The Otomo was a Japanese

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

built by Mr. Hayataya Toyokawa from 1924 to 1927 at the Hakuyosha Ironworks in Tokyo. It was meant to build upon his experimental Ales cars of 1921. Otomo offered an air-cooled 944 cc four-cylinder

light car The term light car is used in Great Britain since the early part of the 20th century for an automobile less than 1.5 litres engine capacity. In modern car classification this term would be roughly equivalent to a subcompact car. There are numero ...

, available as two- or four-seat

tourer Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

or saloon (sedan), or as a van. This was joined in 1926 by a water-cooled 24 hp model. During this time, Otomo was one of only two Japanese automakers, joined by the Japanese established Gorham Automobile Company, financed by American aircraft engineer William R. Gorham. G.N. Georgano. ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) The remnants of the Gorham Automobile Company became the Nissan Motor Company Ltd. The car found it difficult to compete with Ford Model T's being manufactured at

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, and Chevrolet Capitols being built at

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, and the company was integrated with other smaller Japanese automobile manufacturers. The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake also disrupted the local economy, with manufacturing resources greatly affecting business operations.

Notes

References

*Wise, David Burgess. ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''. * G.N. Georgano ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930''. London: Grange-Universal, 1985.

External links

{{Authority control Cars of Japan First car made by manufacturer Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Japan