Story how the founder of Mazda survived Hiroshima atomic bombing

"KnowsAboutCars" (knowsaboutcars) 09/26/2014 at 05:29 • Filed to: history, mazda

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Jujiro Matsuda, the founder of Mazda, might not have survived WWII if he hadn't made it to his regular barber just before another customer. This rarely told story was written on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by Hans Greimel after Mazda's official historian told it to him.

The day of the attack just happened to be the birthday of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. And in keeping with Japanese tradition, he ventured downtown for a customary birthday haircut bright and early, as the Enola Gay B-29 bomber buzzed toward its target.

As he approached his regular barber, another customer was also racing for the door. But being the aggressive businessman he was, Matsuda quickened his pace and managed to stick his leg in first. He was the day's lead-off trim, right at 7:30 a.m.

Without a wait, he was on his well-coiffed way in half an hour.

Good timing. At 8:16 a.m., the Little Boy uranium bomb exploded above a point in the city just 50 yards from Matsuda's barber, in a blinding 10,000-degree fireball that unleashed a devastating shockwave and uncontrollable conflagration.

By that time, though, Matsuda had made it back across town to around the current location of the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, home to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp professional baseball team.

The shock wave blew his car from the street and ejected him and his driver from the vehicle. But they were still alive. The same couldn't be said for some 60,000-80,000 others who perished in the attack and ensuing days.

Among the victims was the younger of his two sons.

Amazingly, the factory and headquarters of his company, then called Toyo Kogyo Co., was mostly unscathed. A mountain between it and the hypocenter shielded the plant from most of the blast.

First page of Mazda Carol 360 brochure from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Tapas > KnowsAboutCars 09/26/2014 at 10:04

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Knowsaboutcars knows about cars :)

signintoburnerlol > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 11:40

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Interesting.

Did he have a dislike of American culture by any chance?

Kaufmania: Mark Webber's Stunt Double > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 13:53

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I suddenly have a completely different view of the bombing....

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 14:35

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I'm not so sure how beneficial the atom bombs are now.

TeufelTheDog > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 14:52

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Our Miatas are produced 3 miles from the hypocenter.

Iwaswonderofwonders > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 09/27/2014 at 14:57

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Still much controversy on this. There was a faction at Los Alamos who wanted to do a demonstration bombing in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese to show the power of the bomb - as a warning. Of course, only two fully functional bombs existed at the time. Truman over ruled them and decided to go for a strike to end the war earlier and forego an invasion.

Dake > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 15:05

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Everyone knows Mazda made refrigerators!

SnowBallin > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 09/27/2014 at 15:05

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Unfortunately we had to sacrifice a few for the good of the whole.

If the USA didnt drop The Bomb a bloody, lengthy war would have ensued. It's a dark piece of history

mrbwa1 > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 15:09

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When we bought a new mazda, they sent out a little magazine quartely to owners for a few years. There was a story abooit how the Mazda factoru was rhe largest remaining infrastructure in Hiroshima and ended up housing government, a hospital, school and other functions to help out the city.

My great uncle who was in the navy in WWII was strongly against made in Japan things, however he had no words when he found out ours was made in Hiroshima.

NSUAnglia > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 15:25

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Those mazda carols were impressive. Talk about space efficiency. 3,054 mm with four doors. Check mate austin.

Chaparral2F > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 15:53

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Great little article here. That momentous haircut shaped his future destiny. I actually remember when Mazda had the Cosmo Sport, a Japanese Lotus. Soon after, there were the RX2s, RS3s and RX4s with rotaries, which were the polar opposite of big, heavy, gas sucking V8 American cars. I wanted one of them so badly, but being short on cash has a way of deferring purchases. Also, one has to admire Matsuda's entrepreneurial effort in post WW2 Japan. So glad we had Mr. Matsuda around.

360ad > SnowBallin 09/27/2014 at 15:56

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All the more reason to contemplate deeply about calling for war... Something my fellow Americans fail to do all too often. Too easily persuaded into war, and too short of an attention span to stick to one and see things through. Hastily in, hastily out. Nothing but a mess for generations to come.

Texican > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 16:25

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I'll be honest, when I saw the Hiroshima tag on my old Miata back in the day, I figured this was an oblique reference to a mushroom cloud....

KnowsAboutCars > Texican 09/27/2014 at 16:35

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o.o Can't unsee.

Sir HoonsAlot > SnowBallin 09/27/2014 at 16:46

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Had to choose the lesser of 2 evils

svtmakesitbetter > SnowBallin 09/27/2014 at 16:48

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You're absolutely right. Estimates for casualties in Operation Downfall (the invasion of Japan) puts allied losses between 500,000 people and 1.5 million people. Japanese casualties were estimated at up to 10 million people.

The use of the bombs was designed to show the emperor that the U.S. has the capability to completely destroy Japan with minimal effort and that fighting back was pointless.

