Akifumi Fukaya spent his childhood in the United States where he grew up next to Honda products.　With the aspiration to propagate Honda products nationwide in the US, he joined Honda in his mid-career as a sales representative for Power Products.　Within two years at Honda, he made his dream come true to be stationed in the US.　Currently he is back in Japan and engaged with planning of electrified products.　This interview with Fukaya features his stories about how he first met Honda products, how he made his dream come true, and what is his new dream for the future.

Giving shape to the dream of “working for American Honda”

- How did you meet Honda, and what led you to start working for Honda?

Fukaya

When I lived in the United States from the sixth to the ninth grades, we had a Honda Odyssey at home.　As a child, I found it so cool-looking.　That is how I met Honda.　Besides automobiles, I remember very well seeing Honda products throughout the city I lived in.　I also felt encouraged seeing Honda logos.

Through these experiences, my desire, although vague, to work for Honda one day had grown bigger and bigger.　While getting to know more about various Honda products, I noticed that people were closer to the products, as if they had been more like family members than mere tools.　That was one of bigger reasons why I envisioned working at Honda.　Having already heard about American Honda, I wanted to be the one circulating the products I was attracted to in the US, so I joined Honda in my mid-career as an overseas sales representative for Power Products.

- Why did you choose a sales position?

Fukaya

I believe that it is only the sales staff who could see customers actually using the products we sell, because they are the closest to customers.　I have long had this passion inside me that I want to create a better life for customers and to contribute to society through provision of beneficial products to them.

- You were also involved in business planning while stationed in the US.　To be specific, what kind of products have you dealt with back then and currently?

Fukaya

While in the US, I took part in model changes of engines mounted to lawn mowers and pressure washers.　Aside from specific products, my tenure coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic proliferation during which I had to handle the business under unusual circumstances.　It was an unforgettable and at the same time very valuable experience.

Since I returned to Japan, I am responsible for planning of gardening equipment electrification.　In the gardening domain where lawn mowers are currently popular, the shift towards electrification from conventional internal combustion engines is rabidly taking place.　As demand hasn’t dropped after the COVID-19 pandemic and the market stays high, Honda is propelling planning and development of new products due to the fact that the electrification of gardening equipment is an urgent need.　Regarded as the products of the highest quality in the market, Honda lawn mowers are considered to have a significant advantage of taking over the traditional features even after electrification.　The gardening industry is no exception and suffers from inflation and labor shortages.　Honda is trying to address these issues by providing additional values.

Prerequisites are passion and unwavering principle.

- Did your impression toward Honda change before and after your joining the company?

Fukaya

Before joining Honda, I would often hear its slogan, “The Power of Dreams” which gave me a cool impression that the company was driven forward by passion turned into energy.　After I started working for Honda, I felt the company was willing to listen to and support its employees for what they wanted to do and for their future challenges.

In fact, I also had a big objective to go work for American Honda, and it came true as early as within two years after my joining Honda.　However, it takes a lot of money to station an employee overseas whereas a company has to make profits.　Nevertheless, I am really grateful to Honda which sent out a junior employee like me in my 2^nd year in the company.

- How did you tell Honda your passion of going to the United States to make your dream come true?

Fukaya

I would often voice my desire that I wanted to sell products in the US, an enormous market, because of my childhood experiences.　I was responsible for the US market before being stationed there.　With guidance from my senior colleagues, superiors, expats on-site in the US, and US local members, during work I kept in the corner of my mind how I could support the US local operations on-site to be managed better.

Honda’s working culture allows employees to voluntarily propose various ideas, and our ideas are heard.　Of course, whether these ideas can take form depends on how good they are and scheduling aspects, but the corporate climate is encouraging like, “if there is something you want to do, why not be doing it by yourself in the first place.”

- What is your strength?

Fukaya

It could be my versatility, getting along step by step.　And my unwavering principle toward objectives could be another strong point of mine.　I think my supervisor recognized it, so that is why I could take on this responsibility in the US.

- Have you been influenced by people around you or your superiors, or are there any words of them that impressed you?

Fukaya

My supervisor at American Honda cared a lot about what was happening on-site.　On Honda’s Three Realities Principle (Honda’s approach to place importance on “going to the real spot, experiencing the real situation and making realistic decisions.”), he would find time to visit sales locations and production sites to handle business in a flexible and out-of-box manner based on decisions I could not imagine how to make.

In the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak when the everyday sales activities were affected, he worked to the full from the on-site-oriented perspective with his day-to-day stance staying consistent.　I had become painfully aware that without these daily devoted on-site efforts, we could not have run the optimum business in assumed varied scenarios under the severe circumstances.　His positive and stoic attitude not only inspired me significantly but also has become a benchmark for judgment during my daily operations in present days; I reflect, “how would he react?”.　Additionally, I learned a lot from the local team members who had worked having on their mind what could be done for the customers at the moment, as well as their approaches to work different from those in Japan, such as daily communication.

Aiming for working in the United States again

- Do you have a dream that you want to realize at Honda in the future?

Fukaya

I would like to go to the United States again to be in a position to handle the business from a more managerial standpoint.　For a more short-term objective, I would like to make sure to advance the current planning and development of electrified products which could contribute to Honda’s global business including the future US operations.

But I do not want to become exclusively US-oriented, and I am hoping to be stationed in other parts of the world in order to gain more new perspectives.　When we speak about electrification, what is wanted varies depending on regions and products.　While adding more variety, Honda can move on to the next step of electrification to offer Honda-specific added values globally.

Regardless of electric or internal combustion engines that I deal with, my aspiration at the root is consistently to work closely with customers and to add richness to the society.

- Lastly, what is Honda’s path forward to you?

Fukaya

Although electrification of products attracts social attention, Honda has a legacy built with the conventional internal combustion engines.　I myself need to learn properly background and know-how in which Honda has grown and with which Honda products have influenced the society.　Without being complacent about the legacy, I would like to take the next step to be engaged in development of better products.