The birth of the Honda motorcycle
Soichiro Honda was born in 1906, in a small village near Mount Fuji. As a child, he helped out in his father’s bicycle repair shop and developed a fascination with machines. He moved to Tokyo when he was 16 and became an apprentice car mechanic. Six years later, he returned to his home village and opened a garage there. Another seven years passed, and then he started a new business producing piston rings. The company grew, but then it suffered a double blow: it was bombed during the war and hit by a devastating earthquake shortly afterwards. But Soichiro Honda didn’t give up. There was a huge need for cheap mobility solutions in postwar Japan, which gave him the idea of incorporating surplus generator motors into bicycles. The first Honda motorcycle was born.
From two wheels to four
Around 1950, the Japanese car industry was developing fast, although it lagged behind other countries such as the United States. So the Ministry of International Trade and Industry issued the “National Car Concept”, calling on car manufacturers to introduce cars that met three conditions: four seats, a maximum speed of 100 km/h (60 mph) and a sales price of 150,000 yen. This encouraged Honda to start producing cars as well as motorbikes.
The first red car in Japan
To be accepted by the Ministry as an experienced car manufacturer, Honda developed two models of sports car and two models of mini truck. To draw more attention to the prototype of the SPORTS 360, the Honda designer gave the sports car an orange-red colour. Soichiro Honda loved it and wanted to use the same shade of red for the next new model. The trouble was that it was illegal to paint car bodywork red or white, because those colours were reserved exclusively for emergency vehicles such as fire engines and ambulances.
From the press to the Ministry
Soichiro Honda wanted to use the attractive shade of red on his cars so badly that he had an appeal published in the newspaper: “Red is a basic design colour. How can it be illegal? I have not heard of any other leading nation in the world where the state monopolises the use of colours.” Then he repeatedly sent a delegate to the Ministry of Transport to plead his case. And it was a success: Honda received permission to produce the very first red car in Japan.
Honda Red: the symbol of quality and passion
Honda Red, the characteristic shade of red that was once illegal for cars in Japan, was registered as Honda’s official corporate colour in 2001. The rich, deep colour represents the excitement that Honda products evoke, as well as symbolising the Honda brand’s quality feel and technical capabilities. It reminds us that every product is created with the passion and personal experiences of every employee involved.
So it is no coincidence that “The Three Joys” are an important company principle at Honda: the Joy of Creating (for R&D and production workers), the Joy of Selling (for sales and service staff) and the Joy of Buying (for Honda’s customers). Using these Three Joys to continue delivering high-quality, reliable products, Honda works towards its goal of gaining trust in society and living up to expectations. With the same passion that inspired Soichiro Honda a century ago.
