Trajectory of Challenges
Honda Takes on Brave Challenges with Dreams and Passion
With 34 associates and 1 million yen in capital,
Honda started out as a small town factory in Hamamatsu.
The company ran with passion toward its dream.
After the launch of the Cub F-Type, business grew rapidly
with its unique sales network and excellent motorcycle products.
Honda gained a firm position in the motorcycle industry
after the Super Cub C100 became a hit in Japan and the U.S.,
and the company participated in the Isle of Man TT races.

Japan in the 1950s
In 1951, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed, ending Japan’s state of war internationally. At the same time, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was concluded. Combined with the government’s tax incentives for key industries, capital investment in the mining, manufacturing, and energy sectors was vigorous, laying the foundation for Japan’s economic development in the years to come.

Unique Product that Proved
“Good Products Know No National Boundaries”
The Super Cub C100 (1958)
Following the words of Soichiro Honda, “Make something that can fit in the hand,” the company pursued a motorcycle size and functional design that would be easy for anyone to handle. The new model was epoch-making, and many new innovations were incorporated without hesitation, including a 4-stroke engine, which was considered difficult to mass-produce in the 50 cc category, and an automatic centrifugal clutch that eliminated the need for clutch lever operation. The design concept remains consistent to this day, and the Super Cub continues to be loved around the world.

Honda’s First Full-fledged Motorcycle
Dream D-Type (1949)
The Dream D-Type was developed to be a faster, more comfortable, and more authentic motorcycle. At a time when tubular steel frames were the mainstream for Japan domestic motorcycles, the use of a channel frame made of easy to mass-produce pressed steel plate and the beautiful maroon painted body were eye-catching. Honda also developed a two-speed transmission that could be shifted by foot pedal alone, eliminating the need to operate the clutch. This was a challenge to create a motorcycle that could be easily handled by anyone.

Soichiro Honda, the Maker,
Meets Takeo Fujisawa, the Seller
(1949)
Honda and Fujisawa first met in August 1949. They liked each other immediately. Although they had completely different personalities and specialties in different fields of work, the two liked each other because they saw something in the other that they did not have. Soichiro Honda, the maker. Takeo Fujisawa, the seller. A partnership was born, in which serious talking and sharing of unfathomable dreams was possible.

Bicycle Auxiliary Engine that Became
a Hit Through Direct Mail Marketing
Cub F-Type (1952)
With postwar reconstruction, bicycles with auxiliary engines became an important means of transportation, and amid countless competing products, the innovative design of the “white fuel tank and red engine” took Japan by storm. Honda’s sales network rapidly expanded from 400 to 13,000 outlets.

Youth Versus the World:
Entering the Isle of Man TT Races
(1959)
In 1954, Honda declared its intention to participate in the Isle of Man TT Races, considered the world’s most prestigious racing event. Kiyoshi Kawashima and a group of young associates in their twenties were entrusted with this major project, which was to be the company’s most ambitious yet. Although keenly aware of the gap between their strengths and that of the rest of the world, they kept moving forward, and in their first entry in the Isle of Man TT Races in 1959, they won the manufacturers’ prize. The team’s momentum continued, and in 1961 Honda finally achieved its long-cherished goal of winning the race.
- GHQ announces
three principles of
corporate
rationalization - Japan Automobile
Manufacturers
Association
established. - Economic Stability
Headquarters
announces
five-year plan
for economic
reconstruction.
- Dodge Line
Declaration. - Exchange rate fixed
at 360 yen to the
dollar. - Japanese Industrial
Standards (JIS)
established. - North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO)
signed.

Takeo Fujisawa joins the
company as Managing Director.
C-Type launched.
C-Type wins championship
in the Japan-U.S. auto races.

First full-fledged motorcycle
Dream D-Type launched.
- Public office election
law announced. - Outbreak of Korean
War. - Census of Japan’s
total population:
83.19 million.
Tokyo Sales Office established in
Maki-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
Tokyo Plant established in Kamijujo,
Kita-ku, Tokyo.
Begins exporting products
(300 A-Type units to Taiwan)*1
- WHO (World Health
Organization) approves
Japan’s membership. - Japan-U.S. Security
Treaty signed. - Japan’s automobile
registration ordinance
is announced.
Published “Three Joys”
in Honda’s Monthly Report.
Successful test of Dream E-Type
crossing the Hakone pass.
First instruction manual for
Dream E.

