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Masayoshi Son (born Masayoshi Yasumoto): Zainichi Roots, UC Berkeley Inventions & Den Fujita’s Mentorship
Masayoshi Son was born on August 11, 1957, in Tosu, a city in Saga Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan. Son was raised as a third-generation Zainichi Korean—ethnic Koreans who settled in Japan during the colonial period—in an era marked by intense societal prejudice and institutional discrimination. His family adopted the Japanese surname Yasumoto to blend into local society, living in a modest settlement near a train yard where his family engaged in pig farming, scrap metal recycling, and later, small-scale business ventures. His father, Son Sam-heon, eventually built a successful business operating pachinko parlors and restaurants, instilling in young Masayoshi a fierce entrepreneurial spirit and an unyielding drive to overcome systemic social barriers.
Recognizing that educational achievement offered the surest path to mobility, Son excelled academically. During his youth, he developed a profound fascination with Western technology and business models. A pivotal moment in his early life occurred when he became obsessed with meeting Den Fujita, the charismatic executive who established McDonald’s Japan. After making multiple calls and traveling to Tokyo, the 16-year-old Son persuaded Fujita to grant him a short meeting. Fujita’s advice was direct and visionary: learn English, study computer science, and head to the United States, as digital computing would dictate the world’s economic future.
Heeding this counsel, Son dropped out of high school in Japan at age 16 and relocated to California in 1974. He completed his secondary education requirements in just a few weeks at Serramonte High School before enrolling at Holy Names College in Oakland. He subsequently transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, to study economics and computer science, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1980. Upon returning to Japan, Son made a bold decision to reclaim his Korean family name, Son, deliberately defying social taboos surrounding Zainichi identity and establishing himself as a trailblazer for minority empowerment in corporate Japan.
