Soichiro Honda

Born

1906 · Hamamatsu, Japan

Roots

Japanese; rural Shizuoka

Family

Working class

Blacksmith father who repaired bicycles; weaver mother.

Education

Left school at 15; later attended technical school for metallurgy — without taking the exams

Started with

A garage apprenticeship

Joined Tokyo's Art Shokai garage at 15; his first duties included babysitting the owner's child.

Affiliations & societies

None documented.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1922 · age 15
   Art Shokai garage

   Apprentice mechanic in Tokyo; opens his own branch six years later.

2. 1937 · age 30
   Piston rings

   Founds Tokai Seiki; early output fails Toyota's standards, so he enrolls in metallurgy courses.

3. 1945 · age 39
   Sells out to Toyota

   After bombing and an earthquake wreck the factories.

4. 1946 · age 40
   Motorized bicycles

   Fits surplus military generator engines to bicycles in a Hamamatsu shack.

5. 1948 · age 41
   Honda Motor

   Partners with Takeo Fujisawa, who handles the money side.

6. 1958 · age 52
   Super Cub

   Becomes the best-selling motor vehicle in history.

7. 1963 · age 56
   First car — against MITI

   Enters auto manufacturing despite the ministry's efforts to keep newcomers out.

8. 1972 · age 66
   CVCC engine

   Passes the US Clean Air Act without a catalytic converter, ahead of Detroit.