The Otomo was a Japanese

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

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 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 The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

's being manufactured at

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, and Chevrolet Capitols being built at

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, and the company was integrated with other smaller Japanese automobile manufacturers. The

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

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