectureAway from the university
Away from the university
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As can be seen from the table above, outside the university, at government bodies,academic societies and other organizations, and companies, the Professor was involved
in research and promotion focused on quality control, industrial standardization, andsampling, as well as various committee activities; so he certainly was not the kind of
lecturer who would always be in his office. However, one could always reach him whenneeded, via his secretary. In addition, when his turn as head of department came aroundevery four years, he was almost always in his office during the aforementioned periods
when he would otherwise have been away from the university. Moreover, at the time ofthe students unrest at the University of Tokyo in the late 1960s, some of the lecturers
had a tendency to stay away to avoid trouble, but conversely, Professor Ishikawa wasalmost always in his office, watching developments and analyzing the situation.
Outside the university, I understand that he had a reputation as quite a strict lecturer,
but I believe that there were hardly any alumni who had received a tongue-lashing fromthe Professor, as he would always try to find some good points and give students
confidence, even those who were not very good. The Professor always drew a clear
distinction between getting angry at someone and scolding them; sometimes a student
would say, “You got angry with me” and he would reply, “No, I didn’t get angry; I
scolded you with love.” The Professor and those of us he supervised would haveget-togethers several times a year. These were occasions when we really let our hair
down and some students went so far as to ask impudent questions, but the Professor
never took offence. A custom developed whereby those still under his supervision
would give a “leaving certificate” to those who were going out into the wider world. I
believe that this started the year that Mr. Kume, Mr. Takamatsu, Mr. Takematsu, and Mr.
Hirata graduated from graduate school, with those staying on giving the leavers acertificate bearing various amusing parting messages. Professor Ishikawa greatly
enjoyed this custom.
(Nobuo Ikebe)

Private Institutes in the East and the West
Shuichi Ochiai
In the last years of the Tokugawa shogunate, during the Tempou era, a rather
eccentric institute for western studies was born in the west, at Kawaramachi in Osaka. It
was founded by the great Doctor Koan Ogata. The name of the institute was Tekijuku,
named after Dr. Ogata’s pen name Teki Teki Sai. The institute produced not only its
disciples doctors of western medicine and Scholars of western studies, but also a wide
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range of splendid individuals such as strategists, servicemen, economists, politicians,
and educators. This was due to Dr. Ogata, who had the eye to see through the disciples’
aptitudes and enjoyed teaching them.
Dr. Ogata took into consideration also the disciples who were not so splendid sothat they could get by in this world in their own way. Sometimes, Dr. Ogata seemed tofavor those not so splendid disciples rather than the splendid ones. He had been anatural born educator.
Fast forward to the Showa era, the Ishikawa Laboratory was born in the east, in
Hongo of Tokyo. The teacher of this laboratory was Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, the man who
had established quality control system, the engine of Japan’s prosperity. Dr. Ishikawa
enjoyed finding out his disciples’ aptitudes and nurturing them. His laboratory produced
many splendid individuals among the disciples. Dr. Ishikawa did not disregard those notso splendid such as I, and would accept us as those with excessive irregularities. Maybe
Dr. Ishikawa’s generosity exceeded that of the teacher of the west.
When I visited Dr. Ishikawa to discuss my Bachelor’s degree thesis, he declared,“Kisama (he still had the navy tone in him), you are a kind of guy who thinks after you
begin to run, and good for learning using your body rather than thinking in your mind.
You should measure coal ash sample reduction error.”Thus my days began as if I had applied for an apprenticeship as a stoker at the
University of Tokyo. And when I finally improved an apprentice for the Ishikawa Coal
Shop, I had a vague understanding of what quality control was. Such was thesignificance of Dr. Ishikawa’s insights. Dr. Ishikawa was a natural educator like aperson who could sow seeds onto hard ground and make them grow.
(President, Yayoi Real Estates; graduated in 1953)“Doubt All Data”
Katsushi Ogawa
I first met Professor Ishikawa in May 1960, when I asked him to supervise mygraduation research; it was the year that he had been promoted to full professor. The
now-Professor Fujimori of Nagasaki University and Professor Kume, who had juststarted his master’s program, were the only others in Professor Ishikawa’s laboratory at
the time, and the lab was tucked away in a corner of the research institute. When I lookat how Professor Ishikawa’s lab subsequently flourished and how Professor Kume’s lab
is now expanding and developing, I cannot help but feel that it is a world away from150

Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

what it was then. In the world of quality control, SQC was in its prime.
The Professor would occasionally say, “Doubt all data.” I gradually came to realizethat this was the starting point not only for QC, but also for management in general, but
initially I thought that he had said a terrible thing, because a professor of the Universityof Tokyo was encouraging us to doubt rather than to believe. After joining an oil
company and going into the field, I developed my own precept modeled on his words:“When you see a valve, assume that it will leak.” I congratulate myself that this is agood observation, not only from the perspective of quality control, but also from that ofsafety management.
When my wife and I married, I asked Professor and Mrs. Ishikawa to be ourmatchmakers. When I was still a newlywed, I once got a lift in the Professor’s car to myhome in Mitaka. I think he might have been on his way home from a farewell party.
When we reached my home, the Professor told the driver to wait, as he just wanted tosay hello to my wife and have a glass of whisky before going home. It was quite lateand my wife was about to go to bed, so she emerged to greet us in her pajamas, startling
the Professor, and it was a bit of an awkward encounter because she did not have time tochange her pajamas.
Sometime later, Mrs. Ishikawa kindly said, “I’m afraid he has a bit of a habit of
intruding on newlyweds...” This “after-sales service” on the part of our matchmaker was
almost certainly also part of the Ishikawa Way. I feel a sense of nostalgia, recalling how
typical it was of the Master of QC.
(Director, Petrochemical Products Office, Showa Shell Sekiyu;
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1961)

