Description:
For decades the crown jewels of Japan's postwar manufacturing industry, motorcycles remain one of Japan's top exports. Japan's Motorcycle Wars assesses the historical development and societal impact of the motorcycle industry, from the influence of motor sports on vehicle sales in the early 1900s to the postwar developments that led to the massive wave of motorization sweeping the Asia-Pacific region today.
Jeffrey Alexander brings a wealth of information to light, providing English translations of transcripts, industry publications, and company histories that have until now been available only in Japanese. By exploring the industry as a whole, he reveals that Japan's motorcycle industry was characterized not by communitarian success but by misplaced loyalties, technical disasters, and brutal competition.
Review Quotes: "[Japan's Motorcycle Wars] offers an incredibly detailed history of the Japanese motorcycle industry, from the earliest days of the last century, supported throughout by in-depth interviews with the engineers and managers that made the grade, as well as those that didn't."-- "Motor Sport: "