Kyoto: Celebrating the Company's 15th Anniversary(1963)

Group photo of Hamamatsu Factory's First Machinery Section, which took grand prize with their proposition, "Night in an Imaginary International City"

In June 1963, a company newsletter set forth the details regarding a special contest, in which the employees could come up with ideas for an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of the company's founding. The contest's basic objective was as follows.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the company's establishment, we will hold a commemorative ceremony and event, the concept of which is to be proposed by the employees. The point is to foster the energy of all Honda Motor employees, to enhance their sense of mission in the company, and to advance to a new phase as a rapidly developing organization.

No limit was set for the budget required to pull off the idea, which employees had only two weeks to submit. The grand prize was ¥500,000 for the winning section, which was to number up to fifty members. Beyond that, ¥5,000 was to be added for each additional member. This was a bold offer at a time when the first monthly paycheck for a college graduate was around ¥28,000.

The year 1963 was a pivotal one for Honda. It served as a springboard for rapid expansion, with the company's first sales of four-wheeled vehicles the T-360 and S-500. The year also saw an unprecedented increase in the production of Super Cubs, as well as an increase in exports.

Takeo Fujisawa, the senior managing director at the time, talks about this event in the July 1963 company newsletter:
In the period of just fifteen years since the founding of the company, we have made significant progress toward our goal of being an export company. Isn't it fantastic that we were able to realize what was once merely a dream?

Ten years ago, when we imported machinery worth ¥400 million, we decided that anniversary events would be forestalled until we could truly say we'd earned the dollars ourselves.

When we look ambitiously toward the future now, we should never let ourselves be content with what we have at the present. On the occasion of our 15th anniversary, I would like to take the opportunity to renew our confidence and our pledge to that principle.
Fujisawa's words brimmed with enthusiasm for the company's 15th anniversary ceremony and its potential as a motivating force toward progress. The goal, obviously, was to make Honda the single greatest exporter in Japan.

A detailed description of the "Night in an Imaginary International City" plan. The upper-left corner shows the total budget of ¥99,965,300.

The challenge was clearly one the employees were ready to accept, and despite a deadline of only two weeks, an amazing 452 entries were received.

On June 26, a panel of fourteen judges, including Fujisawa as chairman, convened to make its selection. The judges, who had been chosen from recreational organizations at factories and branches, reviewed the entries. The grand prize went to a proposition entitled "Night in an Imaginary International City," submitted by Hamamatsu Factory's First Machinery Section. It entailed renting the city of Kyoto for a celebration by all Honda employees. It was highly praised for the variety of ideas it presented, as well as for the detail present in its planning. The extraordinary idea was accepted, and was awarded a budget of about ¥100 million.
Mr. Fujisawa had significant praise for the concept: "Looking at the ideas that you have all submitted, I saw you as an ever-abundant fountain of wisdom. But the most outstanding idea was that of the First Machinery Section at Hamamatsu Factory, which came up with a thorough, detailed and highly specific plan. I would like to put a high value on your wisdom and effort. You swept us with your award of ¥1.65 million, but I'm not sorry at all. It was well worth it. Use the money in whatever way you'd like.
Upon receiving word of their winning, the members of the First Machinery Section "trembled the moment [they heard the news]," said an employee, "We were so happy. One guy even broke out in hives."

Although they had felt a certain confidence prior to the announcement of a winner, the Hamamatsu employees had never dreamed they would receive the grand prize. Even today, a member of the section that proposed the idea says wistfully, "It was great to receive the award. In many respects, it was a great learning experience to have gone through all that together, in perfecting and submitting our proposal."

A portion of the money the First Machinery Section received was donated to set up traffic lights at a Hime Kaido intersection near the factory. That roadway had been the site of occasional traffic accidents, which the local community had for the most part blamed on Honda. Accordingly, the money was donated as a means of clearing the company's name.

President Soichiro Honda was quoted in the August 1963 Honda newsletter as saying, "Both the senior managing director and I actually like to have fun. In fact, neither of us likes being stingy when it comes to play. So, we want you to enjoy the 15th anniversary event with the attitude that you can have this much fun because you've worked for it. This is magnificent, renting all of Kyoto for this event! I think the experience will be reflected in your work, as well. Play all you want, but play fair and square, because we'll have to keep making big profits in the future."

Recreational groups from the factories and branches quarterbacked the final plans and operations for the 15th anniversary event. Shown here are the "recreational flags" of the factories and branches raised at the entrance to the hall.

According to the original plan, an executive committee made up of employee representatives began planning the celebration. The only request from President Honda was, "Whatever you do, don't cause any problems for the local community." Plans were drawn up with the utmost care and attention, in order that Mr. Honda's wishes be honored.

