The first Mazda, 1931.
For CC readers in the U.S., of a certain age, this post title can be put to the tune of “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet”. Now I don’t want to make light of atom bombs; the results of using them are awful, and the effects of radiation exposure can be horrifying.
Hiroshima town center, August 1945.
The first atomic bomb used in war, on August 6th, 1945, was in the city of Hiroshima. The blast wiped the center of town off the face of the map, down to the raw dirt. One structure was still standing in the central city, though it was a shell of a building, after the bombing. It later was dedicated as a peace memorial, and stands today as a relic and a reminder of what happened on that August day. It is estimated that about 140,000 people died, either from the blast itself or due to radiation poisoning. That represents about 40% of Hiroshima’s pre-bomb population. Has a city ever suffered such a high percentage of civilian casualties in modern wartime? Likely not. This is a story about the long-term recovery and rebirth of the city of Hiroshima, thanks in part to the production of cars and trucks. Fish and baseball play a part in our story as well, and they are all related, in this case. The recovery story could be told in six sentences or so, covering a couple of paragraphs with an attached graph, but the tale can be much richer and more meandering than that. Let’s take the long way around, pull in some odd aspects to it, and come out the other side of our story with a bit more under our belts, shall we?
The Toyo Cork Kogyo manufacturing plant, Hiroshima, 1921.
Before World War Two, Hiroshima was the capital of the area prefecture (think county or state), with a long history along the river and the ocean. It was a trading center, and manufacturing began to grow in the city in the early 20th Century.
Toyo Kogyo manufactured mining drills and hammers, as well as machine tools, well into its tenure as an auto and truck maker.
One start-up business, in the early 1920’s, was a maker of fishing net floats made of cork, among other things, named “Toyo Cork Kogyo Co, Ltd.”. It became the family business of the Matsuda family. In 1931, Toyo Kogyo, having dropped the cork business and “Cork” from its name, began to manufacture small three-wheeled trucks, branded “Mazda” (“Mazda” – a Zoroastrian deity of wisdom, while the family name, “Matsuda”, was very close in pronunciation).
Other Japanese cities were heavily bombed in World War Two, but Hiroshima avoided such a fate, at least until 1945. Rifles for the war effort were manufactured in the Toyo Kogyo factory, but different war materials produced in other Japanese cities were considered more important for the Allies to attack.
There are stories surrounding Toyo Kogyo, the Matsuda family, and the Bomb. One tale tells of Mr. Matsuda insisting on an early haircut, ahead of the others in the barber shop in the town center, as he needed to get to the factory. His early haircut got him out of town before the blast went off. Another has the Toyo Kogyo factory situated behind a couple of small hills, east of the city center, thus protecting the facility from the bomb blast. In any case, both the Matsuda patriarch and the production facility remained intact, ready to get back to work at the conclusion of the war.
The modern Mazda manufacturing facilities. The two small hills in the background deflected most of the atomic blast in 1945.
The ornamental goldfish, known as “koi” or also “carp” in the Japanese language, holds a special place in the culture. Beginning in the early 19th Century, carp began to be bred for color and appearance in Japan. Wild carp was also a food staple, and both koi and wild carp are and were symbols of good fortune and perseverance. On the annual “Children’s Day” in Japan, on May 5th, carp kites or banners are flown around the country.
Koi or carp kites.
The oldest major structure in Hiroshima, called “Hiroshima Castle”, was also known as “Carp Castle”. Wild carp swimming in the water elements of the castle grounds were considered good luck and their presence was a symbol of good fortune. When the carp returned to the area of the destroyed Carp Castle in the late 1940s, after their absence for a few years, it was considered a sign of better days ahead. The surviving citizens of Hiroshima, eking out a living in a subsistence local economy, and trying to put their lives and their city back together, seized upon such symbols in a big way, more so than perhaps at other times and under better circumstances.
Ornamental koi or carp.
In the meantime, baseball had become popular in Japan in the 1920s, and teams were established in many major Japanese cities. These teams were typically owned by area companies, unlike sports teams in the U.S., which are almost always owned by wealthy individuals and families. Hiroshima, before the war, was a blue-collar working city and had not established a team. However, after the war, city leaders decided that a baseball team was a good way to help rebuild the city over time, and add happy occasions to the desperate lives of the citizenry. Unlike other cities, Hiroshima raised the funds necessary to field a team through public subscription, rather than through the largess of a corporate sponsor.
The Hiroshima Carp baseball team, celebrating a win in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
Here is where the various parts of the story begin to come together. The city leaders agreed to call the team the “Carp”, in honor of the local fish and their return to Hiroshima after the war. The public subscription was enough to field a team, but barely so. Players and coaches were recruited from neighborhood high schools and the local area (Hiroshima had an ongoing reputation as a source of great Japanese baseball players). Nevertheless, finances remained strained, and the team could barely pay its players or buy uniforms. The team consistently lost almost all of its games. One element of Japanese baseball, at the time, was that the team winning the game took home 70% of the gate receipts (ticket sales proceeds), and the losing team 30%. As this was the primary means of keeping the team financially intact and the bills paid, the losing record meant that the Carp took home relatively little from the ticket sales. A number of public subscriptions were offered, but a losing record and an ongoing desperate local economy meant that local financial offerings were few. The team finally resorted to placing empty sake barrels outside of the gates to the field (think halves of wine or whisky barrels). Donations on game days raised just enough additional money to keep the team from failure.
