Yamaha engineers smiles Moving You | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Vol. 19 No Dig, No Ride: Japan; July 12, 2024; The town of Morimachi in the Shuchi District of Shizuoka Prefecture is where the Yamaha PAS—the world’s first electrically power-assisted bicycle—was born in 1993, making it the hometown of the eBike. Today, the town still continues to manufacture drive units for eBikes, which have grown markedly more popular around the world since then. In 2022, a collaborative effort between a group of mountain bike enthusiasts and the local Morimachi community bore fruit with the opening of the Million Petal Bike Park in one of its forests, and their work is drawing significant attention from other communities and municipalities across Japan that are similarly searching for ways to make effective use of their forests.

Vol. 18 Local Lifegiving Waters: Japan; August 24, 2023; Lake Hamana is a brackish lake that lies in western Shizuoka Prefecture that mixes with the flows of the neighboring Pacific Ocean. Since 1958 when Yamaha Motor entered the marine products business, countless models have been brought to life on this lake and sent on their way to waters around the world. As one way of showing thanks to this local lake that births so many Yamaha marine products and to protect its rich natural environment, some 100 employees from Yamaha’s marine business take to the lake with the products they plan, develop, and market to participate in an annual cleanup event, learning and passing on the techniques and spirit of seamanship at the same time.

Vol. 17 Donating to an African Dream: Cote d’Ivoire; January 12, 2023; Yamaha Motor made its first steps into Africa with its business in the 1960s. Spearheading the company’s efforts on the continent is the Overseas Market Development Operations (OMDO) Business Unit. The men and women in OMDO have long been heading out into the field themselves, discovering various societal issues and working to devise solutions for them. One program in motion today is to donate 10,000 soccer balls to children in countries across Africa over a decade-long period, and the next batch of shiny new balls were recently delivered to a sports club in Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa.

Vol. 16 There for That First Ride: Japan; January 15, 2020; We want the first encounter with motorcycles to bring the happiest of smiles, and we want the anticipation, tension and sense of accomplishment shared by children and their parents/guardians in that experience to be one they will always cherish. Under a clear blue sky, the children face the first motorcycle they will ever ride. The Yamaha instructor gives the more nervous-looking ones bright words of encouragement, and when they later happily shout, “I did it!” she flashes a big smile and raises her hand for a high five. At each Parent-Child Motorcycle Class, you can hear her energetic voice reaching the ears of children ready for their first ride.

Vol. 15 Sharing Dreams: Australia; September 30, 2019; Children’s dreams know no bounds. Once they find something they can’t take their minds or eyes off of, somewhere they want to go or what they want to be, that genuine aspiration becomes what drives them as they grow and mature under the watchful and caring eyes of their parents.
Zane Burchell has his eyes fixed on one thing—going to the AMA in the United States to compete with some of the best dirt track racers in the world.
And one man from Yamaha Motor is the one working this field of dreams, nurturing the seeds of Yamaha Blue and helping them grow on dirt bike tracks across Australia.

Vol. 14 Hands Like His Father: Inheriting Skills and Spirit: Taiwan; December 25, 2018; At the biennial Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix, there was still a youthful look to the motorcycle mechanic representing Taiwan. This story is about a father and son who strove to be the best in the world at their profession, the respect and gratitude held by the young man for his father, and of their passion and pride as motorcycle mechanics.

Vol. 13 Challenge, Ascend, Overcome. Youthful Passion to the World.: France / Belgium; September 28, 2018; Inside Yamaha’s R&D departments there is a climate that encourages spontaneous, independent research. There, efforts are being made to expand engineers’ horizons so that they can facilitate innovation with Yamaha style. This is the story of how one amateur trials-riding engineer got his colleagues involved in his passion, and went on to form a team that took on the challenge to be the best in the world.

Vol. 12 Quenching Thirst, Hand in Hand: Republic of Senegal; June 22, 2018; The Senegal River flows from headwaters in the Guinea Highlands and at each of ten villages scattered around the river’s watershed in northern Senegal, work is underway for installing new Yamaha Clean Water Supply Systems. Permanent access to the clean water the systems will provide means healthier, happier lives for everyone. If the water changes, lives will change. The water station is a gathering place for the villagers and is lively again today with laughter and conversation.

Vol. 11 Make the Wind Your Ally: Japan; December 27, 2017; As the cold of winter approaches the seaside town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture, six sailors and their instructor are about the only ones at this marina that is typically empty on weekdays. Fueled by a burning ambition, they are the members of YAMAHA Sailing Team ‘Revs,’ and they compete in internationally-certified 470 Class sailing dinghies. As they slice through the waves with the wind in their sails, the team has its eyes focused on a single goal—2020.