Prof. Ishikawa and “3”Nobuyoshi Takamatsu
It was 29 years ago. There was a company in Funabashi called Asahi Special Glass(now known as Asahi Glass), which was Japan’s largest producer of cathode-ray tubes
for televisions. I had been sent there to study quality control. The first time, theProfessor took me there to introduce myself. All he said to me was, “Don’t worry about
what I might think; just say what you think. But when you see any data, assume thatthey are inaccurate.” I wanted to help in some way through my studies, but the process
was a series of consecutive procedures in which there was no scope for action, so I
thought that there was nothing that could be done. Recalling the Professor’s words, I
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began to pursue detailed data and compared them against the actual situation. Afterabout three months, the Professor came to see me again. He also took another look at
the process. Nodding as he listened to my not-especially-illuminating report, he did not
say anything in particular. Inconclusively, my training came to an end. The Professor
was kind enough to go one more time to thank the company. Thinking about it now, it
must have been a bit nerve-racking for him and I am sure he must have worried about it.
At the time, I simply felt a sense of gratitude, but in later years I came to believe that
this was the very essence of management. At the same time, I became keenly aware that
one must value the start of things. When I am working with youngsters at our company,
I will help them to get it right the first time they do something, and the second time I
will leave them to do it unaided, and sometimes they fail. I tell them that they will only
really master the job the third time.
When I graduated, I was told to remember three things: 1. Learn to hold yourdrink; 2. Develop excellent general knowledge; 3. Utilize your superiors skillfully. I feelthat it was only six or seven years after joining my company that I began to understandwhat he meant. During my student days, there was now-Professor Kume on the doctoral
program and three of us, Takesue (Toray), Hirata (NKK), and myself, on the master’s
program. When the Professor told us to hurry up and learn to stand on our own two feet,
we would jokingly reply that the three of us together constituted one foot, or perhaps thethree parts of the thong on a single geta sandal. Oddly enough, these anecdotes
involving the number 3 are how I remember the Professor.
(Director, Electronics Development Department, Showa Denko;
completed a master’s degree in 1965)

A Collection of Prof. Ishikawa’s Quotes
Nobuo Ikebe
A collection of case studies is an essential accompaniment to any publication about
QC, so I would like to venture to put down on paper as many of Professor Ishikawa’s
public and private sayings as I can fit onto this page.


I saw a cautious side to his generous nature
Everyone will tell you what a generous man the Professor was. One day,when there was an unbelievably heavy snowfall in Tokyo, the Professor and I
both went home early from the university. Addressing me by my nickname, he152

Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

said, “Ike-chan, this is terrible. If you think about the possibility of an accident
in a taxi or a bus, where the drivers aren’t used to the snow, it’s safer to get abus. Let’s get the bus.” After standing there for some time in the bitter cold,
wordlessly smoking a cigarette, he finally said, “Looks like there aren’t any
buses. I don’t suppose there’ll be any taxis either.”

His almost-square rectangular briefcase
The Professor’s briefcase was heavy—perhaps a sign of his tendency tovalue everything—but only he knew what was in it. One time, when I was on abusiness trip with him, he said,“Ike-chan, bring me my briefcase.”
He opened it up and took out a bottle of whisky nicknamed Kakubin, after
its square (kaku) bottle (bin). I later discovered that this sort of thing was adaily occurrence with him.



His regular lunchtime menu at the university was tempura soba and cold soba
The Professor seemed to love soba noodles. Whenever he had lunch at theuniversity or ate with students, he would have tempura soba and cold soba
served with a dipping sauce. I will never forget the way he ate with loud slurps.



How to teach us the phone numbers of many bars
The Professor was kind enough to take us to various bars and eateries.
When we were going to drink alcohol, he would say, “Ike-chan, call XX
and check if they have enough room or not for all of us.
“Will do!” and like “200-3971” etc. that were in my memory of 28 years
ago, however they drop from my lips correctly and smoothly. He was so goodat teaching.

No matter how tired he was
During my student years, he would go hiking with us at various hills. No
matter where we went, on the way up, he would say:
“I’m just going to have a cigarette; you go on ahead.”
I never heard him say the words “I’m tired.”With no more space here, so I will just give the titles of a few examples...
 Do you know the Beatles?
153

PART III Accomplishments of Prof. Kaoru IshikawaAn unmanned Volkswagen runs?
You should go to bed earlier than me.
The Tale of the Koshu Kaido Route.

Have a meal delivered from a sushi restaurant in Tsukiji.

