Content area
Full text
Breaking a longstanding taboo, tiny Mazda Motor Corp. is finally opening up about its Hiroshima roots, its role in World War II and the atomic bombing of its hometown nearly 70 years ago.
As Japan dug out of the postwar rubble, it was convenient for Mazda to gloss over its role in churning out rifles for Japan's Imperial Army. Later, under the umbrella of Ford Motor Co., Mazda didn't even need to tell its own story.
Now, a newly independent Mazda is touting its heritage in a brand-building push that pries open a painful past. The narrative was first conveyed to outsiders this summer.
Key chapters of this seldom told history include Mazda's debut with three-wheel vehicles in the 1930s, founder Jujiro Matsuda's narrow escape from the 1945 U.S. bombing, and the company's audacious quest to develop and sell cars with rotary engines.
'Ashamed of Hiroshima'
The goals are twofold: to build morale and a sense of purpose among employees and to cement Mazda's image as a scrappy, innovative Japanese survivor.
"We needed to tell our story," says Shinichiro Uetsuki, the corporate communications manager who serves as unofficial company historian.
Mazda's identity, or lack thereof, emerged as a sore point after Ford sold its controlling stake and the companies went...