HD Culture Alive and Well in Japan
The Motor Company's relationship with Japan began way back in 1912, with the Model 8A.
Second to None
The Harley-Davidson brand is a common language anywhere in the world. This is especially true in Japan, where a deep-rooted passion for Milwaukee's finest is evident by the largest H.O.G. membership outside of the United States. With over one-hundred dealerships scattered across the nation's islands and a long and storied history, Japan's dedication to the Motor Company is second to none.
Import Orders
The Motor Company's relationship with Japan began when the Japanese Army purchased a few 1912 Model 8A motorcycles for 'evaluation' purposes. A decade later, Nippon Jidoshe, a Tokyo import company, ordered a number of 1922 Model J examples. By 1924, Nippon Jidoshe had placed two more large orders, but without requesting spare parts on both occasions.
Photos courtesy of Mecum Auction.
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Planned Dealership
The lack of spare parts orders bothered Harley-Davidson brass, given their early commitment to after-sales support. To remedy the situation, the Motor Company sent Alfred Rich Child to Japan in mid-1924 to sort out the situation. He was tasked with establishing a proper distribution network with Baron Kishichiro Okura, head of Nippon Jidoshe. Child arrived in Japan to find a mess.
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Trading Company
Distributors were competing over sales territory and stealing each other's shipments, all of which contravened the Motor Company's business policies. Negotiations with Okura did not go as planned, but Child had befriended Genjiro Fukui, founder of the Sankyo Pharmaceutical Co., and head of the Koto Trading Co. Together, Child and Fukui managed to set up the lucrative Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Sales Company of Japan.
Photos courtesy of Yesterdays.
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Severed Ties
With the onset of the global economic crisis in 1929, a devalued Yen, and new import tariffs, Harley-Davidson decided to manufacture its motorcycles in Japan. The result was the Shinagawa factory in Tokyo that produced the infamous Rikuo — a rebranded Harley-Davidson. In August 1937, Japan invaded China, and the Motor Company's ties with Japan were severed. It took until 1962, for the MoCo to re-establish its dealership network in Japan.
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Unique Lifestyle
From restaurant toilets that play music, to vending machines that dispense entire pizzas, Japanese commercial culture has been described as fascinating, if not a bit crazy. In a Japantoday interview from 2011, Christian Walters, then head of Japanese Motor Company operations, stated that his customers love the “look, sound and feel” of a Harley-Davidson, something that “represents freedom, self-expression and an opportunity to be part of a unique lifestyle.”
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Vintage Custom
The Japanese obsession with Harley-Davidson is driven by passion. Labeled by The New York Times as “Just like Sturgis, but serving sushi with the corn dogs,” the 20,000-plus attendees at the Blue Sky Heaven Rally at the Fuji Speedway serve as a testament to this lust. The pursuit of vintage and custom Harley-Davidsons is another, notably through builders such as Shinya Kimura, who grew to renown during the popular Biker Build-Off series.
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Permanent Display
The Motor Company's bond with Japan is perhaps best embodied by the 'Tsunami Bike.' Belonging to Ikuo Yokoyama, the 2004 Night Train washed up on Canada's shores in a shipping container after Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. On permanent display at the Harley-Davidson Museum, primary curator Kristen Jones summed it up by stating, “Objects communicate things that sometimes words don’t do justice for.”
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