Every single one of these anecdotes shows Professor Ishikawa as “an academic,
but first and foremost a human being” and I think that he was a living dictionary ofthese words.
The Professor was always very kindhearted.
His favorite phrase to reassure people was, “Life always has its ups and downs.”
These words live in my today’s life.
(President, QMI;
Former research assistant at the Ishikawa Laboratory, the University of Tokyo)

Thinking of Prof. Ishikawa
Ms. Hiroko Narabayashi
In April 1987, I heard of Dr. Ishikawa’s passing away with surprise and grief. I
went from Kobe to his house in Tobitakyu to bid him my last good bye. His house wassurrounded by the fresh green of trees, the wisteria trellis light purple flowers werequietly in bloom. It has already been three years since then.
Looking back now, I assisted Dr. Ishikawa as a secretary for two years from April
1966, at the Number 5 Building of the Engineering Department. The campus including
the Hongo campus was quiet, as it was a little before the intense campus disputeoccurred and spread throughout Japan. I was surrounded by documents using terms suchas quality control, QC Circle, ZD activity, coal sampling, and Deming Prize etc. I was
unfamiliar with these terms and was bewildered, but Dr. Ishikawa gave me thoughtful
and precise directions. His schedule book was filled with small handwritten
appointments several months away, but he easily accomplished the minute by minuteschedule. I can still see him actively moving from one appointment to another,answering to inquiries from overseas, especially from developing countries such as
India regarding documents on QC and requests for lectures, inquiries from America
where QC originated from, regarding QC circle activities which developed distinctively
and succeeded in Japan with the endeavor of Dr. Ishikawa.
He would teach his students and research students with vigilance and kindness. He
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would hold New Year parties at his house and invite his students to his second house in
Karuizawa for fun study meetings in the summer. He left a lot of joyful memories forthe members of his laboratory.
I deeply remember Dr. Ishikawa’s energetic passion towards his study. In addition,
I can’t forget his affection and kindness towards his unshakable warm family.
Dr. Ishikawa went about his busy schedule holding a heavy brown brief case andwalking briskly. I wish I had a chance to write on the first page of his schedule book,“Please take it easy once in a while.” Although the time was short, I am happy that I had
the opportunity to work directly under his supervision.
(Former Secretary for Ishikawa Laboratory,
The University of Tokyo)

His Mother’s Praise for QC
and Admiration of QC Circle
Shinsuke Furuya
At the time when I had been attended to the Professor’s laboratory, the first stageof the Professor’s research into the sampling of bulk materials had been completed. The
sieves and mixers used for experiments were lying about the lab unused, and thestudents’ desks slotted into the gaps between them. There were international students
from Taiwan in his laboratory that was very relaxed place only when the Professor was
not there; On the other hand, we felt unstable if our master had left us there. The
atmosphere was very different from that of the other experimental chemistry labs
around us.
Every week, we would get together with the Professor for lunch and a taking turn
discussion, which were very sociable occasions. All of the students were amazed by theProfessor’s behavior during these occasions. He usually listened to the speech being
half asleep, however he criticized some points sharply after the speech. He was a truly
embarrassing listener who would not allow us to cheat. Although I tried to approach hisway, I was unable to do it. This was because my real ability was far from his. Thus,
when it’s my turn to be a listener, I just drank coffee preventing doze. He should havetaught me the tip of his behavior.
At New Year, it was customary for us to gather at the Professor’s home. Once, theProfessor’s mother joined us and began to admonish us students. She expressed praise
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for quality control and admiration for QC Circle. She said that quality control haschanged the irrational way in Japan before the war and made Japan an excellent country.
In particular, she said that QC Circle which began in Japan were a world-classachievement. It is worth being proud of QC Circle. Young people should study themthoroughly.
The Professor used to say, “I can say you’re mature if you’re able to manage yoursuperiors.” It was typical of the Professor who had convinced the superiors even his
family of becoming such a fan of quality control. I dare say, I wanted to tease theProfessor that he had “powerfully enlightened” or “brainwashed” his mother! We saythat if a person is too close we often overlook his good point, but the Professor clearlytranscended this word.
(Full-time lecturer, Seikei University;
completed a master’s degree in 1971)

Memories of a Trip to Taiwan
Mikio Kawai
In the summer of 1970, when the World Exposition was being held in Osaka,
Professor Ishikawa, Mr. Kano, and four of us in the second year of our master’s
program (Okubo, Furuya, Fujita, and I) went on a trip to Taiwan.
At that time, both Chao-Song Tsong and Kai-Siou Liao, who were a few years
senior and former students of Professor Ishikawa, were in Taiwan. They had returned
home and Mr. Tsong had recently launched an organization called the Advanced
Corporate Management Development Center to promote QC.
These days, it is quite common for students to travel overseas, but at that time,
foreign travel was still a rare occurrence.
We time-rich, but money-poor students took an express train from Tokyo to
Kagoshima on July 30, sailed to Naha, where we flew to Taipei from Naha and met withProfessor Ishikawa who took a direct flight to Taipei from Tokyo on August 4.
From the 5th to the 14th, with an official schedule we held seminars and diagnosis
at the factory in Taipei and Kaohsiung. Then, we visited Cape Eluanbi and Taitung,from Taiwan’s southernmost point to the east coast for research. In the morning of the
17th, we parted from Professor Ishikawa at Hualien and he returned home.
Then we traveled across Taiwan, visiting Taroko and Sun Moon Lake before
returning to Taipei and flying back to Japan on the 20th. (We were initially supposed to156

Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

go home by ship, but thanks to the Professor’s generosity, we were able to return homeby plane.)
We happily made the first overseas travel, enjoying warm hospitality everywhere
even we were low status students. Thinking back now, it would be fair to say that it was
entirely due to the Professor’s warm-heartedness to realize this trip enen overseas travel
was not so easy. He had kindly made time in his busy schedule to give his students theopportunity to gain international experience. In addition (although I am probably not asuitable person to write this), I believe that it would be fair to say that this trip was an
expression of the Professor’s regard for his former student, and he honestly wanted tosupport Mr. Tsong who launched QC activities in Taiwan. I have traveled abroad manytimes since then, but this trip left the strongest impression on me and I remember it witha sense of gratitude toward the Professor.
(Deputy Director, Shodex Group, Specialty Chemicals Division, Showa Denko;
completed a master’s degree in 1971)

Human Education Given by a Master
Hiroshi Osada
I was affiliated to the Ishikawa Laboratory for three years from 1970. For me, as a
graduate student, the most enjoyable experiences and those from which I learned themost were the lab seminars and the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers
Ishikawa Subcommittee, which met once or twice a year.
The seminars were held one afternoon in a week and mainly consisted of lunchwith the Professor, followed by presentations of research and introduction of reference
documents by the students, but occasionally Professor Ishikawa himself would give atalk. When taking part in these seminars, the first thing that surprised me was that theProfessor invariably ate two helpings of soba noodles. After we had eaten, it would betime for the student presentations, and the Professor always dozed off during thecommentaries on mathematical formulas and abstract explanations. What is more, hewould be facing us as he did so, which made us reflect that it might be because there
was something wrong with our presentations. The upshot was that we were grateful for
the Professor’s silent educational guidance (?). Another thing that astonished us was thatthe questions that the Professor asked us upon waking from his slumber were always
extremely straightforward and to the point. I believe that the Professor made ample useof this outstanding flair and insight into the true nature of things in QC.
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The Ishikawa Subcommittee was usually a two-day event involving an overnight
stay and the evening session would turn into a critique of the presentations given by thestudents during the day, as well as a sermon to each of us, based on the Professor’s
day-to-day observations. At the time, I was pursuing in-depth study of mathematicalstatistics and I had assumed that studying theory was everything for my research, but
the Professor often told me, “You’re delving deeply into a single topic, but you won’t
become a mighty oak unless you branch out.” I believe that he was telling me to become
what we call today a “T-shaped person.” The Professor was also adept at recognizing aperson’s true nature.
The last thing that the Professor taught me was the importance of identifying
problems. Looking at the Professor’s research methods during my student days, it seems
to me that his focus was always on identifying or discovering issues or themes that wereahead of the times. He probably thought that his pupils or someone else would solve
those problems one day. The Professor ceaselessly scrutinized trends worldwide andwalked countless shop floors in order to discover “what” in this way. He often told me,“It’s no good just reading books and papers. The problems are lying around on theactual workplace.”
Having spent 20 years as a working member of society, I am keenly aware of theimportance of what the Professor taught me. I also put into practice the Professor’s
motto, which he often repeated to me: “Broaden your horizons. Look overseas. Be
tolerant of everyone.”(Deputy Director, Specialty Plastics Business Development Department,
Asahi Chemical Industry;completed a master’s degree in 1972)

7.4 Education at Science University of Tokyo
The Professor retired from the University of Tokyo in March 1976. At the sametime, he started to take up the position at the Management Engineering Division of theSecond Management Department in the Engineering Faculty, which was opened in April
1976, at Science University of Tokyo. The Professor passionately worked onundergraduate education for working students. However two years later, he assumed theposition of the President of Musashi Institute of Technology. Although his teachinglasted for only 2 years at Science University of Tokyo, he lectured the first year students(General Education Course; Inductive Statistics) and the second year students (Process158Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

Analysis) at the Engineering Faculty Second Part Department, as well as tutoring thefourth year students of the Management Engineer Division of the Engineering FacultyFirst Part Department for their graduating research guide.
Although it was merely 2 years, it is noticeable how enormous the impact was atthat time from the recollection essays (below stated) written by Mr. Hideki Takahashi(present Komatsu Ltd.) and Mr. Takehiro Uehara (present Isuzu Motors), both of whom
had been enrolled in the Ishikawa laboratory.
Just before retiring from the University of Tokyo, the Professor’s health condition
was not seemingly good after his hospitalization and operation. Nevertheless at thesummer camp, he used to talk with students over drinks until late night. This wasexactly the same behavior as in his days at the University of Tokyo, and I believe his
character and philosophy have been inherited by his graduates and still remain alive intheir hearts.
Also I should note here that, among many teachers who have been teaching on
full-time basis since the set-up of the Management Engineering Division Part 1 and Part
2 in the Faculty of Engineering, the Professor was the most popular teacher in terms ofcaring very well for young teachers at that time.
(Ms. Toshimi Fujimori, the Nagasaki University;
Yoichi Kataoka, Professor of Science University of Tokyo,
the Engineering Faculty, the Management Engineering Division)

