Who founded Yamaha?

Today, the company produces a wide range of products from musical instruments to the motor industry. Continuing to grow by achieving very successful works in the piano sector, Yamaha today attracts the great attention of consumers and music lovers with its acoustic and new-generation electronic pianos.

Torakusu Yamaha (20 April 1851 – 8 August 1916) was a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur known as the founder of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha was the first Japanese manufacturer of the reed organ and established Nippon Gakki Co Ltd in Hamamatsu to produce organs and other musical instruments including pianos and harmonicas. Nippon Gakki was later renamed the Yamaha Corporation in his honor.

The Yamaha Motor Company as we know it today was born on the initiative of Genichi Kawakami (Yamaha Motor's first president) in 1953. Kaichi Kawakami's eldest son, Genichi Kawakami, was the third generation president of Nippon Gakki (a musical instruments and electronic instruments company known today as Yamaha Corporation). Genichi, who graduated from Takachiho College of Commerce in March 1934, was the second Kawakami in Nippon Gakki, where he began working in July 1937.

Quickly climbing the career ladder, he was appointed as a manager and Senior General Manager at Tenryu Factory Company (musical instruments) within the company, and in 1950, at the age of 38, he was appointed as the fourth-generation president. In 1953, Genichi wanted to evaluate the machines that had been wasted after being used to make aircraft propellers.

When we look at the founding story of Yamaha Motor Company, the following words of Genichi attract attention. "The company's performance was good and we were financially comfortable, so I felt the need to look for a new business. We create the demand. So I did some research in that direction."

Sewing machines, auto parts, scooters, tricycles, and motorcycles. He researched the production processes of all these. Market and competitive factors led him to the motorcycle industry. Genichi made many visits to the United States during this period. Asked about his decision, he said, "I sent the head of research and various other executives to major motorcycle factories all over the country. When they returned, they said that we still have many opportunities, even if we hit the market late. I didn't want to be completely unprepared in this foreign job. Before we started building our first 125cc motorcycle. We also visited German factories. I also took part in the European tour where my chief engineers went to learn about motorcycle production. We should not be inferior to motorcycles on the market, so we researched as much as we could. When we felt ready, we got to work."

"If you're going to start a business, be the best at it."

The first model appeared in August 1954, ten months after the development team started the production of the first prototype with all its might. This was a Yamaha YA-1. It was a motorcycle with an air-cooled, 2-stroke, single-cylinder 125 cc engine. After production, it underwent an unprecedented 10,000 km endurance test; to make sure it was the best in its class. Thus, the first seeds of the deep-rooted creativity and tireless fighting spirit of today's Yamaha were sown.

This success introduced Yamaha's high-end technology not only to Japanese but also to American racing fans. The journey was just beginning. Yamaha, which has caught the wind in the USA, started selling motorcycles through an independent distributor in California. In 1958, Cooper Motors began selling the YD-1 250 and MF-1 (50 ccs, two-stroke, single-cylinder, city street motorcycle) models. Motorcycle sales continued through a US-wide dealer network as Yamaha International Corporation in 1960. With the experience gained abroad, Genichi turned its route to the maritime sector in 1960 and started manufacturing Yamaha-branded boats and outboard engines. Thus, the company quickly expanded into new markets with new engines and FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) technologies. RUN-13 and P-7 123 cc outboard engines followed the CAT-21 model, the first marine vehicle of the brand.

Yamaha showed that it aimed for the latest technological innovations with the AutoLube system it developed in 1963. With this solution, which includes a separate oil injection system for two-stroke models, the problems that occur as a result of mixing fuel and oil from the front have been eliminated. Yamaha was on track to build a solid reputation with its first project at its new factory in Iwata, Japan, in 1966.

The Toyota 2000 GT sports car, produced by Yamaha together with Toyota, received great acclaim. Stunning with its performance and craftsmanship, this vehicle, which was produced in very limited numbers, had a great impact on motorists both in Japan and around the world.

The quality of Yamaha products had established itself in the global market in the late 1960s for superior performance and innovation. It was also very successful with its distribution and product variety. However, Genichi knew that success required more than quality. He believed in the power of original ideas.

This idea was brought to life with Yamaha's DT-1. Launched in 1968 as the world's first true off-road motorcycle, it created a whole new genre we know today as the dirt bike. The DT-1 revolutionized the motorcycle culture of the USA with its superior skills on the dirt ground.

May 2002

Genichi Kawakami, the 90-year-old boss of Japanese musical instrument and motorcycle giant Yamaha, has died.

Kawakami took over the piano-only company from his father in 1950, making it a world giant in both musical instruments and motorcycle production.

Geniçi Kawakami, who made JAPAN's Yamaha musical instruments and motorcycles a worldwide brand, took over the management of Yamaha company, which only produced pianos at that time, from his father in 1950 and expanded the company's fields of activity and made it a world brand.

During a visit to the USA in 1953, Kawakami believed that the music market there had a bright future in Japan.

After that, the company started to produce wind and string instruments by increasing the variety of musical instruments. Yamaha has produced Japan's first electric organ "Electone".

Kawakami, himself the author of several music books, founded the Yamaha Music Foundation in 1966. The foundation has increased the popularity of the company's products by establishing music schools and organizing music competitions in Japan and around the world.

During the Second World War, Yamaha entered the production of wooden aircraft propellers, using the woodworking technique it had advanced in musical instruments. From there he began to manufacture metal propellers.

But when the war was over, under Kavakami's leadership, the company turned its machine technology into producing Yamaha's first motorcycle in the 1950s, the YA-1, nicknamed "aka tombo", meaning "red flying dragon".

With the founding of Yamaha Motor Company in 1955, the motorcycle company grew from two single-deck wooden factories to a giant facility producing 200 motorcycles per month.

Its success in international motorcycle racing has made Yamaha a globally recognized brand. Currently, Yamaha is the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, after its compatriot Honda.

Yamaha Motor also manufactures marine boats, outboard motors, snowmobiles, golf carts, and industrial machinery.

Brand and History

Yamaha's history began when its founder, Torakusu Yamaha, repaired a broken reed organ in 1887. Shortly thereafter, he successfully completed the first reed organ.

https://www.yamaha.com/en/about/history/

Top 9 Japanese Automobile Founders

https://www.economy.pk/top-9-japanese-automobile-founders/