Chaos-cascade > SnowBallin 09/27/2014 at 16:49

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Actually that is sort of the "weapons of mass destruction" propaganda they sold the American people at the time. There is evidence to suggest they were already looking to surrender at the time.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/boo…

and this from an interview with historian Peter Kuznick:

" PETER KUZNICK: It made no sense because the Japanese were already defeated. They were looking for a way out of the war. United States knew they were defeated. Truman refers to the intercepted July 18th telegram as "the telegram from the Jap emperor asking for peace." The United States—

AMY GOODMAN: From the Japanese emperor asking for peace.

PETER KUZNICK: The Japanese, yeah, but that was called—he says "the Jap emperor asking for peace," is Truman's exact words on that. Everybody else knew that they were militarily defeated and looking for a way out. But the people who knew that the best were the Russians, because they were trying to get the Russians to intervene on their behalf to get them better surrender terms, and also because—their strategy was to welcome American invasion and then to conflict heavy damages and then force better surrender terms. But once the Russians invaded, then that undermined both their diplomatic strategy and their military strategy. So that was what really ended the war. It was not the bombing. We had already been bombing Japanese cities. We had firebombed over a hundred cities. Destruction reached 99.5 percent of the city of Toyama. From the Japanese standpoint, whether it was 200 bombs—200 planes and a thousand bombs or one plane and one bomb didn't change the equation. But the Soviet invasion fundamentally changed it, and that's what forced the final surrender."

UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: TV SERIES

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvid…

WhereAreMyPants > Chaos-cascade 09/27/2014 at 16:55

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That isn't exactly a credible source, mate.

Chaos-cascade > WhereAreMyPants 09/27/2014 at 17:12

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Which sources are you referring to? Oliver Stone, The New York Times or the Professor of History with the PHD from Rutgers? How about Truman's chief of staff or General Curtis LeMay?

(Admiral William Leahy, Truman's chief of staff, found the "Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender…The use of this barbarous weapon was of no material assistance in our war against Japan." General Henry "Hap" Arnold, said, "It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse." And General Curtis LeMay concluded, "Even without the atomic bomb and Russian entry into the war, Japan would have surrendered in two weeks." He also said, "The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war." And Stone and Kuznick list Naval officers Admiral Ernest King, commander-in-chief of the US Navy, Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet and Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, commander of the South Pacific Fleet, to further demonstrate the bombs never needed to be dropped.)

maxburto > Texican 09/27/2014 at 17:14

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* As horrible as it sounds I had to use the more "photogenic" Nagasaki mushroom cloud.

Agent-Goldfish > signintoburnerlol 09/27/2014 at 17:28

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His youngest son died from the bomb. I think it's pretty safe to say he had some disdain for the U.S. for that and at least privately. American culture, is sometimes debatable among foreigners beyond "fatty foods", Christmas, and self-righteousness.

WhereAreMyPants > Chaos-cascade 09/27/2014 at 17:29

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Oliver Stone is ALWAYS a red flag, and the Times is the most corrected newspaper the planet.

I'm not actually disagreeing with some the content, but that's a garbage source.

Here's some more diverse reading, if you're interested:

http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAE…

Viggen > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 17:39

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This certainly doesn't change my view of the bombings. It does make me wonder what the daily driver for us Mazda drivers would be had he been a victim though.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 18:10

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I want a Carol coupe so badly to go with my 240Z!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 18:30

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" Hiroshima Toyo Carp professional baseball team."

Carp?

KnowsAboutCars > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 09/27/2014 at 18:36

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Yes, carp.

Chaos-cascade > WhereAreMyPants 09/27/2014 at 18:37

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Thank you for the link!

This statement is what I had a problem with.

"If the USA didnt drop The Bomb a bloody, lengthy war would have ensued. It's a dark piece of history"

picoFarad > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 20:03

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I will be pronouncing it "matsuda" from now on. Also, for those interested in the bombing of Hiroshima, I highly recommend " Nine who survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Can be hard to find, but a superb book on the subject.

alexlam24 > signintoburnerlol 09/27/2014 at 20:06

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We got every single rotary that Japan ever got. I think they like us.

pfftballer > 360ad 09/27/2014 at 20:07

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Indeed. There would be no ISIS/ISIL if not for George Bush and Dick Cheney.

pfftballer > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 09/27/2014 at 20:08

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The Japanese love them some carp. It's a fact.

boxrocket > Viggen 09/27/2014 at 20:20

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Maybe Mitsubishis?

Texican > maxburto 09/27/2014 at 20:29

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Now that there would be the Lesbian Seagull logo.

427zeo6 > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 20:38

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so all the deadly torque steer on my 209 Mazdaspeed3 was an attempt to get retribution for our bombing?

operative > SnowBallin 09/27/2014 at 20:39

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Well thats the excuse Americans give to justify dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. 70 years later and folks are still shilling for the Truman Administration.