A Prominent Professor and his Students
Hideki Takahashi“A prominent professor is possibly coming to our university!”This was the first information I got about Dr. Ishikawa just before I became asenior.
While I was in university, I was totally hooked on Japanese archery and always
hung around the clubroom, as if I entered the Faculty of Japanese Archery not theFaculty of Engineering at Science University of Tokyo. That was why I was not asked
to join any laboratories to study. So, I decided to “Why not?” and applied to the Dr.
Ishikawa’s laboratory. This changed my life drastically as a result.
At the laboratory, the prominent professor did not put up any barriers between
himself and his cheeky students, treating us as equals and supporting our members who
had passion, regardless of our experience or knowledge or lack thereof. I still remember
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his generous and warm personality.
In his lectures, he told us about the importance and effectiveness of the theoretical
approach rather than of each theory and method itself. When he showed his analyses
and countermeasures that he had used, he always asked a question to us: “What would
you do?” I took it meant his saying “Think about it on your own,” which was tough anddemanding to me.
Thanks to his personality and knowledge, a lot of students and companies havegrown to play key roles in today’s world.
If Dr. Ishikawa, who was a great man of both theory and practice and also a great
educator, had lived in the era of the Meiji Restoration, he would have actively played an
important role such as Shoin Yoshida and Kaishu Katsu, who both contributed toJapan’s growth at the time, did.
I still remember how much we enjoyed a night when Dr. Ishikawa and thelaboratory members were having a summer study retreat. Sitting around Dr. Ishikawa,
who wore his yukata loosely, we enjoyed talking over glasses of Sake.
The time I spent at the doctor’s laboratory affected my life very positively. I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to him.
(Information System Division, Komatsu Ltd.; graduated in 1978)“Worker Controllable Defects are One-Fifth orLess of the Total”
Toshihiro Uehara
The cause of my stepping into the field of Quality Control was when I received
help from Professor Ishikawa’s research group for my graduation thesis in my 4th year
at university. The Professor’s laboratory was popularly known for practicing theories byusing physical data taken from corporate work sites. I joined them and started working
on improvement for processing accuracy of the parts for attaching lenses, which wasused at a factory of a copy machine manufacturer.
No problem in taking data, the processes are under control, but there are still many
defects. I was searching for the real cause of this by fully utilizing various statisticalmethods I had learned before. Thinking that I might have taken a wrong direction ofanalysis I nervously asked the Professor, but he replied with a smile, saying, “90% of
problems can be solved by stratifications, histograms and control charts. Then you
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should check what the workers are doing and what they are controlling because thecauses of defects attributable to workers are limited to below one fifth (1/5) at most.”
By this one word of advice, I became interested in workplace-rooted quality
control, QC as controllers’ obligations, a charm of own technique in the form of control,
and an aspect of quality control in the Japanese way.
Since then this made me devote myself to quality control for 11 years, and droveme further in quality control to the extent of becoming an advising lecturer for
intra-company basic courses 4 years ago. Especially in the last 4 years I have further
realized Professor Ishikawa’s greatness deeply in my heart when I had participated in
the project to construct our factory in America.
All core people among newly employed American managers, staff and main
suppliers, not only know the name of Professor Ishikawa but own a copy of the book
What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way, which is the English text version of
the Professor’s written book, Japanese Quality Control in Japanese. I presume that bynow, this has become the worldwide bible of quality control.
When we held an alumni association of the research room at a tavern in Shinjuku
prior to my departure for the American assignment, the Professor came to join in despite
his busy time, saying “Take this book and it will be enough,” and gave me his book
Japanese Way Quality Control with his signature on its cover. I always keep this book at
my side on the desk.

(Isuzu Motor Company; graduated in 1979)

7.5 The achievements of President Kaoru Ishikawa at Musashi Institute ofTechnology
President Kaoru Ishikawa took office at Musashi Institute of Technology in April
1978. He was the fifth president after our institute was promoted to a university. Twelve
years and four terms have just passed since President Ishikawa took office and it was
the first time for us to have the demise of the incumbent president. At the time when
President Ishikawa came to our institute, a campus dispute spread in the late 1960s had
quieted down and we developed a momentum to enhance the curricula on the occasionof forthcoming 50th anniversary. At the time of taking office, President Ishikawa statedabout what were “good universities” and “good students” as follows. “The products(effects) as a university are the graduates, the accomplishments of research, andacademic / social activities. So if these are good, it means good universities.” Namely
he insisted that he hoped the faculty itself continually presented good quality research
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outcomes at academic conferences and in the industrial world, which would contributeto nurturing good students. To the students, he wished for them to become engineers /researchers with vitality, independence and cooperative attitudes in anticipation of acoming integrated high-tech society and encouraged them to become people who aspire
to be successful in the world.
President Ishikawa newly created 6 committees soon after becoming the president
for bringing his ambitions into reality and questioned them. The 6 committees are 1)
Three-year plan committee, 2) Budget distribution committee, 3) Research system
improvement committee, 4) Common facility committee, 5) Entrance examination
research committee, and 6) Future plan committee. President Ishikawa executed the
management of the university based on each of their responses against his inquiries. The
results were as follows. The 50th anniversary came in his second year, and together withdoing the overall finishing for the anniversary, he opened up long-desired Information
Processing Center. Later on, we completed the structural testing building (1980) and the
Research Building 16 (1983), etc. The building 16 has a language laboratory with
updated equipment for pouring his energy into increasing the international sense of thestudents. For the academic side, he was dedicated to raising the level of graduate school,
setting up the doctoral course of the Civil Engineering, the master’s course of theManagement Engineering and the Nuclear Power Engineering in 1981. He establishedthe rules of the graduate school scholarship (1983) and introduced the course system(this year), etc. He also made efforts to renew the admission process such as introducing
the system of preferred application, the system of testing for qualification of enrollment
from the affiliated high school, and the adoption of the B method utilizing the National
Center Test for University Admissions. However, what was reflecting President
Ishikawa’s characteristics most were the enhancement of international exchanges withoverseas universities such as with the Oregon Institute of Technology, and theimprovement of campus rules and regulations. He made more than 30 regulations
during his terms such as the rules and regulations of the head conference of the graduate.
It reminds me of President Ishikawa’s character based on real values. (MIT Press, No.
90)
He adopted QC Circle to the administration bureau, conducted lectures of thecompany-wide quality control to the students every week, and opened up the Ishikawa
Laboratory to supervise the graduate students on how to write good thesis. He started
various pioneer activities for internationalizing the university. Today, QC Circle isperformed in most parts of industries in Japan and by over 60 different countries in theworld. But among the universities, Musashi Institute of Technology might be the first162

Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

one in the world to perform it. It is also uncommon for universities, that the president ofa university conducts a regular lecture and supervises the graduate students’ theses.
Therefore Prof. Ishikawa was an unconventional president in this regard.
He also served as a board member of Kanto Society for Engineering Education,
Association of Private Universities of Japan, Gotoh Educational Corporation and Tokyu
Foundation for foreign students and contributed to the development of Japanese
academic education.
1. QC Circle activities in the university administration bureau
In 1979, a year after Prof. Ishikawa became the president of our university, heconducted a lecture on QC that was the first time for the administration bureau to be
introduced to QC Circle activities. This triggered the implementation of QC Circle tothe administration bureau later on with the cooperation of Prof. Masumasa Imaizumi
and Prof. Ikuro Kusaba at the Department of Industrial Engineering. During the later
processes of promoting QC activities, we received occasional detailed instructions fromProf. Ishikawa on them.
As a result of patient efforts, in 1984 we increased the momentum to hold an
administration bureau conference on QC Circle and set up the steering committee forthe conference. Then in that year, we held the first conference on QC Circle inside ouradministration bureau.
In 1985, we organized the administration bureau QC Circle promotion
headquarters based on the steering committee set up in the previous year and officiallycame into practice. At the same time of the establishment of the headquarters, 7 circles
were registered, and then increased to 14 circles that we are now working on.
Since then, we have held the administration bureau QC Circle conference 6 times
as of June 1990. From the QC Circle, 7 members are participating in QC Circle
Cruising Seminar.

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Improvement cases presentation program (1984)
Section
1. Admin. Sec.

Name of the circle
Trendsetter

Leader
F. Komiyama

Theme to improve
Reduction in air Conditioning
power (cost) in Bldg. 15 IP
Center and improvement of its
efficiency.

2. Career Sec.

Droll Quintet

T. ObaReduction in processing time forcareer placement.

3. Library A

Nyannees

A. Tanaka

Enhance services to users.

4. IP Center

T&M

T. Uchida

Enforce the use of footwear
locker.

5. General Sec.

Café Royale

A. Kataoka(Personnel Sec.)6. Registrar Sec.

Reduction in processing time forovertime payment.

Kintaro Candy

J. Saito

Improve punctuality to send backanswers to surveys frompublishers.

7. Student Affairs

Euphoric Nine Circle

K. Ichikawa

Sec.

Improvement of services. (better
services given to students)

8. Accounts Sec.

Carrot Circle

K. Narita

Speed up the counter payment.

9. Library B

Baumkuchen

M. Hirose

Facilitation of consumablesupplies request.

10. Nuclear Sec.

Atom Circle

Y. Kataoka

Improve “visitor reception job.”

2. International exchanges of professors
Before Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa became the president, we were not allowed to spend
the education/research expenses for the overseas business trip expenses of professors.
Since April 1, 1981, we have revised the rules for the payment of the overseas travel
expenses, etc. contained in the guideline of overseas business trip by the order of
President Ishikawa. In consequence, if the senior professors, consider the business trip
is necessary, professors can be permitted to go abroad for study. Professors are given thebudget less than 150 thousand JPY per travel from the education/research expenses
distributed to each department. Other universities have not necessarily done the same as
we have done.
3. Direction of internationalization
Prof. Ishikawa, after becoming the president, insisted upon the necessity to become
164Chapter 7 Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s Work at University

internationalized, exhibited a better understanding of enhancing the education of foreign
languages in this regard, and strengthened this field at the time to establish the graduate
school. So the number of staffs engaging in the education of foreign languages became
more than twice as large as before. The contents of foreign language education weretremendously enhanced and this direction has been succeeded by the present president.
4. Adoption of foreign teachers
Recently, each university is having many discussions over this topic, but only
President Ishikawa made a wise decision to adopt foreign teacher as longtime
employment. This decision was justified by the fact that other universities that observed
us followed MIT. Today a foreign teacher who has applied for a second time for
longtime employment is working.
5. Small classes for foreign language education
Our language school repeatedly demanded to form a small class per 50 students.
Thanks to the increase of the staffs and the secret backups of President Ishikawa, oursmall class system was brought in and has been sustained even now.
6. Language training
We have held the summer language course in the Oregon Institute of Technology inthe USA since 1989 and this year is the third round of the language course. Thanks to
the great efforts made by President Ishikawa, there is a promise between the Oregon
Institute of Technology (OIT) and MIT as sister universities. Therefore the teachers andthe students at OIT give instructions to the students of MIT in a very friendly manner
during the course. The length of the course is about four weeks. We gave one credit to
the English lesson at first, but now give two credits. The course is popular especiallyamong the freshman and the sophomore and the upper limit of 40 students is soon
reached.
7. Lecture on company-wide quality control
Prof. Ishikawa took office at our university as the president in 1978, and from Aprilof the following year 1979 until 1981, he conducted a lecture named as a “special
lecture.” The theme was company-wide quality control given to the senior students inthe departments (Mechanical Engineering, Electric and Electronics Engineering,Electronic Communications Engineering, Construction Engineering, Civil Engineeringand Management Engineering).
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From 1982, the name of the lecture was changed to “Company-wide Quality
Control” and the President continued the same lecture. The lecture given by the
President went on for four years without any cancellation until he reached his retirement
age and around 500 students attended the lecture every year.
Since 1982, the summary of his lecture has been on the outline of the university.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

