September 24 marks Honda’s founding in 1948. For its 78th anniversary, we revisit founder and engineer Sōichirō Honda’s message about joy for makers, sellers and customers.
造って喜び、売って喜び、買って喜ぶ Tsukutte yorokobi, utte yorokobi, katte yorokobu. Joy in making, joy in selling, joy in buying.
Sōichirō Honda · 本田宗一郎 (Honda Sōichirō) Honda founder and engineer
Writing to employees in December 1951, Honda explained his Three Joys: satisfaction for those making the product, those selling it and those buying it. He linked makers’ technical skill and pride to products that sellers could recommend and customers would be glad to use.
Language note: 造る (tsukuru), 売る (uru), 買う (kau): make, sell, buy. Their te-forms are tsukutte, utte, katte. 喜ぶ (yorokobu) means feel joy; 喜び (yorokobi) links the first two clauses and also means “joy” as a noun.
Who makes, delivers and uses your work? Consider what would bring each of them satisfaction.
Practice: 使う人の喜びを考えて、つくろう。 Tsukau hito no yorokobi o kangaete, tsukurō. Let's make things with the user's happiness in mind.
Sources: Honda — Three Joys, original staff message: https://global.honda/jp/sustainability/report/pdf/2013/2013-03.pdf#page=3 Honda — history of the Three Joys: https://www.honda.co.jp/powerproducts-brand/ja/history/ Honda — company founding history: https://global.honda/jp/guide/history-digest/75years-history/chapter1/section1/