The Extraordinary Story Of Soichiro Honda

Many of you may have never heard of Soichiro Honda. Yet there are few people in the world who have never heard of the “Honda” brand. Soichiro is the founder of that very famous company. His history outside his work as a businessman is an amazing story of fighting and overcoming hardships.

Soichiro Honda was born into a very humble family in a small Japanese province called Komyo. The twentieth century had only just begun. The first time a car drove through his town, he was very young.

The car was a Ford. Soichiro found seeing that car absolutely fascinating. He thought it was incredible what this huge machine could do. This is the day when he started dreaming of designing his own car.

At the age of 15, Soichiro Honda moved to Tokoyo and started working in a factory. He got along well with his boss. Moreover, he had an enormous passion for his work from day one. So one day the factory manager suggested that Honda take some regular pieces that were scattered around and try to make a race car with those pieces.

The beginning of the legend of Soichiro Honda

Building a car was Soichiro Honda’s biggest dream. That was exactly why he didn’t hesitate for even a second when his boss suggested the idea to him. He combined industrial techniques with handicrafts.

In this way he managed to design his first model. He also makes most of the parts himself. He cut the spokes in the wooden wheels of the car with his own hands.

This is how the ‘Curtis’ model came to be. It was an extraordinary car that they immediately sent to the races. In 1924, this car finally won the Japanese championship. At that time, Soichiro Honda was only 18 years old.

He also excelled not only as a passionate, persistent mechanic. He also became a car racer. This is yet another place where he really stood out. He managed to set a speed record by letting his car reach 120 km/h. This record has not been broken in Japan for 20 years.

A way of perseverance

When Soichiro Honda was 21 years old, he decided to return to his hometown. For 6 years he worked as a factory worker. Then he was ready to take the next step. The following year, he started his own company: ‘Toukai Precision Machinery Company’. The main function of this company was to make car parts, especially piston rings.

The story goes that designing these parts took a heavy toll on him. Yet he persevered. He continued to succeed in making parts of excellent quality. They were so good that the Toyota car company became its customer. It was their business that kept him afloat for many, many years.

When he was younger, Soichiro Honda hated studying. He talked about how all the teachers in the world would be inventors if knowing things gave you creativity.

However, as the years went by, he began to see education as a way to grow. So he made the decision to enroll in the Hamamatsu Technical School. However, they kick him out. He refused to come to the final exam because he thought it was pointless.

A survivor

Soichiro Honda witnessed both World Wars and the military conflicts between China and Japan. The aftermath of World War II had long left it completely devastated and demoralized. Honda lost everything it had built up to that point as a result of all the bombing.

However, that was when he decided to take a year off. He built a whiskey distillery in his house. During that whole year he did nothing but make liqueur for himself and for his friends.

He probably also used this time to work out his next steps. After all, he had lost everything. His plans must have been very clever then because after that year he started to achieve success.

In 1946, Soichiro Honda founded a new company which he called the  Honda Technical Research Institute  . In fact, there were no fleets in Japan yet. So he decided to focus on making motorcycles. They were cheaper and could be useful in these new circumstances.

He had made the right choice. He managed to make a light engine that made much less noise than the other models. This brought him success in an instant.

In 1973, Soichiro Honda stopped working in his own company. He created the ‘Honda Foundation’ dedicated to protecting the environment. From that year on, he put all his effort and dedication into that assignment. He died in August 1991, but not before gaining recognition as the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world.