On November 7, 1953, President Genichi Kawakami conveyed a top-secret policy to executives at Nippon Gakki, the predecessor of Yamaha Motor.
“We will be making prototype motorcycle engines. We will need to work on five or six different types of engines if possible. We would like to choose a product from among them and begin full-scale production in a year.”
In the 1950s, when Japan began its path to recovery, countless companies entered the motorcycle industry, and the number swelled to 204 at one point. However, by the time President Kawakami suggested manufacturing motorcycles, the shakeout had already begun, and there were some voices within the company who were confused as to whether they could really make a living by entering such a market as the last entrant. There wasn’t.
President Kawakami later said, Some people said,What about motorcycles these days?”, but after traveling around Europe and having the engineering department and others study the subject, I was convinced that this was the best thing to do. “It’s started,” he said. Furthermore, he said, “Even from the perspective of wood resources, it is difficult to increase the production of musical instruments without limit.The musical instrument industry is not a business that can be enjoyed forever,” and revealed that he was betting on motorcycle manufacturing as a foothold for future business development.
Source: YAMAHA Official Website
https://global.yamaha-motor.com/jp/stories/history/stories/0001.html
