In October 1949, Fujisaoined the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. , as managing director. In November of the same year, despiwa jte an ongoing economic downturn, the company carried out its first capital increase, doubling its capitalization to ¥2 million. A quarter of the new money was put up by Fujisawa.

In March 1950, economic conditions grew even more severe but the company expanded its business to Tokyo, opening an office in Maki-cho, Kyobashi, Chuo-ku. Just as cramped and rough-and-ready as the headquarters in Hamamatsu, it was located near the back of the present-day Yaesu Fujiya Hotel and became Fujisawa’s center of operations.

According to the Honda’s Seven-Year History, the period from 1949 to the first half of 1950 “was a terribly difficult time. The economy was getting into a grim state, the market for motorcycles was contracting, our inventory was growing and our working capital was shrinking. Payments to suppliers were in arrears and we had to pay our employees in installments.”

Takao Shirai, former senior managing director, described the early days. “I joined Honda in March,” he said. “By a stroke of luck I went to talk to Kaichi Kawakami, president of Nippon Gakki (now Yamaha) about getting a job with his company. Kawakami told me that Soichiro Honda, president of the Honda Motor that made the Bata-Bata (the nickname for the A-Type engine) had said that he was desperate to find a young man who could work for him as factory manager, and he suggested that I should go and see him. Mr. Kawakami made a telephone call then and there and immediately arranged that I should call on Mr. Honda. I went to a barrack-like building with a shingled roof in front of Hamamatsu Station and chatted with Mr. Honda for a few minutes. ‘OK, come to work from tomorrow’ he said, and it was all decided. As it happened the next day was the vernal equinox day, which was a national holiday, so I went to work the day after that.

“It was just at the time that the D-Type was doing very badly due to the economic recession and Honda Motor was in big trouble. My colleagues at the plant told me, ‘We get paid late and we’ve only just received some of the pay which was due last month. We’ll go bust any day now.’ But I was young and I threw myself into the job, thinking that although it looked as though we might go bust, if I persevered and helped turn the company around it would be something to be proud of. So I set to work and in June that year the Korean War broke out. In no time at all we received a big order for auxiliary engines thanks to the special procurement boom and the crisis was over. Before I really had to tighten my belt the company started paying wages that had been in arrears,” he said laughing.

“So things got busy. Although I was called plant manager, I couldn’t just sit in my armchair. I would rush around getting materials and piling up components on the work benches for the bicycles. One day I tripped and fell at a railway crossing, spraining my ankle, but I got hold of a walking stick and carried on going around the plant, keeping an eye on the supply of parts and the rate of production. Just as I was doing this, the president said that he wanted to have a word with me. ‘I’ve been watching you and I like your attitude to work. If you feel like sticking with Honda, I’ll divide the equity and sell you some of the shares. What do you think?’ Of course, Honda shares at that time were not worth the paper they were printed on. When I went home and told my father about my chat with the president, he advised me that if I was really taken with Honda and had made up my mind to give my all for the company, then he would give me the money to buy the shares. The next day I took the money to the president and he handed me some certificates. Just imagine how I’d feel today if I’d been stupid enough to decide the other way!”

Thanks to the surge in demand caused by the Korean War, the Japanese economy got back on its feet as the American-led U.N. forces commissariat paid in dollars for emergency procurements. Pretty soon the domestic economy revived as well and Honda had time to start thinking about its own recovery. In September 1950 the company succeeded in opening a plant, as well as an office, in Tokyo, buying a sewing machine works in Kami-Jujo, Kita-ku, and converting it into a facility for the manufacture of motorcycle bodies and final assembly. Engines were sent from Hamamatsu and the D-Type was put together in Kita-ku.

In November, Honda himself moved to Tokyo, returning to the capital after an absence of twenty-two years from the time he worked for Art Shokai. The time had come to stop being merely a provincial firm and move to the capital, a whole new world that was free of old-fashioned restraints.