Q 01/05

In which year did Soichiro Honda found the Honda Technical Research Institute?

A) 1946

B) 1951

C) 1955

D) 1959

Answer · why

A) 1946

He funded it by selling the remains of his piston-ring firm for ¥450,000 after the war.

Q 02/05

What did Soichiro Honda's prewar company Tōkai Seiki make for Toyota?

A) Spark plugs

B) Piston rings

C) Radiators

D) Gearboxes

Answer · why

B) Piston rings

Toyota dropped the first batch for poor quality, then took a 40% stake once the product was fixed.

Q 03/05

Why was Honda's first engine, the A-Type, nicknamed the "Bata Bata"?

A) Its inventor's nickname

B) The sound it made

C) A sponsor's brand

D) Its bat-shaped fins

Answer · why

B) The sound it made

It began as a copy of surplus Tohatsu radio-generator engines bolted onto bicycles.

Q 04/05

Which business partner handled finance and marketing alongside Soichiro Honda until 1973?

A) Kihachiro Kawashima

B) Tadashi Kume

C) Shoichiro Irimajiri

D) Takeo Fujisawa

Answer · why

D) Takeo Fujisawa

The two stepped down together in October 1973 after a partnership that began in 1949.

Q 05/05

What was Honda's first production automobile, launched in August 1963?

A) T360 kei truck

B) S500 roadster

C) N360 minicar

D) L700 van

Answer · why

A) T360 kei truck

Its 356 cc engine slotted it into Japan's cheap kei tax bracket; the S500 sports car followed two months later.