始めに私の自己紹介をいたします。

学校を出て、フリーランスのデザイン事務所のGKインダストリアルデザイン研究所に入所し、GKダイナミックスへと異動。様々なクライアントの多くの物を手掛けましたが、クライアントの1社であったヤマハ発動機では２輪にスノーモービルやATV(4輪バギー)など多領域の乗り物に関わりました。

ヤマハの1955年の初号機YA-1からGKは同社のモーターサイクルのデザインに関わっています。ヤマハやホンダなど2輪各社は4輪各社より早くから世界を相手に技術で、世界グランプリレースで戦い圧倒し、日本製品の優秀性と技術力の高さを認識させる先陣の一番槍の存在でした。また先進国から途上国まで世界各国で販売し生産を始めました。
そのため早くから現地の文化や風土に根ざした人々の生活や趣味に寄り添う移道具を追求しそのデザイン展開をしてきました。その多様で多彩な様式の面白さはその地に暮らし生きる人間を思い考える事であり、乗り物に感じられる上下構造のヒエラルキーを超えた道具の価値と意味を教えてもくれるのです。移動具の文化と人間のデザインとの関わりの面白さにめり込み、その結果1年で辞める筈が人生を間違えたようです。

少年と乗り物の出会い。

私の乗り物元年は1956年小学2年生の戦後の立川市。当時は米国駐留空軍基地があり、まだ戦後が色濃く残る街に引っ越しました。ここで立川を語るのは沖縄返還前の当時の日本各基地の中でも、街の規模からも、乗り物的視点でも興味深い街だったからです。

基地内は当然で、街もアメリカ文化を感じました。
路上にはジープや軍用トラックに加え軍人個人用に持ち込まれた最新のカラフルなアメ車が往来していました。方や街を走る国産車は暗く見窄らしく子供乍らにも情け無い姿で先の大戦が如何に無謀であったかを工業製品を通して肌で感じました。
文字通りの原動機付き自転車がバタバタと走り回り、その音と匂いに何故か少年の脳内が科学反応したのが間違いの始まりでした。

オート3輪車

戦後の日本の復興の物流と移動を支えたのは地味な３輪トラックでした。構造がシンプルで頑丈で安価であり小回りが効くので当時の狭い日本の道路事情に適してたのです。私の内燃機関の初体験は運転席の横に折りたたみ式座席でキックで内燃機関始動爆発の轟音に慄き動き出すや激しい振動全身がシェイクしもろに来る風圧で何かにしがみ付きそして痺れたのです脳天が。すげーなんなんだこのワイルドな生き物は。この強烈な五臓六腑への原体験が衝撃の乗り物原点でした。こんな子供たちが全国に居て長じて乗り物作りに関わったのでしょう。子供こそ五感の原体験を新鮮にインプットするのです。

JEEP

当時のクルマの様式の中でもジープほどその合理時機能性が外観にも一貫し貫かれたものはありません。２次曲面もボンネットのみでこれも剛性確保です。グリルも平板のプレスの剛性を利用した絶妙の陰影表現です。オーバーデザインのアメリカデザインの中で機能デザインの力量の高さを物語る傑作です。ヘッドライトが内側にあるのはグリルでガードさせるこの型の特徴で奥行きの立体感が魅力です。

初代クラウン登場でやっと国産車も頑張ったと感じました。当時のベンチマークはアメリカ車で明らかに影響を受けています。フロントやリヤウィンドウが分割なのはまだ一枚整形が難しかったからでマイナーチェンジで実現されています。零戦とP51ムスタングのキャノピーを見ればガラス製造力が理解できます。
対してアメリカ車の特徴はこの”これでもかラップラウンドウィンド”です。眼前に広がる広大なワイドな彼の地の景観をより感じさせるからです。ガラスの上側が青いのもドラマチックでよりビジュアルのワイドな演出効果を高めます。

見上げると空には最新の軍用機が飛び交い、街中には糊の効いたズボンの空軍兵が闊歩し視線を落とすと私は下駄でした。B29の着陸を滑走路で間近に見るとその巨大さとその出来の質感の高さに工業力の差異を率直に感じたのです。

