In his absence Komatsu's hair grew grey as she worried about her son's life at sea. Once back in his hometown, Toshio on seeing his mother and not wanting to cause her any more anxiety promised that his days at sea were finished. At that time, one of Toshio's sisters married Konosuke Matsushita, the owner of a small electrical appliance business in Osaka. Konosuke asked Toshio to work with him and in June of 1917 Toshio headed off to Osaka to live with his sister and Konosuke in a small rented tenement house where they worked day and night to produce electrical sockets. At only fourteen years of age Toshio was given the strenuous job of collecting and transporting heavy materials by cart up steep city slopes. Though initially unsuccessful and quickly running out of money, Konosuke was determined to succeed. He threw himself into studying new ways to develop innovative sockets. At the end of the year his efforts were rewarded and they received an order for insulators used in electric fan stands. Konosuke and his wife devoted all their energies to manufacturing these insulation boards and Toshio took charge of collecting materials and grinding products. Their business finally started to make money as orders for insulation boards began to pour in. In March of the following year (1918), Konosuke established the Matsushita Electric Production Plant in Osaka, so that they could manufacture and sell electric appliances on a larger scale. Toshio formally joined the plant and was assigned higher-level tasks such as mixing raw materials and punching components.