Sōichirō Honda

was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.

Early years Honda was born in Kōmyō village, Iwata District, Shizuoka, near Hamamatsu on 17 November 1906. He spent his early childhood helping his father, Gihei Honda, a blacksmith, with his bicycle repair business. At the time his mother, Mika Honda, was a weaver. Honda was not interested in traditional education. His school handed grade reports to the children, but required that they be returned stamped with the family seal, to make sure that a parent had seen it. Honda created a stamp to forge his family seal out of a used rubber bicycle pedal cover. Soichiro once borrowed one of his father's bicycles to see a demonstration of an airplane made by pilot Art Smith, which cemented his love for machinery and invention.

At 15, without any formal education, Honda left home and headed to Tokyo to look for work. He obtained an apprenticeship at a garage in 1922. After some hesitation over his employment, he stayed for six years, working as a car mechanic before returning home to start his own auto repair business in 1928 at the age of 22.

Honda raced a turbocharged Ford in the "1st Japan Automobile Race" at Tamagawa Speedway in 1936. He crashed and seriously injured his left eye. His brother was also injured. After that, he quit racing.

Development of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. In 1937, Honda founded Tōkai Seiki to produce piston rings for Toyota. During World War II, a US B-29 bomber attack destroyed Tōkai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944 and the Iwata plant collapsed in the 1945 Mikawa earthquake. After the war, Honda sold the salvageable remains of the company to Toyota for ¥450,000 and used the proceeds to found the Honda Technical Research Institute in October 1946.

After the war, Honda became reacquainted with his friend Takeo Fujisawa, whom he had known during his days as a supplier of piston rings to Nakajima Aircraft Company. In 1949, Honda hired Fujisawa, who oversaw the financial side of the company and helped the firm expand. In 1959, Honda Motorcycles opened its first dealership in the United States. In his memoirs, Soichiro Honda expressed his sorrow for sometimes being rude to his employees, humiliating and occasionally even slapping them in the face.

Last years Even at his advanced age, Soichiro and his wife Sachi both held private pilot's licenses. He also enjoyed skiing, golf, racing cars, hang gliding and ballooning at 77, and he was a highly accomplished artist. He and Takeo Fujisawa made a pact never to force their own sons to join the company. His son, Hirotoshi Honda, was the founder and former CEO of Mugen Motorsports, a tuner for Honda vehicles who also created original racing vehicles.

ASME established the Soichiro Honda Medal in recognition of Mr. Honda's achievements in 1982; this medal recognizes outstanding achievement or significant engineering contributions in the field of personal transportation. In 1989, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame near Detroit.

Soichiro Honda died on 5 August 1991, days before the Hungarian Grand Prix, of liver failure. He was 84. Ayrton Senna, winner of the Grand Prix, dedicated the victory to Honda. He was posthumously appointed to the senior third rank in the order of precedence and appointed a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Honours

Senior Third Rank (5 August 1991; posthumous)