As the saying goes, “Man is as big as his dream!” The word is constant truth, what is not believing? Let’s hear the story of such a person’s dream of becoming a world winner. The protagonist of this story is not a fairy tale character, but an ordinary human child made of blood and flesh. Who was the best in the world through his actions! And this man is none other than the son of the automobile empire “Soichiro Honda!” As the founder of Honda Company Limited and the maker of motorcycles, people all over the world know him by one name. Today, when one sees a motorcycle of any brand on the road, one is informed that it is a Honda. In today’s event, I will listen to the story of the thrilling colorful life of the rise and fall of Soichiro Honda.
The early life of Soichiro Honda
Soichiro Honda was born on November 16, 1906, in a small village at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan, the land of the rising sun. His father was a blacksmith and his mother was Tati. As a child, little Soichiro helped repair his father’s bicycle. Basically, he liked to work with machinery since childhood. The rules and regulations of the naughty Honda school did not look so good. There was a rule at that time, if someone had a bad result in school, their report card would be sent to the parents.
So that the parents of the students see it and seal the family and send it back to the school. Honda came up with a fancy idea to get rid of this report card paragraph. He became a guardian himself to save himself and a student of the last bench wearing the badge of incompetence like him. He made arrangements to make the family seal from the equipment of his bicycle garage. However, even though he was temporarily saved from punishment, he was later caught by his father and had to eat well.
The purpose of the work is to travel to Tokyo
In 1922, at the age of fifteen, he left home for the capital, Tokyo, for work. He started his career as an assistant at a car repair shop in Tokyo called Arto Shukai. In addition, the owner of the garage continues to help work on another racing car design shop. Later, in the earthquake of 1923, Arto Shukai suffered huge losses due to fire. Be able to defend three racing cars with Soichiro courage during that accident. The shop owner is very happy about it. That’s why he was given the opportunity to work directly in racing car design.
As a result, Honda confirmed his position as the mechanic of the 1st place team in the 1924 Japan Racing Car Competition. Day by day Honda continues to build itself through its action plan, talent, qualifications, and hard work. At one point, thanks to his tireless efforts, Arto Shukai became a popular service center in Tokyo. Many branches of this service center are opened in different places. Honda later started working as a branch head. Originally Honda was only twenty-one years old at the time and in the meantime, he learned to make pistons.
The inevitable practice of the skill
Soichiro Honda was a knowledge seeker and interested. So, in addition to making piston rings, he tried to gain business knowledge and skills in various jobs. Basically, he became an inventor through this job. Once he mortgaged all his savings and his wife’s jewelry, he started making car pistons. But then the pistons he made were not doing well. And so in order to increase his technical knowledge, at this age, he dared to enroll in a technical school. He then concentrated on building a racing car. He basically tried to make the car using Ford’s engine. However, in this case, he has to be very disappointed, because the result was not as expected. The car broke down before it could reach 100 miles per hour on the race track. However, he did not give up, he continued his efforts to fix the speed machine of this car.
The barrier walls and the burden of failure
Like many famous people, Soichiro did not catch Honda’s success very quickly. Time and again his life was interrupted, but he did not give up. Rather, this man with a fighting spirit has overcome his frustrations and fought his own misfortunes alone. At one point, he was drawn to car racing, which put him in great danger. In 1936, he was seriously injured on a car racing field. One of his arms was broken in the accident and he was hospitalized with serious injuries. There is no such thing as ‘when danger comes with the team!’
Similarly, in the life of Honda, at that time it was dark all around, the bad news kept coming. Sitting in a hospital bed, he heard that only three of the 30,000 pistons sent to Toyota for testing had passed the quality control. Also then the notice of exemption from technical school came to him!
A soldier who fights against misfortune with courage
There are some people in this world who do not accept misfortune. Rather, he has fought alone to change his destiny through infinite morale and hard work. After being released from the Honda Hospital, Soichiro started a company called Tokai Siki in 1937. Originally, he started his work by making pistons. This time the quality of the unique pistons made by him is much better. Which he again continues to supply to the Toyota company.
A few days later, World War II Starts! At that time Honda was supplying about 40% pistons only to Toyota company. However, there are thorns in the path of success, Honda’s path to success is again blocked. The bombing of the United States in the last days of World War 1945 caused extensive damage to his organization. As a result, he was forced to sell his favorite business, Toyota, for only four and a half million yen!
The path of the indomitable Soichiro in new endeavors
Soichiro Honda, a citizen of a war-torn country, was an indomitable fighter. So neither misfortune nor poverty could keep him down. Although this time he had to eat Himshim to ensure three meals for the family! But two eyes full of dreams and one book of hope give him the courage to move forward. He started trying to make scooters through his own innovative energy. Sitting in this small garage, he succeeds in making a scooter and it attracts the attention of everyone around him. In 1948, he set up the Honda Technology Research Institute in this garage, with the aim of securing the market for his invented products.
In a small garage of 170 square feet, he started making and selling motorized bicycles with only 12 workers. At that time, Soichiro used the engine of a two-stroke 50-cc wire surplus radio generator. However, when the engine ran out, he continued to replicate the engine himself. Later he started selling them by attaching them. Basically, his company started making a profit by selling the type in Honda. The company was transformed into “Honda Motor Limited Company!” He used the ordinary bicycle engine to make his company’s first motorcycle. He uses a special oil called Fir Oil, which is readily available in Japan, in oil tanks made with bottled water. In Japan at the time, Honda’s 1,500 bikes, called the Choo-Choo, were sold quickly!
Motorcycle Dream Walk
Later, in 1949, Honda made the first completely new type of motorcycle. The D-type two-stroke engine motorcycle was released under the name ‘Dream’. In 1958, he started producing four-stroke bikes and introduced a ‘Super Cub’ model bike to the American market. Honda then moved to the forefront, competing with about 200 bike manufacturers in the world and 50 in Japan. As a result, Honda became the largest motorcycle manufacturer by 1964!
Soichiro later found Engineer Kinshiro Kawashima and Takio Fujisawa as his companions in the success journey of his Honda company. These two have made outstanding contributions to the business and marketing of his company. Until 1973, their partnership was intact. One success after another led Honda to a brighter future. All the big companies signed contracts with Honda due to their spread reputation around the world. In later times, this Honda company proved its superiority in the manufacture of motorcycles as well as cars, marine machinery, jet aircraft, etc.!
Soichiro Honda dies
A famous quote from Soichiro Honda is “1 percent of any success is work, the other 99 percent is a failure!” Basically, he has walked the path of the future through his talent, work, and perseverance, regardless of the burden of failure in the ups and downs of life. On August 5, 1991, Soichiro Honda passed away due to a kidney complication.
The motto of the Honda company of the legendary ‘Soichiro Honda’ is ‘Dream Power’! And that’s why the company that started with the power of the dream started by making motorcycles, and at one time it also succeeded in building jet aircraft. The successful advancement of the dream power built with the indomitable spirit of Soichiro Honda is still going on with its head held high in the chest of the world! As long as this Honda company survives in the history of automobile manufacturing, this man will always be aware of his actions and wisdom. On behalf of Prohori, there was boundless respect and unconditional love for the dreamy fighting creators like the life-fighting ‘Soichiro Honda’!
