Tokyo, June 19, 1998 - On June 19, a ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the construction on schedule of Honda Motor's new outboard motor general testing facility, located on a plot of land in the Kiga district of Hosoe-cho in Inasa County, Shizuoka Prefecture (in the Hosoe-oki Road Industrial Complex). The total area of the plot measures approximately 231,700 sq. meters (23.2 hectares). Operations at the facility commenced the same day.
The facility comprises separate buildings housing analysis, bench work, and testing, where the various emissions and durability testing will take place. A small marina within the complex will also allow full motor testing on nearby Lake Hamana. The facility has been designed to cope with all types of outboard motors.

Honda is still examining the construction of an outboard motor manufacturing plant on another part of the same site, with production slated to begin in the summer of 1999. Annual production at the plant is forecast to reach 100,000 units. The factory would employ around 150 people and will represent an investment of approximately 2.5 billion yen on the part of Honda. It is planned to supply expanded sales of Honda's range of 4-stroke outboard motors. Locating the production site adjacent to full testing facilities is expected to raise the overall efficiency of production substantially. Designed to blend in along the shore of Lake Hamana and the surrounding natural environment, the factory is being seen by Honda as a model for its new high-efficiency, environment-friendly plants for the 21st century.