巨大な二階建て輸送機C124グローブマスターがこの低高度で滑走路ギリギリに降りる恐らく世界屈指のポイント。この後フェンスが張られるまでここは特等席で離陸時には目の前でUターンし４発１万４千馬力のエンジン全開の爆音に温かな物凄い風圧と埃に小学２年生の身体は浮きそうになり自ずとスキージャンプの空中姿勢になれる稀有な時間でした。その燃料臭い温かい爆風と埃を盛大に浴びて友達と斜め浮遊感を遊んだのです。
子供が何か投げてる!？

あの時代に立川という乗り物の万華鏡の玉手箱の縮図ような不思議な空間が存在していたと思うと実に幸運な少年だったのです。アメリカは戦後の繁栄の豊かさを謳歌し駐留軍もその文化をそのまま日本にも持ち込んだのです。米軍人は家族帯同でフェンスの向こうには芝生に囲まれた白い家に、外野が芝生の野球場はスタンドまで構えユニフォーム姿の子供たちには目を丸くしました。大谷のドジャースがまだNYブルックリンにあった時代です。野球少年だった私の同級生のグローブは母親の綿入れの布手袋で試合の弁当は日の丸弁当だったのですから。

最初の夏の思い出は、私の右隣の下級米兵の家でも白い大きなラウンドしたGEの電気冷蔵庫のデザインに羨望と未来を感じました。一方左隣の日本人の家には立派な氷室の冷凍庫がありましたが、私の家は井戸水とタライでスイカを冷やし、と隣り三軒両隣の夏でした。小学校の窓は飛行機の離着陸の騒音防止の２重の防音窓で１クラス56人。友達ヘンリーくんもいてアメリカは隣人でもあり同時に遠い異国でした。

そんな街ですから「走る」「飛ぶ」対象に自ずと惹かれ目覚めたのです。当時はジェットエンジン時代の幕開けで様々な技術と機能の試行錯誤が行われた時代でそれが形態にも現れ、形態は機能に従いきれない時代に興味をそそられたのです。
推進の動力源が変わり必然の形態変化を各国が競い試行錯誤する。思えばときめきの時代でした。今のEV新時代の形態変化よりドラマチックなのは音速の壁が立ちはだかったからです。その動向を航空雑誌で知っていた最新鋭機が程なく飛来し眼前を離着陸する様は興奮のピークでした。乗り物は動いている時こそ美しいと見惚れたのです。

そして路上ではアメ車の自信満々の姿には、機能の基準は風土と文化で異なり、アメリカにはアメリカのスタイリングが美意識の興隆期で、毎年のモデルチェンジでラウンドした流線型からアメ車独自のフォルムへと進化し、いつの間にかテールにはフィンを付け、全盛期を謳歌します。

パワーとスピードがアメリカの正義でそれが大好きな人々の当時の象徴は飛行機でした。
機能と機能美とフォルムの関係に何か面白い事がありそうだと考えを廻らせ始めた少年には刺激的な空間でした。

美しいビーチから間近にマジかの低空着陸が観れると人気のカリブ海セントマーチン島プリンセスジュリアナ空港は素晴らしくお勧めです。しかし立川はより低空でした。

自動車への興味と観察は夏休みの昆虫標本観察の宿題から思い立ち、路上で1週間での午前午後にどんな車両が何台通過するのかを目視で書き込み”立川自動車観察路上通行量調査”として夏休み自主研究課題を提出しました。こうして真夏の炎天下の路上で乗り物”熱中症”に私はなったのです。
このような環境に居たので特別にアメリカ文化への憧れも羨望もバイアスも無く、文化と道具を客観的に比較文化観察出来たのはその後のデザインの仕事での関わりでも良かったと思います。このような体験からも子供たちに憧れの接点をいかに生み出せるかが将来の基幹産業の未来ビジョンと言えるでしょう。

乗り物を世界中で必要とする人々、そして世界中に居る乗りもの大好きLOVEな人たちの心を掴むには作り手も仕事を超えて乗りもの大好きLOVEで負けないスピリットを学んだ気がします。
そんな好きの思いや片想いは必ずや伝わり伝えられるのです。好きや片想いは人を詩人にしデザインの創造力を高めます。

そんな山のような片想いはまた少しづつお伝えします。

ダイハツ　オート3輪車 HD型 1931年　　_PHOTO : Creative Commons

A story of “love for vehicles”  [ Motorcycle Designer‘s Design Talk Vol. 1]

Let me begin by introducing myself.

