The Honda Myth: The Genius and His Wake (Hardcover)

~ Masaaki Sato (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The engineering innovations that spurred Honda's growth in its first quarter-century have given way to more convention forms of success. No one can understand Honda, or the current state of the global auto industry without reading Mr. Sato's book."
-Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Ingrassia

"Masaaki Sato's career as a business journalist enabled him to see firsthand much of the evolution, struggles and fascinating men who built Honda, the youngest of Japan's automotive giants. Sato does a masterful job of weaving together the ambitions and conflicts between the strong personalities of the Honda Founders with the economic, industrial and political upheavals that tipped global automotive power in Japan's favor and vaulted Honda into Japan's Big Three despite the obstacles thrown in its way."
-Maryann Keller, leading auto industry analyst

Product Description

From the top Japanese auto-industry journalist comes this inimatably informed account of Honda Motor Company's birth out of the ashes of World War II and subsequent rise. As gripping as it is enlightening on far more than its main subject. Sato's unbiased reckoning won him Japan's premier non-fiction award. Available in English for the first time with a new chapter exclusive to this edition and prefaced by Paul Ingrassia, The Honda Myth is indispensable reading for industry insiders, business leaders and car enthusiasts.

The first Japanese automaker to open a factory in the U.S., Honda grew its North American share in the 1970's with the introduction of the first environmentally friendly car, the Civic. Just as the manufacturer's combination of engineering excellence, racing dominance, and risk-taking was driving it into the international spotlight, however its trademark free-spiritedness threatening to take a backseat to bureacrary and complacency.

Honda was the brainchild of two very different men. One, a genius engineer who never went to college but became the face of the company-Soichiro Honda. The other, a shrewd businessman who breezed into management and directed behind the scenes-Takeo Fujisawa. Apart, they may have never met international success, but together they made their mark. Yet, after Honda and Fujisawa's retirement, and decisively after the departure of heir apparent Shoichiro Irimajiri, Honda Motor looks like what it once seemed incapable of becoming-a faceless firm.

Overshadowed by the ever-changing competition in areas like F1 racing and low-pollution engine technology that were its pride, the old hothouse of invention is less sexy these days. The Honda Myth argues that the cult worship of Soichiro Honda that Takeo Fujisawa formented, at first to the firm's great benefit, worked against it in subtle ways as well. Though the company's future looks bright, it offers no beaming face.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Vertical; First American Edition edition (December 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932234268
• ISBN-13: 978-1932234268
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #433,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mythplaced, November 28, 2007

By	K. Philips (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with both the positive & negative. It is a long, repetitive and boring book with many technical & date errors; far too much unnecessary detail such as the names of hotels where meetings occurred. And yes, NO pictures or graphics of any kind! Having said that, I did learn a lot more about the Honda company, it's people & products, that I had not found elsewhere. As a Hondaphile, I will swallow anything Honda related. You have to remember that it was written by a Japanese journalist for Japanese consumption; detail is in their DNA. If you're in business, like me, there are some good philosophical lessons too. You've been warned.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Journal with Strategic Insights, March 16, 2007

By	Jay Busari (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It reads like a diary or journal kept by some traveller moving through Honda...but through careful and diligent reading you can catch many of the formative insights that guided Honda through the constant changes.

This book is not a regular business management book, with issues presented in a structured manner. It's a reflection of the work ethic where hard work and long hours will pay off with brief but influential flashes of creativity.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Honda Myth: Too Tedious and Repetitive, February 11, 2007

By	Minsky "Auto Buff" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

I was hoping this book would give a thorough background of Honda as a manufacturing entity. What it did was go into exhaustive, boring, tedious and repetitive detail on seemingly every executive that ever worked at Honda in a senior management level. There was precious little information on how Honda changed the face of motorcycling in the world during the 70s, hardly any useful information on the Acura brand and barely any mention of Honda's other product lines, such as ATVs, portable generators and power equipment.

I was also disappointed that a 475 page book with a small typeface and narrow borders did not have a single illustration, photograph, chart or the like. There is nothing but text in this book. It would have been nice to see a picture of a Honda Cub motorcycle, the H1300 car, the N360 'k' car, a diagram showing how the CVCC engine worked, etc. These topics were discussed over and over in the book, but there is nothing to illustrate them.

This book could have been half the length and covered the same material, because it repeats itself over and over, and sometimes contradicts the repeated material.

Overall, I was disappointed. It is a tedious read lacking in what I consider interesting information on Honda's products, while dwelling endlessly on certain executives and why they became president, vice president, etc.