The plan was to go as follows: Tokyo district employees would use trains, while the Hamamatsu and Suzuka district employees would use buses to take them to Kyoto. Everyone would wear cream-colored shirts and black ties. The eve of the ceremony was to be celebrated at three sites, each of which was to have a distinctly international atmosphere. Each would offer "all you can eat, all you can drink" services with private buses to shuttle people freely among the sites. For the second day, all were to gather at the Kyoto City Gymnasium to attend the anniversary ceremony. The plan was to "Play all you want, and then tighten your belt."

The plan's initial challenge was to procure event halls and lodging for the nearly 8,000 employees who were to attend. To put that in perspective, this was a time when Kyoto's total accommodation capacity was less than 30,000 persons. It was, in fact, common practice to make reservations for groups numbering over 1,000 as much as a year-and-a-half in advance. A reservation for 8,000 would have to be done three or four years in advance. There fore, trying to secure sufficient lodgings with only three months' notice was to be no ordinary feat. Event halls posed similar difficulties. To deal with the situation, several members of the executive committee stationed themselves in Kyoto in order to do everything possible to achieve their goal. They presented the-mselves to the Kyoto Tourism Association whenever there was a slight chance of securing a venue, holding negotiation after negotiation. Finally, the local ryokan (Japanese-style inn) association, impressed with such "young people who were so dedicated to their mission," decided to somehow accommodate them. The number of ryokans rented by Honda was 222-the most in Kyoto's history for one company to have arranged.

Transportation was the next hurdle to cross. In order to avoid traffic tie-ups with all employees arriving at the same time, the employees were divided into nine groups. Arrangements were made to have each group arrive in Kyoto 30 minutes to an hour after the previous group.

Only a portion of the Meishin Expressway was open back in 1963. To calculate the time required to transport Honda's employees to the sites, a test was arranged in which the executive committee had Hamamatsu's Enshu Railways drive buses. But for the dance party to be held at the Kyoto International Hotel on the eve of the ceremony, though, there was an acute shortage of female dance partners, since Honda's employee roster was comprised of about 7,200 men and 500 women. To ease the problem, the committee members visited and negotiated with department stores and women's colleges in Kyoto, ultimately securing another 200 female partners.

Concerns had also been raised regarding violence and riotous acts associated with tourist-oriented towns. With the average age of the participants being only 24 and the number of them very large indeed, the involved parties, including the police and fire departments, were kindly asked to work together to prevent any problems from arising. Eventually, through the hard work and dedication of the executive committee members, the day of the anniversary event finally arrived.

All 8,000 Honda employees gathered at the commemoration ceremony held in the Kyoto City Gymnasium

On September 22, the eve of the commemorative ceremony, the party halls of Yaei Kaikan and Kyoto Kaikan halls held musical, variety, and singing shows featuring first-rate stars, foreign bands, and dancers. The total number of entertainers engaged was 420.

Okazaki Square was festooned with the flags of the world, and featured dome-shaped booths representing countries such as Japan, the United States, France, Italy and China. Colorful paintings depicted scenery from each of these countries. A variety of foods and beers from each nation was displayed at the booths. It was to be a garden party with an open, international flavor. A dance party and shows were held at the Kyoto International Hotel, and beverages from different countries were served.

The sites of celebration were jumping with the men and women of Honda clad in their cream-colored shirts and blouses. With that, the "all you can eat and drink" celebration unfolded. Messrs. Honda and Fujisawa, beer in hand, chatted happily with their employees at the various sites.

Those who participated often recall that it was not easy going to all three places in a single night. Still, as one employee recalls, "It remains in memory as an extraordinarily fun event."

A new employee and recent college graduate who participated in the event described his astonishment this way: "What an awesome company! What is the power behind this organization, which can pull off such an elaborate event? It looks like I've come to work for an extraordinary company."

The violence and trouble that some organizers had feared never materialized, of course. The eve of the ceremony was truly a success all had hoped it would be.

Honda (photo on the left, center) and Fujisawa (photo on the right, center) chat with employees

All 8,000 Honda employees gathered the following day, September 23, at the Kyoto City Gymnasium for the ceremony honoring the company's momentous 15th anniversary. The Kyoto City Fire Department Band was invited to provide music.

The ceremony took place in the gymnasium, in which the employees surrounded a circular podium placed at the center of the floor. The solemn mood was a complete change from the frenzied atmosphere of the All-Honda Friendship Game Finals for table tennis and volleyball, which had been held prior to the ceremony.

The 15th Anniversary Photo Album shows photos of President Honda and Senior Managing Director Fujisawa addressing the audience from the podium, and in their faces one can easily see they were brimming with pride and joy. The caption reads, "At this moment, our trust in the president and senior managing director reached its zenith."

"It's a shame that I can't recall what our Old Man (Honda) told us at the time," a participant recalls, "but I know I couldn't stop trembling. I was simply, overcome with excitement and inspiration."

The event, which had been proposed, planned and implemented by the employees of Honda in commemoration of the company's 15th anniversary, had in fact generated considerable excitement. It was a major force in the unification of employees on behalf of rapid progress for Honda Motor.