After leaving school, he joined GK Industrial Design Laboratory, a freelance design firm,
At Yamaha Motor, one of the clients, I was involved in a wide range of vehicles, including snowmobiles and ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) on two wheels.

GK has been involved in the design of Yamaha’s motorcycles since the company’s first model, the YA-1, in 1955.
Yamaha, Honda, and other motorcycle companies were the first to compete against the world’s leading four-wheeled companies in the World Grand Prix races, and were the first to recognize the excellence and technological prowess of Japanese products. They also began to sell and produce their products in countries all over the world, from developed countries to developing countries.
Therefore, from early on, we have been pursuing and designing tools for transportation that are rooted in the local culture and climate and that are close to people’s lifestyles and hobbies.
The diversity and variety of styles is interesting because it makes us think about the people who live and work in the area, and it also teaches us the value and meaning of tools that transcend the hierarchy of hierarchical structures that we see in vehicles. I was so fascinated by the relationship between the culture of mobility equipment and human design that I was supposed to quit after one year, but it seems I made a life mistake.

Boy Meets Vehicle

My first year of riding was in Tachikawa City after the war when I was in the second grade of elementary school in 1956. At the time, there was an air force base stationed in the U.S. and we moved to a town that was still very much in the postwar period. I mention Tachikawa here because it is one of the most interesting cities, both in terms of the size of the city and from a vehicle perspective, among the bases in various parts of Japan at that time before Okinawa was returned to Japan. The base was a natural, and the city felt like American culture. On the streets of the base, in addition to jeeps and military trucks, there were the latest colorful American cars brought in for the personal use of military personnel. On the other hand, the domestic cars on the streets were dark and shabby looking, even to a child, and I felt firsthand how reckless the last world war had been through industrial products.
The mistake began when a literal motorized bicycle rode around making bata-bata noises, and for some reason the boy’s brain reacted scientifically to the sound and smell of it.

three-wheeled automobile

It was the humble three-wheeled truck that supported the logistics and transportation of Japan’s postwar reconstruction. Their simple, sturdy, inexpensive construction and small turning radius made them suitable for the narrow roads of Japan at the time. My first experience with an internal combustion engine was in the folding seat next to the driver’s seat, where the internal combustion engine started with a kick, the roar of a moving explosion sent shivers down my spine, the violent vibration shook my whole body, the wind pressure on my fragile body made me cling to something, and my brain was numb. 
Amazing! What a wild creature!
The original experience of this intense impact on the five organs was the starting point of vehicle. There must have been children like this all over the country who later grew up and became involved in vehicle building. Children are the ones who have fresh input of the original experience of the five senses.

JEEP

Of all the styles of cars of the time, none has carried its rational functionality through to the exterior more consistently than the Jeep. The only secondary curved surface on the exterior is the hood, again to ensure rigidity. The grille is also an exquisite shade expression in the form of a rigid pressed flat plate. It is a masterpiece that illustrates the strength of functional design in over-designed American design. The headlights are located deep inside, a characteristic of this type that is guarded by the grille, giving it an attractive three-dimensional sense of depth.

I felt that domestic cars finally did well with the appearance of the first generation Crown. The benchmark at the time was clearly influenced by American cars. The front and rear windows are split because it was still difficult to form a single window, and this was achieved with minor changes. The canopies of the Zero fighter and the P51 Mustang give an understanding of Japan’s glass manufacturing capabilities at the time. In contrast, American cars are characterized by this tremendous wrap-around window. It gives you a better sense of the vast, wide landscape of there place that spreads out before you. 
The blue top edge of the glass is also dramatic, creating a more visually wide-ranging effect.

At that time, Tachikawa was…

I looked up and saw the latest U.S. military planes in the sky, airmen in gluey pants strutting around town… and when I looked down, I was in my clogs. When I saw a B-29 landing up close on the runway, I frankly felt the difference in industrial strength in its enormity and the quality of its workmanship.