First 4-stroke engine
Dream E-Type launched.
- Japan becomes an
official member of
the IMF. - Road Traffic Control
Ordinance enacted. - Japan enacts the
K-cars license Law.
Closed Tokyo Plant and established
Shirako Plant (Saitama Factory)
Head office moved from
Hamamatsu to Tokyo
(3-chome, Maki-cho, Chuo-ku).
Decided to purchase imported
machine tools worth
450 million yen*2
Establishes Nagoya, Shikoku,
Osaka, and Kyushu branches.

Cub F-Type released.
Exported Cub F-Type to Taiwan
and other countries (Honda’s
overseas business started).
Established sales system centered
on bicycle stores in conjunction
with the launch of the Cub F-Type.
- NHK Tokyo television
station begins
broadcasting. - Japan Friendship
Commerce And
Navigation Treaty with
U.S. signed. - Korean War armistice
agreement signed at
Panmunjom.
Ranked first in Japan in motorcycle
production.

Head office and sales office
moved to 2-chome, Maki-cho,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
Honda labor union formed.
Shirako and Yamato plants
combined to form Saitama Factory.
Yamashita and Noguchi plants
combined to form Hamamatsu
Factory.
- First All Japan Auto
Show held. - Rational Sequence
Measures to eliminate
cycle distinctions for
motorcycles
implemented. - First five-year road
improvement Plan
adopted. - Jinmu economic boom
begins.
Declared participation in
the Isle of Man TT races.

Completed construction and
commenced operation of
Hamamatsu Factory’s Aoi Plant.
Participated in and finished
the Sao Paulo International
Auto Race with R125.
The T-Type 4-stroke
general-purpose engine launched.


Honda’s first scooter, the Juno K-Type, launched.
- MITI announces the
National Car Concept. - Japan formally joins
GATT. - First transistor radio
launched.
(Sony Corporation)
Started 1-year motorcycle
warranty program.
Launched the Dream SA-Type (250 cc) and Dream SB-Type (350 cc) equipped with Honda’s first OHC engine.
- Economic White Paper:
“Growth and
Modernization of the
Japanese Economy”
released. - Japan joins the United
Nations. - Japan Highway Public
Corporation established.
- Antarctic regional
reserve observation
team names
observation base
“Showa Station”. - Cabinet approves the
use of domestically
produced cars. - The European
Economic Community
(EEC) Treaty is signed.
R&D center established in the
Saiitama Factory’s Shirako Plant.
Honda dominates the Asama
Volcano Race, taking first through
fifth places in the junior class.
Honda listed on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange.

Dream C70 equipped with Honda’s
first two-cylinder engine launched.
- Tokyo Tower
construction
completed. - Kanmon National
Highway Tunnel opens. - Iwato economic boom
begins. - Instant ramen noodles
go on sale (Nissin
Foods).

Arakawa high-speed test course
established.

Super Cub C100 launched.
General-purpose engines VNC-Type
and VND-Type launched.
- Traffic fatalities
exceed 10,000 for the
first time. - Trade with the U.S.
shows a surplus for
the first time in the
postwar period. - Dollar exchange rate
liberalized. - Ise Bay Typhoon.
- 1Honda's first overseas export began with the A-Type to Taiwan through a buyer connected by a dealership in Osaka.
- 2Honda decided to install state-of-the-art machine tools imported at a total cost of 450 million yen. This decision to invest in the future was made Honda’s capital was only 6 million yen. One of the machines installed, the Harvard Ship HYDR-6A (nicknamed “sip”), is still in use at Production Technology Operations after 63 years, partly due to daily maintenance, but also because “some products could not be made without the sip.” Soichiro Honda would be very pleased to see the sip roaring in action.
- 3Soichiro Honda’s first company principle, which appeared in the Honda Newsletter No. 23 (January 1956), was “Maintaining an international viewpoint, the company is dedicated to manufacturing products excellent in performance yet an inexpensive price in response to the needs of the customers”
- 4In 1959, Honda established its first overseas sales subsidiary, American Honda Motor Company, and began building its own sales network. Today, Honda's North American operations have established independent operations that combine sales, production, and R&D functions, and serve as a model for Honda’s overseas regional operations. In the mid-2000s, Honda’s cumulative investment in its North American operations exceeded approximately $8 billion US dollars, and the company employed more than 30,000 people directly in North America.