Soichiro Honda by Raymond

Soichiro Honda by Raymond - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

If I could have dinner with any historical figure it would be Soichiro Honda because he played a major role in making the automotive industry what it is today. Soichiro Honda was born November 17th, 1906 and died August 5th 1991. At the age of fifteen he began an apprenticeship at an automobile workshop called Art Shokai which allowed him to pursue his interest in cars.

With this interest in cars and the skills he gained from completing his apprenticeship Mr. Honda then opened his own Art Shokai. While running this business he continued to invent and learn better ways to service cars. These skills eventually allowed him to co-found what is now known as Honda Motor Co.

When Honda Motor Co. was founded it initially produced motorcycles. In almost 70 years Honda Motor Co. has grown to produce cars, planes, motorcycles, and even lawn equipment. The company even includes a luxury line named Acura. Honda Motor Co. has helped make the world what it is today by continuing to invent things essential to daily life. All of this was started by the dreams of one man.

Soichiro Honda entered the car world at the age of fifteen. I want to know what it was like for car maintenance to be his job at such a young age. For me this has been a hobby since the day I got my license and I would love for my future career to revolve around cars. The fact that he had his own business at the age of 21 and was inventing things that would make his job and the job of future auto mechanics easier is amazing to me. To be so successful at that age is amazing and I want to know more about how he accomplished this.

At dinner my first question for Mr. Honda would be if he ever thought his company would grow to the size it did. Next I would ask him what it was like to go from working in a garage to owning a car company. That is a major change and I would love to take that same path. Soichiro Honda said that the first car he saw sputtered oil on the ground and that smelling that oil led to his involvement with automobiles. Since the seventh grade I have loved cars and being able to sit down with a man who was so important to their development would be absolutely amazing. This common interest and the amount of knowledge I could gain from spending time with Soichiro Honda is why he is the historical figure I would choose to have dinner with.