Jujiro Matsuda's brief story

Jujiro Matsuda (Source: wikidata.org)

Growing up in a small coastal town in Japan, surrounded by the vastness of the ocean and a hard-working spirit of fishermen. This was the childhood of Jujiro Matsuda, the visionary founder of Mazda. From a young age Jujiro was fascinated by machines and spent countless hours tinkering with engines, dreaming of one day creating his own automobile. Jujiro Matsuda was born on 8th of August 1875. In the village of Mokanata, Hiroshima, Japan. Jujiro Matsuda was born as the youngest of 12 children to a fisherman father. His father's untimely death left him with no choice but to dream big from a very young age. Unable to continue his education as an orphan Jujiro decided to work with a blacksmith in Osaka at the age of 13. There he developed the passion for machines, which led him to work at various enterprises including shipyards and arsenals. During his breaks he observed and learned from different factories about their technology and production processes. At the age of 31 he rented a small cowshed and opened Matsuda Saisakusho in Osaka. Facing many difficulties including discovering that a product he had worked on for years was already available, Jujiro persisted in his endeavors. He eventually released what he called 'The Exclusive Patented Matsuda Pump', which gained him success. Using high quality production equipment was crucial to creating good products and satisfying customers. So he worked hard to import and promote the latest and greatest from abroad. The Matsuda Works Enterprise was responsible for producing artillery fuses for the Russian Czar with almost 4000 workers. However Jujiro Matsuda was forced out of his own business by the opposition of his co-owners when he attempted to expand manufacturing to his hometown of Mokanata. Jujiro faced this challenge head on and was determined to start over and make his own way in the world. This was not a simple or cozy path but he persevered. Jujiro's advice was to trust oneself and others and he owed everything he was to the trust he had been blessed with throughout his entire life. He bacame wealthy after selling one of his metal working companies to the well-known neon steel manufacturing company. Jujiro returned to Hiroshima in his 40s to start Hiroshima Seisakusho in 1918. By this time he was highly acknowledged as a successful businessman. Despite facing fresh challenges and setbacks including the Toyo Court Kogyo Company Limiteds failure and a fire that destroyed his building killed his employees he persisted in his lifetime dedication to a single business. He changes the company's name to Toyo Kogyo Company Limited and focused on metal working. The auto industry could not have picked a better time to flourish. After the devastating Kanto earthquake in 1923, cars suddenly became a popular mode of transportation. Jujiro saw a market for three-wheel trucks and started a company to make them in 1931. Jujiro focused on the three-wheeler because it was a more affordable alternative to the four-wheel autos. 'I had been using to improve the quality of people's lives and the growth of my country.' The three-wheelers advancements like a four-stroke motor were considered a luxury at the time. Still they made it possible to transport larger quantities of products through the crowded streets of Japan cities. Jujiro insisted on making as many components as possible in-house and invested heavily in R&D with engineers. In contrast, other domestic manufacturers relied on engines and other important parts made outside. His perseverance was rewarded when the first mass-produced three-wheel trucks hit the streets. Taking inspiration from Jujiro's surname the auto rickshaw is known as that 'Matsudago', sometimes spelled 'Masdigo'. Around this period people started calling their Mazdas 'Mazda'. When Hiroshima was bombed on August 6. 1945 the Toyo Kogyo HQ took significant amount of damage. It was 8:15 in the morning Jujiro Matsuda made his way back to the office. The explosive through Jujiro Matsuda's automobile off the road but luckily both he and his driver were unharmed. The company's Mukanata HQ may have been destroyed but the production building suffered only minor damage. However it took a tremendous toll emotionally. Thousands of Toyo Kogyo were among the 80000 persons killed in the disaster. Matsuda offered the futch city plant which was located more than five kilometers from epicenter of the nuclear explosion and was relatively undamaged to serve as a hospital, city hall, police station, courthouse, newspaper office and employees. Their assistance helped citizens in finding and reuniting with their families. With statewide rebuilding operations in full swing demand for freight vehicles was higher than ever and the company was able to restart the manufacture of the three-wheelers four months after the disaster. Once again business was thriving but the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing permanently altered the company. Together the city and the business had witnessed that they could overcome adversity. The outcome was a 'Never Say Die' attitude that continues to define Mazda today. It was from the ruins of a city that the Mochanata spirit emerged. Matsuda was never charged with being a war conspirator and the reinvigorated Toyo Kogyo was a driving force in restoring Hiroshima's economy after the bombing. Small four-wheeled trucks were first produced by Toyo Kogyo in 1950. The same year they also helped launched the Hiroshima Carp baseball team. The R-360 coupe was the first passenger vehicle produced by the company and it was released in Japan in 1960. The first production car to include a rotary engine was Mazda's Cosmosport 110s, which didn't hit the market until seven years later in 1970. Mazda introduced the R-100 coupe, the first mass-produced rotary-powered car in the United States. Until the first oil shock of 1973 Mazda's rotary engine was a smashing success. The rather thirsty rotary-powered versions gradually fell out of favour as American consumers quickly shifted to automobiles with improved fuel efficiency. The company lost a lot of money in 1975 because it was the least productive Japanese automaker. Had too much stock and relied too heavily on the American Market. Toyo Kogyo was saved from going bankrupt thanks to the efforts of the Sumitomo Kiretsu Group, specifically Sumitomo bank and the company's distributors and subcontractors. The business had not given up on piston engines throughout the 1970s it manufactured a number of different four-cylinder types. After 1973 Mazda's smaller familia line and somewhat bigger capella series became essential to the company's global sales. Mazda shifted its strategy and now offers the rotary engine option for performance-oriented drivers only. The Mazda RX-7 was introduced in 1978 as a low-cost high-performance sports car. Tsuneji Matsuda, his adopted son-in-law took over as president of Toyo Kogyo when he passed away. Matsuda was responsible for expanding the company's vehicle segment until 1979 when Ford Motor Company acquired a 25% share in Toyo Kogyo. In 1984 Toyo Kogyo officially became Mazda Motor Corporation after the Matsuda family sold their shares in the company as part of a partnership with Ford. Hiroshima Toyo car is still mostly owned by the Matsuda family due to Mazda's continued financial struggles throughout the 1990s. Ford increased their stake to 33.4% in May 1996. Ford considered selling its 13.4% investment in Mazda amid the 2008 financial crisis, which would have resulted in Ford relinquishing its control of Mazda. Ford's ownership percentage dropped to 3% on November 18 2010. However Ford and Mazda remained key partners through various collaborative ventures and the sharing of technological knowledge. Ford divested its final stake in Mazda on September 30th 2015. On March 27 1952 Matsuda passed away. In 1965 a bronze monument of Jujiro Matsuda was sculpted by Anamichi Hiroshima resident Kitsuzu and Suba. And installed in Hijiyama park in Minamiku Hiroshima in recognition of Matsuda's service to prefecture. His ideas of utilizing one's technical skills for the greater good of society and of constantly striving for technological advancement continue at Mazda Motor Corporation. After being born into poverty forced to find labor at an early age and dealt a series of cruel blows by fate. Jujiro Matsuda said 'It was a word, faith, that kept me continuing at what I was most enthusiastic about'. His belief in himself, other people and God allowed him the courage to persevere through setbacks and share in the rewards of collective accomplishment. Mazda Motor Corporation is a car manufacturer that honors their pioneers unyielding spirit. Rejects conformity and takes pride in challenging the status quo.

Source: Youtube.