In a small village of Komyo, in the Tenryu province of Mamamatsu, lived Geihi Honda - an honest, skilled blacksmith with his wife Mika - an accomplished weaver. Geihi ran a bicycle repair shop in the county. On November 17, 1906, Soichiro Honda opened his eyes in his mother’s arms. Even though the family was poor, they brought up Soichiro in a happy environment albeit a little disciplined. His father’s comprehensive education kept Soichiro’s freewheeling and unrestrained personality in check. Like his father, Soichiro, as he grew up, imbibed love and passion to engage in mechanical projects. He got his manual dexterity from his father. He was averse to inconveniencing others and grew up respecting time and being punctual in all in his appointments. He was roughly 8 or 9 years of age when he saw an automobile zoom past him on a rough, dusty rural route. Soichiro found the car exhaust enchanting and the engine roar felt like music. He walked over the tiny puddle of gasoline, which the car left behind. Bending down on his knees, he dipped his fingers in the residue and whiffed. He felt mesmerised with the scent and since then the lad dreamed only about cars and engines. At Futamata Grade School, hours had never felt so long before as he waited for an eternity for the bell to ring. After school, Soichiro spent time in his father’s bicycle workshop, entranced by the world of mechanics. Pedals, chains and wheels became his toys as he helped Geihi in repairing bicycles. He was 16 when he saw an advertisement of Art Shokai Automobile workshop in Tokyo. The workshop was popular for it provided the finest repair services in the city. It wasn’t a vacancy ad yet Soichiro wrote to the management for apprenticeship. He received a positive reply and within a week the dreamer left for Tokyo. Soichiro Honda was fascinated seeing the urbanization of the country’s capital. The first few months at the shop, Soichiro engaged in odd jobs like serving tea and cleaning floors. The seniors took him under their wings and observed his patience and commitment towards the company. He quickly learnt the nuances of automobile repairing and earned a reputation of being a prolific mechanic. His enthusiasm for hard work, improvisation skills and an intuitive understanding of mechanics stood him in good stead. It is here that he learnt to manufacture piston rings under the tutelage of his boss Yuzo Sakakibara. Soichiro not only learnt repairing work, but also how to deal with customers and the importance of taking pride in his technical competency and his work. It is said that he not only had theoretical knowledge but also had hands on expertise in tasks like forging and welding. The young boy was living his dreams but it shattered on September 1, 1923. A great earthquake struck Japan, leaving behind the aftermath of destruction and death. More than 140,000 citizens lost their lives in the tragedy. While the senior employees left to re-build their homes and life, Soichiro stayed behind at the workshop. The tragedy turned into a blessing for this budding engineer who got an opportunity to repair motorcycles and cars of his customers. Soichiro was now an irreplaceable asset of Art Shokai Workshop. In 1928, the company expanded rapidly and the owners decided to open up branches in other cities. 22 year old Soichiro Honda was bestowed the responsibility of managing the Hamamatsu Branch. The new responsibilities gave him ample time to build race cars from old spare parts and car chassis. This also gave him the opportunity to explore his talent as an inventor. With ingenuity, Soichiro built a racing car from the ground up and powered it with an overhauled ford engine. The race car broke 100 mph barrier on the Japanese racing circuit. Soichiro would work without sleep for days to repair his speed machines. By now, the Hamamatsu branch had a staff of over 30 people. The same year saw his marriage to Sachi in October. She joined him in running the business by taking charge for the catering for the live-in staff and doing the accounts. Himself a racing enthusiast, Soichiro drove his own car until in 1936 a near fatal accident at the racetrack nearly ended his life and career in racing. He gave up racing at the behest of his wife and his father.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:37:02 +0000
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