Game day donations from the sake barrels are presented to a humble team manager, 1950s.
In the meantime, Toyo Kogyo, led by the Matsuda family, continued to build the small trucks, and added ever larger and more capable trucks to the line-up over time. The largest three-wheelers, the T-2000s, stood six and a half feet tall and could carry two tons on a twelve-foot truck bed. See CC Capsule: 1965 Mazda T1500 – Sumo Trike for more on these mega-mini trucks. Small cars, dubbed “kei” cars, were added to the mix in 1960. As Japanese prosperity increased in the 1960s, larger cars and trucks of new designs were added to the product line. As the largest employer in Hiroshima, Toyo Kogyo was vital to the economic recovery of the city, providing jobs and a means for people in the city to recover and prosper. The people of the city valued (and still value today) the manufacture of Mazda vehicles as an important element of the city.
The Mazda production line, late 1930s.
The smaller 360-based truck, late 1950s and early 1960s.
The largest variant, the T-2000.
The 360 Coupe, early 1960s. The small cars and three-wheel trucks brought prosperity to Mazda and Hiroshima.
The 360 engine room, in the rear.
The Hiroshima Carp baseball team continued to struggle on the field, but the financial circumstances had stabilized over time, though in an economically stringent sort of way, due to the unique civic ownership structure of the team. They usually lost the games on the field, but they were Hiroshima’s own team, and the city and the people made sure there was just enough to keep the team on the field. Come 1968, the ongoing success of the Toyo Kogyo company, and their cars and trucks, brought sponsorship to the baseball team, which was renamed the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (a name which, while the “Toyo” part is not generally used in conversation, is still the official name of the team today). “Toyo” is the first part of the “Toyo Kogyo” corporate name (which itself is long gone, other than as the “Toyo” element in the name of the baseball team). Keep in mind that Toyo Kogyo’s involvement remained as team sponsors, not team owners.
The first Familia, a move up from the 360cc cars, late 1960s. The R-100 was the rotary variant of the Familia.
While the team uniforms had read “Carp” in various styles and colors over the years, the jerseys added “Toyo” to the left sleeve. In the early 1970s, a red-and-white color scheme and “Carp” logos were introduced, the bright colors being a bold move in tradition-bound Japanese baseball. The Carp players became known as the “Akaheru”, or “red helmets”. They also began to win games and they became quite competitive.
Celebrating another win. These red and white uniforms were adopted in the early 1970s and continue today.
We know Mazda from the RX-7 and the other rotary-powered cars, and the later popular GLC/323 and the MX-5 Miata. But it was the three-wheel trucks and the kei cars that really established the brand. The rotaries put Mazda on the map in the U.S., but they also almost broke the company. Only banker forbearance and government support saved the day for Mazda (and for Hiroshima) in the mid-1970s.
The Familia/323/GLC was a best-seller that led Mazda’s recovery back from the 1970s rotary engine debacle.
Over time, the Matsuda family stepped away from its controlling holding in Toyo Kogyo, as significant portions of the company were sold to Ford. In 1984, the “Toyo Kogyo” name was dropped in favor of “Mazda Motors Corp”.
In the meantime, the Matsuda family had accumulated majority ownership in the Toyo Carp baseball team over the years. Again, this was unheard of in professional Japanese baseball, where corporations held majority interests in the teams. The Matsudas sold off the car business, but they kept the baseball team.
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp went on to win games and championships, and Mazda, the corporation, sponsored the construction of a new, state-of-the-art baseball stadium in 2009. The team is the pride of the city, which is fully decked out in red and white during baseball season, and especially on home game days. Tickets to the stadium are often hard to get, so popular is the team. It is said that the intensity of the fan stadium experience and support for their team is arguably unrivaled by any other baseball team in Japan, and perhaps in the world.
Mazda Stadium, built 2009, home of the Hiroshima Carp.
All is as right as can be in Hiroshima. The Peace Memorial still stands and receives visitors daily, and the city is prosperous and growing. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp, still owned by the Matsuda family, have risen to respected status in Japanese baseball circles, and the fans in Hiroshima really enjoy their baseball. Mazda has built a state-of-the-art factory complex east of town, and over a million Mazdas are built and sold each year.
And the wild carp, symbols of good fortune and perseverance, still ply the waters along the shores of the city of Hiroshima.
Loved those GLC’s.
I noticed a curious detail on the top picture, of the cargo motorbike: On the tank is the word «Mazda» but also what looks like the three diamonds of the Mitsubishi logo! Has anyone an explanation?
To Asgeir’s question—Mazda manufactured the trucks, but they were distributed by Mitsubishi in the first years of production. Later, Mazda distributed the trucks themselves and the Mitsubishi three diamonds were dropped from the emblem.
Thank you for the enlightenment!
Great write up. Mazda has always been the most interesting of the Japanese manufacturers.