History of company-wide quality control
Difference of the social background between Japan and Europe/the USA
Features of Japanese Total Quality Control (TQC)
Progress of quality assurance
What is company-wide quality control
What is quality
What is control
Quality control on new product development
Managements for quality control(Nobuhiko Tawara, Associate Professor,
Department of Industrial Engineering, Musashi Institute of Technology)

Heavy Smoking
Hidesuke Yamada
I am writing on the manuscript papers guessing what many people besides me talkabout the Professor’s heavy smoking. Heavy smoking is the only theme of my writing,which is different from others.
There is one more thing I have to ask you. What I write here is supported only by
my dogmatic speculation.
However, I have already made up my mind that not a few people who read mywriting would say that they also think so, or that they agree.
The professor, late in his life, was hospitalized on and off until just before hepassed away. I used to be amazed at how quickly he was released from the hospital
every time he went into the hospital. My guess started this time “Why did the professorchoose that hospital?” I doubted him. “Did he control the hospital easily?” Then, one
after another, my own imagination runs wild.
“I’m dying to smoke” “I gotta leave here to smoke.” Then, the professor decided toleave the hospital and declared his decision. I visited the professor guessing a lot of him.
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Now I have the impudence to write down about his smoke.
He smoked with great relish and blew it toward the ceiling. The professor broke
into a broad smile and blew his cigarette, showing his reaction as if he said that my
deduction was not bad.
A moment when the professor changed vividly to a mischievous kid from a manthat is the picture of diligent remains in my memory still now.
Now I am in problem. My 5th trial to stop smoking is almost perish. A word of mylate father is coming back to me.
“Son, you have started to stop smoking, haven’t you? It’s easy, but I don’t know
how many times I have tried it!”
(Chairman of Gotoh Educational Corporation)

Thinking of President Ishikawa
Shiro Nakayama
The president is having a pleasant chat surrounded by his students. By the time hetips his second or third glass, he says as he went back to the days when he was anengineering officer of the Imperial Navy, “Kisama, your research paper was excellent!”
After that, a party with his students would quickly come alive.
President Ishikawa, even though he had to do his daily duties inside of and outsideof the university, he conducted the lecture and created the opportunity to teach directlyfor his students. He told them every occasion “to be an engineer or a researcher withleadership in the world.” He encouraged them to participate in extracurricular activities
and tried hard to guide them to form rational, sensitive and harmonious characters. Suchan ideal model of a student that the president had in his mind, was also a challenge tothe professors and staffs.
In 1978, by receiving a supplicant from the late Mr. Noboru Gotoh, who was theCEO of the Tokyu Group as well as the chairman of Gotoh Educational Corporation atthat time, Prof. Ishikawa took office as the president of Musashi Institute of Technology
which was established by the group. It is difficult to write about the importantachievements in various fields that the president made inside and outside of theuniversity during his eleven years of presidency only on this page, even only writing
about the achievements inside the university.
If I force myself to summarize his achievements, he accomplished the 50th
anniversary project including the fund-raising campaign soon after taking office as the167PART III Accomplishments of Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa

president, made the short and long-term management plan after the 50th anniversary,then carried it out and vitalized the campus. During this period, he paid special attention
to the improvement of research capability, significantly maximized the opportunities todispatch teachers overseas and improved the working conditions of teachers and staffs
for improving research capability. And then the winter time of universities came. But
even when the environments surrounding the university were changing rapidly, heworked for sophistication, individualization and vitalization in the educational researchof the university. He strived to explain the raison d’etre of the university both internallyand externally by explicating the characteristics of Musashi Institute of Technology as atechnical college responding to the expectations of internationalization.
The president also worked for making and realizing the long-term management
plan after the 60th anniversary including carrying out the 60th anniversary (1989) social
works.
When making the plan, he separated jobs by sectors and distributed them to eachfaculty member to develop a sense of participation of all the faculty members. He took
initiatives many times with his administrative ability to raise a sense of unity between
the governing board and the university by overcoming typical aspects of decision
making at educational corporations. In consequence, he restored the financial base fromthe crunch situation due to the student activism at the time when he became thepresident and made it possible to carry out the aforementioned plans.
Together with the chairman Mr. Gotoh, the president will be watching the progressof the first and the second long-term plan from the above now.
(Advisor of Gotoh Educational Corporation;
Former Secretariat of MIT)A Letter to Mrs. Keiko Ishikawa
Larry J. Blake
It is a distinct honor and a privilege to write a letter for the memorial book of yourhusband, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, former President of Musashi Institute of Technology.
Early in 1985, I visited with the Japanese Counsel General in Portland, Oregon, todetermine what Japanese universities might be interested in forming a partnership with
Oregon Institute of Technology, where I was President for seven years until 1990.
At his suggestion, I wrote to a select number of Japanese universities and one
president who expressed interest in such a partnership was Dr. Ishikawa.
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To continue exploration of potential future partnerships, I visited Japan andMusashi Institute of Technology in 1986.
After a delightful taxi ride from the center of Tokyo well into the western suburbs
where Musashi is located, I was privileged to meet Ishikawa-san. During ourconversation we did indeed find ourselves of like minds and like interests.
Ishikawa-san had long been an internationalist with strong ties to the United Statesby his teachings and writings through his work with Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and his
international eminence. We both agreed that it was very important, in any way possible,that our future students be aware of the ties between our two countries, be aware of andappreciate the different cultures we bring together, and form friendships with each other.
We agreed to begin with a broad outline of a partnership envisioning exchange ofstudents, faculty, curriculum and research, and let the future fill in what distinct
activities might be undertaken.
Dr. and Mrs. Ishikawa returned the visit to Oregon Institute of Technology in thefall of 1987 when we signed the formal paper of partnership. Ishikawa-san and myself,
spent the day visiting the many advanced technological laboratories at Oregon Tech (asI had visited earlier at Musashi) and discussing the future of world technology, theeducational needs for that world, and the importance of mutual understanding andfriendship between our two countries.
Mrs. Ishikawa and my wife, Jeane (she has asked me to say hello to you, Keiko)
had lunch at our home with Japanese friends and then visited the Big R Department
Store and the Favell Western Museum to gain an understanding of the mountainous
ranching country surrounding Oregon Tech.
The next year following the signing of the partnership, forty students and threefaculty from Musashi visited Oregon Tech on summer break, experiencing the activitiesof our part of the world, brushing up on English, and gaining a better understanding ofAmerican culture. It was moving for me to see the strong friendships that can be built in
only a week between our students and I enjoyed the follow-up visit a year later.
In closing, Ishikawa-san’s wisdom and his view of the future are timeless. I was
privileged to share that vision and, with him, steer our activities in that right direction.
There could be no more fitting tribute to Ishikawa-san than for Musashi Institute ofTechnology and Oregon Institute of Technology to perpetuate the activities that weenvisioned on a spring afternoon in Tokyo.
(Former President, Oregon Institute of Technology)

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President and my Supervising professor
Yasutaka Kainuma
It was in April, 1982, that the Ishikawa laboratory (also, known as the Total Quality
Control Laboratory) was established at Musashi Institute of Technology, which was 5
years after Prof. Ishikawa came to assume the post of the President at Musashi Instituteof Technology. The Ishikawa laboratory was designed only for the master’s course, inwhich Prof. Ishikawa directly gave guidance for master's theses, from 1982 to March
1986, for just 4 years. I was one of the first batch of students, entering the Ishikawa
laboratory in April 1982. I received Prof. Ishikawa’s guidance for a total of 3 years; twoyears for the master’s course, and another year before going on to Waseda University
for the doctoral course.
At the postgraduate school, Prof. Ishikawa took charge of special lectures on Total
Quality Control, as well as workplaces. Although he was extremely busy with his work,
not only in Japan, but also overseas, Prof. Ishikawa was never absent from his lectures
and workplaces at the school.
During the special lecture on Total Quality Control, students took turns reading andexplaining Prof. Ishikawa’s book, What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way, towhich Prof. Ishikawa gave comments and advice. Prof. Ishikawa shared a wealth of
information from his actual experience, which could not be gained from the text alone.
During workplaces, one or two students reported on the progress of their research,followed by discussion, which took place from 1 to 3 p.m. every Tuesday. Processcontrol, outliner, software quality control, human error, etc. were the major research
themes of students, and Prof. Ishikawa gave appropriate advice on how each member
should proceed. When it came to micro parts, such as deployment of the formula, Prof.
Ishikawa had a habit of saying, “Consult with Mr. XXX, to make sure there are no
mistakes.” His advice, based on his experience, was very helpful for how I should
proceed with my research, when I was struggling. Sometimes, I disagreed with Prof.
Ishikawa, but later, I realized that Prof. Ishikawa was right on many occasions.
Because Prof. Ishikawa also served as the President of Musashi Institute ofTechnology, he was very busy, except the time for special lectures and workplaces on
Tuesdays. We had dinner over drinks with Prof. Ishikawa once or twice a year duringlaboratory parties. Prof. Ishikawa took us to a Chinese restaurant at Jiyugaoka or
Roppongi, where we enjoyed excellent food and beverage. When having dinner, Prof.
Ishikawa generously drank Shaoxing rice wine, saying that Shaoxing rice wine does notcause hangovers. We were always patted on our butt by him, to drink more. Prof.
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Ishikawa invited us to his house, where we enjoyed a variety of dishes and drinks.
When we were having sushi, Prof. Ishikawa looked annoyed at having sushi lodged in
his throat. Immediately after, Prof. Ishikawa drank up a glass of whiskey on the rocks in
one breath, as if it were a cup of tea. It was a good memory that we, all, looked at eachother, out of surprise.
In conclusion, I was taught by Prof. Ishikawa, to have a passion to “do my best,”
not only for my study, “Quality Control,” but also for my hobbies and pleasure activities,
i.e. photography, golf, mah-jongg, etc. I try to follow the cue of Prof. Ishikawa’s passion,as much as possible.
(Lecturer at Tokyo Metropolitan Collage;
Master degree at Musashi Institute of Technology in 1984)171