Japan's Motorcycle Wars: An Industry History

by Jeffrey W. Alexander

"Reading this book is a revelation and a thrill. It is an excellent example of business history done right. Alexander’s contribution here is thoroughly original; he gives us a rare look into the experiences of the losers as well as the winners in Japanese business. He will open the eyes of everyone in the field to the significance of the motorcycle industry on Japan’s economic and technological development." ―William Tsutsui, author of Manufacturing Scientific Management in Twentieth-Century Japan

"This book is very much at the cutting edge of current scholarship. Besides demonstrating the role of the Japanese military and empire in the early development of the industry, it illuminates the intense competition among motorbike makers in the first decade and a half after the Second World War." ―Steven Ericson, author of The Sound of the Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan

For decades a crown jewel of Japan’s postwar manufacturing industry, motorcycles remain one of Japan’s top exports. Japan’s Motorcycle Wars assesses the historical development and societal impact of the motorcycle industry, from the influence of motor sports on vehicle sales in the early 1900s to the postwar developments that led to the massive wave of motorization sweeping the Asia-Pacific region today.

Jeffrey Alexander brings a wealth of information to light, providing English translations of transcripts, industry publications, and company histories that have until now been available only in Japanese. By exploring the industry as a whole, he reveals that Japan’s motorcycle industry was characterized not by communitarian success but by misplaced loyalties, technical disasters, and brutal competition.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

super super informative book abt the moto in Japan; stuff that gets left out if the corporate official histories. Know this isn’t the point but wish there was better understanding and coverage of WWII beyond being like oh these firms manufactured munitions and were involved in the invasion of Manchuria lol ✌️

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who has gone to Asia in recent years would have noticed a few motorbikes around. This book not only offers insights into why, but also into the myraid social and political repecussions when a country converts from the bicycle to the motorcycle. It also charts the appalling human cost of the motorization of personal mobility, and what can be done about it. There is an unspoken elephant in the Asian room here too, in that the whole era of post-war Japan's motorcycle boom ultimately was just a prelude there for the motorcar.

As an industry history this book is invaluable because it includes many insights into the circumstances around how most companies failed while at the same time a few suceeded. But beyond that, the fascinating and frank tales of business failure in Japan are themselves so rare in the west that this book, by bringing them to light, provides a refreshing counterpoint to the myth of monolithic Japanese industrial invincibility.

[Ta0paipai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander goes into exhaustive detail in tracing how post war competition and the need to cheap transportation lead to the birth of Japan's motorcycle industry- one that would transform the nation while growing from a domestic dark horse to a global force.