Thanks for this; I was not very familiar with the origins of Mazda except the broad strokes.
Many CC readers are likely quite familiar with the origins and history of the North American big three, and major European manufacturers. Probably not so familiar with Japanese companies, myself included. So thank you very much for this enlightening history of Mazda, a company I admire for their willingness to take risks, and produce cars fun to drive.
Interesting stuff!
One obscure factoid related to this story is that GE trademarked the Mazda name in 1909 in connection with tungsten filament light bulbs, and sold bulbs under the Mazda name until 1945. GE licensed the name name to Toshiba, which used it for lighting applications while Toyo Kogyo used the name for vehicles.
I found this old ad
Here’s an interesting photographic tidbit. A Mazda rotary engine rotor housing (something novel in the first place) being machined by a machine tool of Toyo Kogyo’s own manufacture, back in 1967. How many car companies can boast of manufacturing their cars using their own tools?
Nice story.
Before August 1945, Hiroshima was Japan’s war headquarters. Hiroshima was where the Japanese government governed when it defeated China, Korea, Russia and tamed the French, British and Australians. Hiroshima’s major industry were the aggressive wars fought by the Japanese from 1880-1945. Millions of lives were destroyed by the Japanese during their many aggressive wars for expansion. Connected families in Hiroshima prospered under government war contracts. This ended August 1945. The Japanese war machine was gone. In its place was Japanese democracy and US aid. How Japan rebuilt itself is miraculous, and America helped them for twenty years.
That said, Mazda has always made good vehicles. My first experience with them was through their partnership with Ford Motor Company. The Ford Courier was a Mazda. Then I had a Mazda designed Ford Festiva, one of my favorite cars. At no point would I not have considered a Mazda as a personal vehicle. They’re good cars. However, auto history is filled with good car companies that didn’t succeed. Mazda has struggled for many years. I like them better than other Japanese brands. Yet, I am in a minority and this good company, from a now peaceable city, is fighting to stay afloat. I hope they succeed.
In response to VanillaDude (my reply feature won’t link up), Toyota now owns a piece of Mazda, as it does some other Japanese car manufacturers (Subaru comes to mind). So far, the Japanese system (which incorporates a lot of coordination between the government, the banks, and the companies themselves) has seen fit to keep a multiplicity of car and truck manufacturers alive and going.
If Mazda were to fail, the pieces would likely be picked up by Toyota. Whether it meant new Toyotas or new Mazdas (or new cars of some other nameplate) being built in Hiroshima, the survival of the Hiroshima factory (and the all-important local jobs) would likely stay intact. As the Mazda Hiroshima facility is considered “state of the art” in many ways, the near term future seems bright for new cars and light trucks to still be made in Hiroshima, no matter what name is over the door.
That said, I root for Mazda, and I root for many manufacturers to remain out there, giving us as much variety, innovation, and improvement as can be had by a car buyer.
The Ford Courier was a Mazda-sourced design first offered under the Mazda nameplate in the late 1960s, as Mazda expanded its light truck lines into four-wheeled trucks from the three-wheeled version, and from Kei trucks into larger versions. It was considered a solid and dependable truck, despite the usual-for-the-day propensity to rust. Given that Mazda had a truck-building background from its vehicular day-one, it should be no surprise that the Courier was a very well-executed vehicle.
The Mazda-badged version of the truck, through the mid-1970s, retained the ‘50s lettering style embossed nameplate on the tailgate, for some reason. The name stencil has graduated to a much swoopier version, long before. David Saunders caught an example at a car show in 2013.
Here’s the anachronistic tailgate.
Terrific article! Other than knowing that Mazda originated in Hiroshima, this was all new material to me.
And I love team names like Carp, that have unique local significance.
Fascinating back story here .
-Nate
I didn’t realize they actually chose the name “Mazda” to refer to Ahura Mazda. That’s neat, and the connection with the guiding family makes sense as well. A lot better than various alternatives I can imagine – “Kogyopet”, “Toyosun”, etc.
I visited Hiroshima on a family trip to Japan in 2019. It’s a lovely city. The setting on the water reminds me of Seattle and San Francisco.
As part of the visit, we took the free Mazda factory tour, which also included the Mazda Museum. I showed the tour guide a picture of my Miata. I highly recommend it if you’re in the part of the world.
In addition to cork, machinery and cars, Toyo Kogyo made Arisaka rifles for a while although I forget whether they made Type 38, Type 99 or both. This was typical of wartime use of engineering firms, Albion Trucks in the UK made Enfield revolvers, various GM divisions made M1 carbines alongside several office machinery companies and the M3 submachinegun was designed and made by GM’s Guide Lamp Division.
Mazda’s timing was fortunate since Thomas Edison’s Mazda Lamp trademark was out of use but the light bulbs may have inspired the Matsudas. I am curious if Mazda is more or less popular among Zoroastrians for bearing a god’s name.
A lot more behind the history of Mazda than I had realized.
One slight correction; the Familia in your photo is the second generation. The first Familia was the Corvair-influenced 1963-8 generation, a Bertone design penned by one Giorgetto Giugiaro, badged for export as the Mazda 800. A friend had one when I was in my teens.