As I am sure many of you have heard, on March 11th a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, killing many and ruining the homes of even more. Once the CEO of Honda, Ito Takanobu, found out that one of his employees had perished and 17 others were injured in a building at the company's Tochigi facility on this day, he immediately wanted to help make a difference. Despite the deconstructed state of the county's roads, Ito was determined to make the 100-k (62-mi) trek from Tokyo to Tochigi fast.
Knowing he couldn't really take a car, Ito took his very own Honda CB1100, the flagship of the motorcycle division. According to Ito, the motorcycle was able to navigate through disrupted roads around the facilities in a manner which a car simply wasn't capable. "I saw quite a lot of roads closed right after the quake," Ito told reported at the research center in Hagamachi, Tochigi. "I drove around by my motorcycle from my home, and it worked."
[Dealer Name] would like to note that the Tochigi site was never completely abandoned. Employees from the fragmented building were relocated to a design space in another building on the same site, filling the location to three times the usual capacity. Thanks to these efforts and the adaptability on behalf of both the company and its employees, Honda, was able to resume R&D operations only two weeks after the damage was incurred.
Stay tuned for more Honda news, coming soon. Brandfon Honda, located at 515 West Main Street Branford, CT, is dedicated to keeping you informed.
