Throughout the last 100 years of its development, Mazda and the city of Hiroshima has been in hands together to overcome the nuclear tragedy of 1945 and become the symbol of modern-day Japan.
The city of Hiroshima is highly linked to the nuclear tragedy of World War II when the United States Air Force decided to throw two nuclear bombs into Japan, and one of two bombs was sent to Hiroshima. After the incident, the city was left with dust and destruction. Meanwhile, Mazda manufacturer-the famous manufacturer of Japan-was also impacted by the incident. However, instead of giving up, Mazda and the city of Hiroshima joined hands and together re-built their homeland from zero.
The fighting spirit of the car manufacturer and the city of Hiroshima help the city revise from zero to hero. The reborn of Hiroshima and Mazda all started in Mukainada, where Mazda placed their manufacturer.
Mukainada-Spirit to get through the challenging time
Mazda manufacturer placed their headquarters and their factories in Hiroshima, and obviously, the Japanese brand could not avoid suffering from the effect of the nuclear tragedy. After the nuclear incident of 1945, Mazda has lost 119 employees, and they had 355 injured employees. The factory of Mazda placed in Mukainada, only a little bit far away from “Ground Zero’ the place that the U.S. Air Force threw their bomb into.
Luckily, the Hijiyama mountain has covered for the factory, and the casualties were not so impactful.
It only took Mazda 4 months from recovering their manufacturing. The Mazda-Go, the famous 3-wheels truck of them, continued to appear on the market as nothing has happened. The recovery of Mazda is not simply a heroic story of passion and dedication, but it also symbolizes the fighting spirit of Hiroshima. Even if the city had to rebuild from zero, they were willing to do so with a humble heart.
Nowadays, that spirit of Mazda is called with an honorable name “Mukainada Spirit” which is named after the Mukainada factory.
Struggling in the 1990s, but not giving up
In the 1990s, because of the financial struggle and the global economic crisis, most of the stakes of Mazda were sold to Ford, the American car manufacturer. The leader of Ford, Henry Wallace, then took after the manufacturer in 1996. At that time, business and economics journalists assumed that Mazda could lose everything to the American manufacturer.
Nonetheless, thanks to the investment from the American and the innovative technology, Mazda once again rebuilt themselves and Zoom-Zoom was the announcement that Mazda has recovered from the struggle. In the 21st century, Mazda gradually got back control from Ford, and as a result, Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 were produced. Finally, the Japanese brand proved that the humble spirit can overcome anything.
Before becoming a global car brand, Mazda started as a can cork producer, a modest beginning. But with that modest beginning, the brand started to create its impact in the homeland, Hiroshima. Then from the homeland, it expressed the impact on other markets and became a successful manufacturer worldwide.