It was from these words spoken by Genichi Kawakami in 1953, that today’s Yamaha Motor Company was born. Genichi Kawakami was the first son of Kaichi Kawakami, the third-generation president of Nippon Gakki (musical instruments and electronics; presently Yamaha Corporation). Genichi studied and graduated from Takachiho Higher Commercial School in March of 1934.
In July of 1937, he was the second Kawakami to join the Nippon Gakki Company. He quickly rose to the position of manager of the company’s Tenryu Factory Company which produced musical instruments, and then Senior General Manager, before assuming the role of the fourth-generation President in 1950 at the young age of 38.
In 1953, Genichi was looking for a way to make use of idle machining equipment that had previously been used to make aircraft propellers. Looking back on the founding of Yamaha Motor Company, Genichi had this to say:
“While the company was performing well and had some financial leeway, I felt the need to look for our next area of business. Demand is something we create. So, I did some research.”
He looked into manufacturing many products, including sewing machines, auto parts, scooters, three-wheeled utility vehicles, and…motorcycles. Eventually, the market and competitive factors led him to focus only on the motorcycle market. Genichi visited the United States many times during this period, and he had his research division chief and other managers visit leading motorcycle factories around the country.
Genichi Kawakami. Founder of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
“They returned and told me there was still plenty of opportunity, even considering the fact that we were entering the market late. I didn’t want to be completely unprepared in this unfamiliar business so we toured to German factories before setting out to build our first 125cc bike. I joined their tour around Europe, during which my chief engineers learned how to build motorbikes. We did as much research as possible to ensure that we could build a bike as good as any out there. Once we had that confidence, we started going.”
“If you are going to make it, make it the very best there is.“
With these words as their motto, the development team poured all their energies into building the first prototype, and ten months later in August of 1954 the first model was complete. It was the Yamaha YA-1. The bike was powered by an air-cooled, 2-stroke, single-cylinder 125cc engine. Once finished, it was put through an unprecedented 10,000 km endurance test to ensure its quality was top-class. This was destined to be the first crystallization of what has now become a long tradition of Yamaha creativity and an inexhaustible spirit of challenge.
1955 YA-1 Nickname: Akatombo, Red Dragonfly.
The finish line at the YA-1 10,000km durability test, 1954 October.
Genichi Kawakami at a YA-1 test ride at the Asama course.
The Hamakita Factory of Nippon Gakki was built in January 1955 and production on the Yamaha YA-1 began. With confidence in the new direction that Genichi was taking, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. was founded on July 1, 1955. Staffed by 274 enthusiastic employees, the new motorcycle manufacturer built about 200 units per month. Just days after its foundation, Yamaha entered its new YA-1 in Japan’s two biggest race events: the 3rd Mt. Fuji Ascent Race and the 1st Asama Highlands Race. In both debuts, Yamaha won the 125cc class. The following year the YA-1 won again at the Asama Highlands Race in the Light and Ultra-light classes. By 1956, a second model was ready for production, the YC1, a 175cc single-cylinder two-stroke and in 1957, Yamaha began production of its first 250cc, two-stroke twin, the YD1.
Based on Genichi’s firm belief that a product isn’t a product until it can hold its own around the world, in 1958 Yamaha became the first Japanese maker to venture into the international race arena. The result was an impressive 6th place in the Catalina Grand Prix race in the USA.
News of this achievement won immediate recognition for the high level of Yamaha technology not only in Japan but among American race fans too – and this was just the beginning. Using the momentum gained in the USA, Yamaha took quick action and began marketing their motorcycles through an independent distributor in California. In 1958, Cooper Motors began selling the YD-1 250 and the MF-1 (a 50cc, two-stroke, single cylinder, step-through street bike). In 1960, the Yamaha International Corporation began selling motorcycles in the USA through dealers. Then in 1960, with overseas experiences under his belt, Genichi turned his attention to the Marine industry and the production of Yamaha’s first boats and marine engine. This began an aggressive expansion into new fields utilizing the new engines and FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) technologies. The first watercraft model was the CAT-21, followed by the RUN-13 and the P-7 123cc marine engine.
The start of the 1st Asama Highland Race.
The first trial-manufactured YA-1 along with its technical team.
The 250cc YD-1 test ride from Hamamatsu to Tokyo in 1957.
In 1963, Yamaha demonstrated its focus on cutting-edge technological innovations by developing the Autolube System. This landmark solution was a separate oil injection system for two-stroke models, eliminating the inconvenience of pre-mixing fuel and oil. Yamaha was building a strong reputation as a superior manufacturer, and this was reflected in its first project from its new plant in Iwata, Japan, built in 1966, where Toyota and Yamaha teamed up to produce the highly regarded Toyota 2000 GT sports car. This very limited-edition vehicle created a sensation among enthusiasts in Japan and abroad – and it’s still admired for its performance and craftsmanship today.
Genichi: “I believe that the most important thing when building a product is to always keep in mind the standpoint of the people who will use it.“
An example of Yamaha’s commitment to “walking in the customers’ shoes” was the decision to continue its expansion with overseas motorcycle manufacturing plants established in Thailand and Mexico in 1966 and Brazil and the Netherlands in 1968. With manufacturing bases, distributors and R&D operations in a local market, Yamaha could be involved in grassroots efforts to build products that truly met the needs of each market by respecting and valuing each country’s distinct national sensibilities and customs. Yamaha continues that tradition today.
By the late 1960s, Yamaha’s quality products had proven themselves in the global marketplace based on superior performance and innovation. Distribution and product diversity were on the right track. But Genichi knew that beyond quality, success would demand more. He had this view on the power of original ideas,
“In the future, a company’s future will hinge on ideas over and above quality. Products that have no character, nothing unique about them, will not sell no matter how well made or affordable…and that would spell doom for any company.“
He also knew that forward vision, walking hand in hand with original ideas, would create an opportunity for the company and its customers that could mean years of happiness and memorable experiences.
“In today’s business world, so many people are obsessed with figures. They become fixated on the numbers of the minute, without the numbers people are too afraid to do any real work. But in fact, every situation is in flux from moment to moment, developing with a natural flow. Unless one reads that flow, it is impossible to start out in a new field of business.”
A real-world illustration of this belief is the Yamaha DT-1. The world’s first true off-road motorcycle debuted in 1968 to create an entirely new genre that is known today as trail bikes. The DT-1 made a huge impact on motorcycling in the USA because it was truly dirt worthy. Yamaha definitely “read the flow” when it produced the 250cc, single cylinder, 2-stroke Enduro that put Yamaha On/Off-road motorcycles on the map in America. The DT-1 exemplified the power of original ideas, forward vision, and quick action coupled with keeping the customers’ desires in mind. In the years following, Yamaha continued to grow – and continues to this day. Diversity increased with the addition of products, including snowmobiles, race-kart engines, generators, scooters, ATVs, personal watercraft and more.
Genichi Kawakami set the stage for Yamaha’s success with his vision and philosophies. Total honesty towards the customer and making products that hold their own enables the company to serve customers all over the world and provide an improved lifestyle through exceptional quality, high-performance products. Because of his strong vision and belief, Yamaha employees across the globe still design, create, engineer and manufacture with great passion products and services that are intended to bring customers Kando.