I grew up watching my father, who loves vehicles, and that was the initial motivation for wanting to be involved in mobility product creation.　To acquire knowledge in development, I studied engineering at university, and while seeking employment, I focused on companies in the mobility industry.

I chose Honda among them because Honda not only had an automobile business but also a motorcycle business.　In development, there are fewer overall parts in two-wheelers than in four-wheelers, so I felt that I could be involved in many domains within my responsibility, while maintaining a deep connection with the product.　Also, Honda deals with both two-wheelers and four-wheelers, and I found it appealing that there is the potential for knowledge and expertise sharing between the two businesses.　For these reasons, I joined as an engineer and have been involved in engine design.

Upon joining, my sole focus was to work with the products I was involved in with the desire to bring smiles to the customers’ faces.　Now, I have taken a step further from that dream, setting a goal not only to deliver products to customers but also to “eliminate the unhappiness which may be caused by the products”.

In the Asia region, Honda's two-wheelers are cherished as a part of daily life.　While it is meaningful and delightful that two-wheelers are expanding the potentials of customers’ lives, the fact remains that two-wheeler accidents occur every day.　If we aim to bring happiness to society, when selling two-wheelers, this act is accompanied by the responsibility to eradicate accidents.　With such sentiments, I am currently involved in safety domain tasks.

We are progressing with the development project of the “Hazard Prediction Training” utilizing the infrastructure camera system provided by the Thai government.　We are developing a system for accident prevention that uses data obtained from the tens of thousands of government-owned cameras on Thai roads.　This system detects potential dangers and notifies customers while they are riding.

For example, the system could notify drivers through a smartphone app about the presence of parked vehicles ahead, wrong-way traffic, and pedestrians.　In 2022, we invited the general public to Honda's test facility and conducted operational tests.　We planned to conduct on experiments by the middle of 2023.

First and foremost, there is the goal to provide safety to all two-wheeler users in Thailand.　To achieve this, it is necessary to collaborate with the local government to address the unique traffic conditions and infrastructure development challenges in Thailand.　Because of this, it is necessary to calculate the effect of accident reduction during the planned on-road demonstration experiments and present that data to the Thai government.　By doing so, it is crucial to gain understanding and cooperation for mass production.

Even for young and less experienced individuals, I believe Honda provides an environment unique in giving resources to realize their dreams.　The culture of embracing new challenges is ingrained within the company, so when I ask other associates for cooperation, I rarely hear negative responses like “It's too troublesome, I don't want to do it.” When I receive such requests myself, I try to take on the challenge whenever possible.

When I was still new to the company, I was assigned to a Honda international initiative called “Creation Lab”, and it really made me think about things.　Within the initiative, we were tasked with proposing new business ideas.　However, due to my limited experience and having mostly engaged in routine tasks until then, it was challenging to come up with the kind of proposals I had in mind.

However, as a team, we thoroughly considered “What can Honda do for societal issues, and what are our strengths?” and eventually made a proposal related to the safety domain.
Ultimately, this aligned with the company's goals, and we were able to get it implemented.　The experience of independently formulating and proposing ideas left a lasting impression on me.　It's quite poignant to think that the project we conceived back then is now connected to the current “Hazard Prediction Training” I'm working on.

Additionally, I learned from this initiative, the approach of seeking collaboration with associates who possess expertise that I lack, and initiating internal efforts.　Even in the business I am currently handling in Thailand, I am progressing with the cooperation of individuals who are knowledgeable about overseas traffic conditions and user surveys.　Indeed, there are limitations to what one can do alone, and I am reaffirming that seeking collaboration from others can lead to better results than just advancing within my own department.

I want to focus on promoting safety literacy education in the Asia region.　This is because when observing the scenes of traffic accidents, there are often cases where one might think, “Perhaps the victim of the accident also bears some responsibility”.　For example, cases where someone turns right even though a car is clearly approaching from the front.　This is an issue of literacy, and unless the mindset changes, there will be no reduction in the number of accidents.　

In Japan, road rage incidents often make the news, but the general public is well aware of the dangers associated with road rage, aren't they? Similarly, it is essential for people in the Asia region, including Thailand, to have a shared understanding of both “dangerous driving” and “safe driving”.　To bring about fundamental change, I want to focus on safety literacy education.

I hope Honda will continue to be a company that expands the potentials of customers' lives.　For that, it is necessary to become a company that can compete globally, not only in hardware, but also in the software domain.　Investing significantly in the software domain and building an environment that allows for in-house development by securing talent and skills is crucial.

I sense that Honda, which has been involved in hardware development for many years, has a philosophy that would say, “When releasing a product, it should be 100% complete”.　However, in software development, I personally feel that it might be beneficial to adopt a global standard approach where a product with the minimum viable value is released to the public.　Subsequently, customer feedback can be incorporated, and gradual updates can be made.　To explore new frontiers, it's important not to view “failure” as something negative but rather to continue taking on challenges with enjoyment.