Vol. 10 Skill India: Schools for India’s Dreamers: India; March 16, 2017; Yamaha Training Schools (YTS) are open to young people in India who otherwise wouldn’t have the means or opportunity to study or receive vocational training, and they provide training and instruction for them to become certified motorcycle technicians. These schools are being opened throughout India and young people, each with their own personal dreams and goals, make the daily trip to learn each day. We visited a young man in his late teens learning the skills of a mechanic at the YTS in the southeastern city of Chennai. He studies with fervor and purpose; he wants to work as a professional mechanic so that he can help send his younger brother to school, and also buy a house so his parents can live at ease.

Vol. 9 Northern Mongolia’s Durable Duo: Mongolia; October 31, 2016; There are 99 national parks spread across Mongolia. Protecting the natural beauty and wildlife of these parks from poachers and illegal campers are some 400 rangers at work nationwide. Often living in the harsh environments of these wildlands, these rangers patrol the vast stretches of wilderness using small utility motorcycles as their means of transportation. To check on the Yamaha AG200s procured for the rangers by the Mongol Ecology Center non-governmental organization, a member of Yamaha’s International Cooperation Group visits Lake Hovsgol for the first time in a year.

Vol. 8 "A Desert Christmas": United States of America; September 10, 2014; The Glamis Dunes are located in the southeastern-most corner of the state of California in the United States and extend into the state of Arizona and on into Mexico. The beautiful dunes here are a virtual paradise for off-road motorcycle and ATV riders, and on the weekends and holidays they become the playground for crowds of off-road enthusiasts and their families and friends. It is a scene of unrestrained recreation, with dynamic riding under clear blue skies in the daytime and relaxing dinners around a campfire at night. In these gatherings, you can sense the same type of American spirit of adventure, fun and close-knit bonds with family and friends that drove the pioneering of the American West over a century ago.

Vol. 7 Made in Mauritania: An Instructor-trainee Relationship without Borders: Islamic Republic of Mauritania; May 28, 2014; At a recently completed boatbuilding factory in a port city in northwestern Mauritania, production has started on a long-awaited new type of fishing boat that carries the hopes of people here for the development of a prosperous fishing industry. Instructing the factory’s employees in the construction methods and expertise needed to build these new boats is a veteran engineer from Japan with the spirit of a true craftsman. At times, he is strict and demanding, but at other times, he shows embracing warmth, communicating the intricacies of the boatbuilding process and sharing the great excitement and satisfaction when the job is done.

Vol. 6 Supporting lives and livelihoods of peoples of the Far North: Russian Federation; January 31, 2014; In the harsh natural environment of Russia’s northern regions, the peoples here continue to follow their traditional nomadic lifestyle of raising and herding reindeer. For these peoples, snowmobiles are necessities of life, and a recently opened Yamaha dealership in a city north of the Arctic Circle is now there to supply them. This is the story of a Yamaha man who came to the land of the northern peoples, with a respect for their native lifestyle and a desire to learn their ways and customs as he supplies the Yamaha products and service they want and need.

Vol. 5 The engine control engineer linking Rossi with his YZR-M1: Germany / Japan; October 26, 2013; MotoGP is the pinnacle of world championship motorcycle road racing. It is where the star riders of the world compete all-out for victory and where the engineers pour all of their intellect into perfecting a single machine. Here we introduce the engineer who analyzes the enormous amounts of machine data and weaves it like silk into the engine’s control systems to allow Valentino Rossi to put his legendary riding ability to work in its entirety.

Vol. 4 Spreading the word about the "mentality and skills" of safety: Brazil; June 28, 2013; The Yamaha Riding Academy is one of Yamaha's global promotional activities, designed to raise safety awareness and teach people how to use their Yamaha products properly. Its Chief Instructor travels all over the world, always taking his favorite helmet along - a "missionary" for new motorcycling experiences.

Vol. 3 A smile seeing off another's smile. The skill and pride of a mechanic: Vietnam / Japan; December 27, 2012; The spirit of "One-to-One Service" is about creating and strengthening the bonds with each and every customer. It is the guideline and mindset shared by all Yamaha motorcycle mechanics around the world. Having been crowned world champion and returning to his home country of Vietnam in triumph, this man was also an embodiment of "One-to-One Service."

Vol. 2 Grow up strong and healthy! Fifty-two Miles of Adventure at Sea: Japan; October 18, 2012; Summer vacation's last training session for open-sea sailing. The children attending the yacht school at Hayama set off on a challenging adventure at sea, heading for the island of Oshima. Working together with their fellow sailors, the children went on to become stronger and stronger through their experiences in the natural environment out on the water.

Vol. 1 Working to Change Water and Lives in Africa: Republic of Senegal; July 24, 2012; This is an account about how a Yamaha water filtration system was set up in a small village in West Africa. When we visited the water drawing station that the villagers now manage and operate on their own, the sound of joyous laughter greets our ears.