Page 10 - Mindmail _June_2019
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FEATURE STORY




           Soichiro Honda                                                                                                    impressed with the young        Seiki were quite hectic.       everything Soichiro did was
                                                                                                                             entrepreneur’s growth
                                                                                                                                                             After putting a full day’s
                                                                                                                                                                                            during the most arduous
                                                                                                                             chart and refused to back
                                                                                                                                                             work in Art Shokai, Soichiro  conditions. During the
                                                                                                                                                             would work at making
                                                                                                                                                                                            Second World War, when
                                                                                                                             him up when the business
           The Founder of Honda Motors                                                                                       started booming. The time       piston rings at night.         the Ministry of Munitions
                                                                                                                                                                                            took control of Tokai
                                                                                                                             had now come for Soichiro
                                                                                                                                                             However, like any other
                                                                                                                             to think of a new place
                                                                                                                                                             order taken by Soichiro
                                                                                                                             to let his expertise and        major venture, the first       Seiki, Soichiro pushed
                                                                                                                                                                                            forward instead of buckling
           Soichiro Honda, a man           anything propelling it          learnt everything he could.                       experience shine.               was rejected almost            down under the pressure.
           who came from abject            forward. So fascinated          From gaining technical                                                            immediately, pushing him       Developing a technique
           poverty and no financial        was he by the car’s super       experience about the                              The birth of the                back to the beginning          for mass producing
           support, proved to the rest     powers, he chased it down       product, to gaining an in                         Honda company                   of it all.                     wooden airplanes,
           of the world that it truly      to the end of the road to       depth experience about                                                                                           Soichiro reinvented the
           takes a dream to realise        take a closer look at what      the inner workings of a                           Undeterred, Soichiro            Since the very first days      way Japanese aircrafts
           your passion. Without           would be his inspiration for    car, this apprenticeship                          started a brand new             of the Honda company,          flew and functioned.
           the means and through           the first ever Honda car.       gave Soichiro the wings he                        company called Tokai Seiki                                     This new invention was
           sheer hard work, Soichiro                                       needed to fly.                                    Heavy Industry in the year                                     the first step toward the
           built his dream company         At the age of 15 (in                                                              1936. Despite being told                                       creation of what Honda
           from scratch and with           1922,) Soichiro’s love          It took Soichiro six years                        by the lenders that they                                       is today and after the
           a focus on the future.          for automobiles grew so         to finish his training and                        wouldn’t back him, the                                         war, Soichiro opened the
           From building a cycle in        much, he left home to           by the year 1928, the                             young Honda still worked                                       Honda Technical Research
           a garage, to creating one       apprentice at Art Shokai,       young Honda had so much                           at the Art Shoika Company.
           of the largest automobile       an automobile repair            knowledge, he could put                           The initial days of Tokai
           stores in the world,            shop in Tokyo. Dedicated        even the most trained
           Soichiro Honda’s story is       and filled with a passion       engineers to shame!
           one of inspiration, dreams      like never before, the          Opening a new branch
           and success stories!            15 year old Soichiro put        of Art Shoika, Soichiro
                                           his heart and soul into         started working on
           The Beginning                   learning everything about       building everything from
                                           the world of cars. At Art       two wheelers to trucks.
           Belonging to a very small       Shokai, the young man           Unfortunately, Soichiro’s
           village in Japan called                                         investors were not as
           Komya, Soichiro had a very
           difficult childhood. The
           twentieth century had just
           started and the first car
           the world was exposed
           to was the Ford cars. In
           fact, even Soichiro’s love
           for cars first started when
           he saw a majestic Ford
           car on the tiny streets of
           his hometown. A young
           Soichiro had difficulty
           understanding how such
           a powerful car could drive
           down the road without

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