【Super Cub】My wife said it was good, so I made a Super Cub

In a nutshell

1. Honda started with motorcycles.
2. The birth of the motorcycle was thanks to his legal wife, "Sachi-fujin."
3. The birth of the Super Cub was thanks to his second wife, "Takeo Fujisawa."

Honda

Nowadays, Honda is associated with cars, but Honda originally started with motorcycles.

The founder, Soichiro Honda, was called "Oyassan" (old man), and he was a famous manager who always went to the factory, drew design drawings of parts on the floor with chalk, and led the site by giving encouragement to the young people himself.

There are several ways to unravel his life, but this time I would like to share the episode of the birth of the motorcycle from "Soichiro Honda: Turning Dreams into Power - My Resume (Soichiro Honda/Nikkei Business Human Bunko)".

Personally, I have a sentimental attachment to it because I have admired cars since I was little, and the first car I bought at the age of 19 was a 1992 Civic (EG6). My family car is also a Stepwgn, so it's all Honda.

Legal wife, Sachi-fujin

Soichiro Honda was a natural-born playboy. When he was young, he made money from car maintenance, which was rare at the time, and repeatedly went out at night. My resume also includes the shocking episode of him falling into the Tenryu River with his car while driving drunk.

It was his legal wife, Sachi-fujin, who supported him. She supported Soichiro Honda, who was a philanderer, a workaholic, never came home, and never brought in any money, with her big heart.

In 1945, after the end of the war, he sold the business that had been manufacturing piston rings for Toyota to Tokai Seiki. In fact, Honda, which had been a parts manufacturer for Toyota, sold that business and was looking for its next move.

Soichiro Honda, who made alcohol from alcohol bought at a pharmacy and spent his days playing, one day came across a small engine at a friend's house. Seeing the engine of a former army radio, Soichiro Honda wondered if he could attach it to a bicycle.

In the poor transportation situation after the war in Japan, the daily means of transportation was the bicycle. However, there was a limit to transportation by bicycle, and the invention of attaching an auxiliary engine to a bicycle was a very valuable invention in Japan at that time.

Soichiro Honda immediately began to develop a way to attach an auxiliary engine to a bicycle. He used a hot water bottle from his house as a fuel tank. The test subject was Sachi-fujin. Sachi-fujin, as a kind of retaliation against Soichiro Honda, who always neglected his family, left this episode.

He started making strange things because it seemed difficult to go shopping, but in the end I was the test subject. So when I was made to ride a motorcycle and ride on the main street, I always wore my best monpe. Then, by the time I got home, I was covered in oil. When I told my father that this was no good, he usually said, "Shut up and be quiet!" but for once he said, "Hmm, this is no good," and looked dejected.

The cause was the blowback of the mixed oil from the carburetor. The production version was properly improved to prevent dirt. It became a great hit and a big hit.

Eventually, in 1949, with the funds from the big hit, he created the famous motorcycle "Dream" instead of a bicycle with an auxiliary engine. The Honda motorcycle logo still has a remnant of the Dream.

Second "wife" Takeo Fujisawa

Well, Soichiro Honda had another wife. Takeo Fujisawa.

Honda Giken was made up of two people. Soichiro Honda of technology and Takeo Fujisawa of finance. The two respected each other, and especially after the company grew, they only met a few times a year, but each was an indispensable presence as a two-wheeled vehicle. By the way, both retired at the same time.

The Super Cub was produced by Takeo Fujisawa goading Soichiro Honda.

In 1956, on the plane on the way to a study tour of Germany and Italy, Fujisawa broached the subject with Honda. "President. It has to be 50cc. It's not enough to just attach an engine to a bicycle like a Cub. Can't you do it with the whole body?"

"What, making a car with 50cc..." said a negative Honda.

"Without this, I don't think Honda Giken will develop so much," said Fujisawa.

Pressed by the repeated recommendations during his trip to Europe, Honda reluctantly began to work on the engine.

Honda's style is to write the design directly on the factory floor with chalk and discuss it. The engine design is completed in no time. He is almost a street performer.

When the model was completed, Honda called Fujisawa. When asked about the sales target, Fujisawa replied, "Hmm, 30,000 units."

"30,000 units a year, we did it!" rejoiced the staff.

"Don't be stupid, it's 30,000 units a month," said Fujisawa.

Fujisawa had a plan for victory. Fujisawa had presented the sales price of the Super Cub to Honda in advance. 55,000 yen. This was a price that would result in a loss if they sold 1,000 units a month. However, if they sold 30,000 units a month, it would be profitable. Honda was confident that he could dominate the market with a strategically low price, as the design, with his natural design sense, would also be a hit with women.

For sales, Fujisawa developed a direct mail strategy. In addition to motorcycle shops and bicycle shops, he also called on unrelated businesses such as lumber merchants, dry goods stores, and shiitake mushroom growers to build a sales network of 1,500 stores nationwide. This was to build a community-based sales network in advance, in anticipation of the sale of motorcycles that would require after-sales service.

Fujisawa also had exchanges with artists and musicians. Among them, he created a number of catchphrases. "Soba mo genki da okkasan" (Soba is also energetic, mother) was one of the big hit catchphrases at the time.

The Super Cub also became a killer product in the US market and holds the Guinness World Record for the best-selling motorcycle in the world.