Detroit 9000 > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 20:45

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I rode the Shinkansen into Hiroshima on a trip from Nagoya to Fukuoka. I cried at the stop after seeing what the city is today.

signintoburnerlol > alexlam24 09/27/2014 at 21:14

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Well...

ranwhenparked > Iwaswonderofwonders 09/27/2014 at 21:39

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And if Japan hadn't surrendered after Nagasaki, we would have been pretty screwed because we were about a year away from having enough material to assemble a third, so that island-by-island, prefecture-by-prefecture, city-by-city, house-by-house invasion would have had to go forward.

ranwhenparked > mrbwa1 09/27/2014 at 21:41

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My grandfather was in the Pacific in the war and used to constantly rail against all things Japanese (the fact that he was an executive at a supplier to the Big Three might have had something to do with that too). Then, one day in 1986, he showed up in my parents' driveway in a new Acura Legend, and that was that.

mrbwa1 > ranwhenparked 09/27/2014 at 23:27

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Sounds like my Uncle jack. Pacific theater for him as well. Die hard olds man but hated the sloping hood of his Aurora so he had an tall 70s/80s Olds hood ornament added to the front. Makes me wonder what he would think of my Ford truck as it's no GM (he always had a Chevy truck as Olds didn't make one)

hismiths > KnowsAboutCars 09/27/2014 at 23:45

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So, does anyone know why a Japanese car is named after a Zoroastrian deity?

ranwhenparked > mrbwa1 09/28/2014 at 00:09

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Yep, he pretty much drove Oldsmobiles as well, although there were a few Dodges and Chryslers mixed in there when they were doing a lot of business with Chrysler. It was a string of really badly built GM cars in the early to mid '80s that finally broke his loyalty.

burpbeepburp > KnowsAboutCars 09/28/2014 at 00:21

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Aha, this explains everything! That's why the Mazda Carol 360 looks like a really cool 1940's haircut! It explains the Miata, the Rotary Engines, everything! Mazda's main design phylosiphy is based on arraignments of hair! I need to edit the Wikipedia page. (I don't think I'm being funny, I'm really on to something here).

VolksytheBug > KnowsAboutCars 09/28/2014 at 00:52

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Wow, that really puts a different perspective on the bombing, doesn't it?

Galant Enthusiast > Chaos-cascade 09/28/2014 at 01:25

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That's complete BS. The Japanese were fighting to the last man on all the islands in the pacific, they built up a major counter force, and they didn't surrender until the second bomb was dropped. They might have been willing to negotiate an end to the war but they weren't going to give up their home islands.

Andrew's Ennui > Iwaswonderofwonders 09/28/2014 at 02:41

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Controversy? No. The Japanese did not surrender after the firebombing of Tokyo (~125k dead, there is debate about that number), the Potsdam ultimatum, or the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima (80k killed in the initial blast). It's nothing but wishful thinking to suggest we could have dropped a bomb in a bay and got the desired results (surrender). The Imperial Japanese were tough as nails true believers prepared to fight to the death, I suspect there's more than a few of us that wouldn't be reading this right now if our forefathers had to invade Japan.

David Jatt > SnowBallin 09/28/2014 at 04:22

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Not saying you're wrong but your use of "a few" is kind of crass

ZooMotorPool > pfftballer 09/28/2014 at 09:40

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Carp is a family of other decoration fish like Japanese koi fish.

bratkitty > KnowsAboutCars 09/28/2014 at 13:59

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Tiny nitpick:  was the second President of what later became Mazda.

d3v > KnowsAboutCars 09/28/2014 at 13:59

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Wow, I didn't know Mazda had time travel technology back then, considering that the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium was opened only in 2008.

KnowsAboutCars > d3v 09/28/2014 at 14:12

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The article mentioned that Matsuda passed the spot where the stadium was later built not that he passed the stadium.

KnowsAboutCars > bratkitty 09/28/2014 at 14:22

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I think you could argue that Toyo Kogyo was a new company born from the bankruptcy of Toyo Cork Kogyo.

alexlam24 > signintoburnerlol 09/28/2014 at 14:23

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Aside from the Eunos. Forgot about that lol

BenLikesCars > mrbwa1 09/28/2014 at 15:08

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That's what I call "fair."

ythostiress65 > KnowsAboutCars 09/28/2014 at 15:27

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RevCrowley > Chaos-cascade 09/28/2014 at 17:28

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Yes, Japan was so ready to surrender militarists tried kidnapping the Emperor the night before his radio broadcast.

Strange Noises Alou > SnowBallin 10/13/2014 at 18:53

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it was estimated that a land invasion of Japan would have caused the war to continue until 1947-48, and resulted in half a million US deaths. (as a reference: actual Pacific Theater deaths, 1941-1945: approximately 106,000.)

I wish I could find the estimate for Japanese deaths, but I remember reading figures that included an incredible portion of their population - something like "virtually 100% of males, age 13-60". the atomic bomb was quite likely correctly deemed the only way to effect a Japanese surrender instead of a slaughter of the nation.