The idea of quality circles was proposed by Kaoru Ishikawa and was first introduced in Nippon Wireless and Telegraph Company in 1962. This article provides evidence that what is known as quality control circles today was first implemented by Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) and that it was first documented in SEI's submission for the 1962 Deming Prize (Ref. 1). The development of quality circles is associated with initiatives undertaken by the Allied occupying force such as the Training Within Industry program, the Management Training Program and the Civil Communications Sector (CCS) Training Program. The visits of Deming (1986) and Juran (1978) and their efforts are well documented. SEI took part in all these programs since they had severe losses in the Second World War. The company's management felt that Americans had better knowledge about industrial management. In 1945, SEI implemented the Taylor system (Ref. 2) wherein they introduced a suggestion scheme. It was the starting point of their vision about scientific management. At this point, the CCS section of the American occupying force was planning to improve quality of communications equipment and SEI implemented most of the suggestions from the CCS course. After 1951, when Americans left Japan, Inoue, the chief of SEI, translated the CCS into Japanese and presented it to many participants. In 1962, a series of letter correspondence took place between Benzaemon Inoue and Kenneth Hooper (Ref. 3).
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