The C124 Globemaster, a huge double-decker transport, descends just short of the runway at this low altitude, probably one of the best points in the world. This was our special seat until the fence was put up and we could no longer enter, When the plane took off, it made a U-turn right in front of me, and the sound of the four-engine, 14,000-horsepower engine at full throttle and the warm, tremendous wind pressure and dust made my second-grade body feel like it was about to float, and it was a rare time when I could naturally get into a ski jumping position in the air. I played with the warm blast and dust that smelled like fuel, and played with the feeling of oblique levitation with my friends.
Is the kid throwing something！？

In Tachikawa of that era, there existed a magical space that was the epitome of a kaleidoscopic jade box of rides. I think I was a very lucky boy indeed. The U.S. enjoyed the affluence of postwar prosperity, and the stationed troops brought their culture directly to Japan as well. U.S. military personnel lived in white houses surrounded by grass on the other side of the fence with their families in tow, and there was even a baseball field with a grass outfield and stands, I was surprised to see children in baseball uniforms. These were the days when Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, NY. As a baseball boy, my classmates’ gloves were cotton-filled cloth gloves handmade by their mothers, and their game day lunches were “Hinomaru bento*” (white rice with a single red pickled plum). 
＊Hinomaru = the Japanese national flag is called by the Japanese.

My summer memories. I felt envy and future in the design of the big white round GE electric refrigerator that even the house of a low-ranking American soldier right next to our house had. On the other hand, the Japanese house next door on the left had a magnificent icebox freezer, while my house used well water and a tub to chill watermelons. It was a summer scene of neighbours.
The elementary school windows were double soundproofed to prevent noise from airplanes taking off and landing, and there were 56 students in one class. One of my friends was Henry, and the U.S. was both our neighbor and a distant foreign country at the same time.

Because of such a city, I was naturally attracted to the subject of “running” and “flying” and woke up to it. At the time, the jet engine era was dawning, a time of trial and error for various technologies and functions, and this was evident in the form. I was intrigued by the time when form could not follow function.
The power source of propulsion changed, and each country competed with the inevitable morphological changes through trial and error. Looking back, it was the age of crush.
More dramatic than the current EV new era of car morphology changes is the wall of sound speed that has been standing in the way. I had read about this trend in aviation magazines, and my excitement was at its peak when the latest aircraft arrived and took off and landed right in front of me.
Vehicles are beautiful when they are in motion. I watched them with fascination.

And on the streets were confident American cars. Standards of function differed by climate and culture, and in the U.S., American styling was at the height of its aesthetic glory. With each annual model change, the rounded, streamlined shape evolved into a form unique to American cars, and before long, American cars were enjoying their heyday with fins on the tail.

Power and speed were American justice, and the symbol of those days for those who loved it was the airplane. It was a stimulating space for a young boy (me) who had begun to think that there might be something interesting in the relationship between function, functional beauty, and form. 

I highly recommend Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten, Caribbean, which is popular for watching astonishing low altitude landings up close from beautiful beaches. Tachikawa, however, was much lower.

My interest in and observation of automobiles was inspired by my summer homework on insect specimen observation, and I submitted an independent summer research project entitled “Tachikawa Automobile Observation Road Traffic Survey,” in which I visually recorded the number of vehicles passing on the road in the morning and afternoon for one week. This is how I got “vehicle heat stroke” on the road in the hot midsummer sun.

Because I was in this environment, I had no admiration, envy, or bias toward American culture, and I was able to make objective comparative cultural observations of culture and tools, which was good for my subsequent involvement in design work.
From this experience of mine, I can say that the future vision of the key industries of the future is how we can create contacts that children yearn for.

“love for vehicles”

In order to win the hearts and minds of those who need vehicles around the world and those who “love for vehicles” all over the world, the creators have learned the spirit of “love for vehicles” that transcends work and is unbeatable.
Such “like” thoughts and “unrequited love” can always be conveyed and communicated to others. Likes and crushes make people poets and enhance the creativity of design.

I will tell you about the mountain of unrequited love a little bit at a time.

Photo below : Daihatsu Auto 3-wheeler Model HD 1931  PHOTO : Creative Commons

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