Toshio Iue

The son of a sailor from Awaji Island, Iue initially followed his father's footsteps as a sailor's apprentice. When a ship he was on exploded, with Toshio barely escaping with his life, he took a job at an electric plant run by Konosuke Matsushita, who was married to one of Toshio's sisters. During his tenure at the company, he became an expert salesman, convincing wary resalers of the quality of Matsushita's electric products, which were from Osaka, in an era where most electric goods in Japan were made in Tokyo.

After serving in the Japanese military, Iue came back to Japan and became Konosuke's brother-in-law once again when he married Mumeno Matsushita. Iue then took the lead in building a wooden boat factory for Matsushita upon request of the Japanese military during World War II. Upon Japan's defeat in the war, the General Headquarters of Allied Forces requested a change in the management of Matsushita, with one of its senior executives required to step down. Iue decided to step down so that Matsushita could continue as the head of the company.