, previously Tokyo Hatsudoki Company, is a Japanese company manufacturing and selling outboard motors, pleasure boats, portable fire pumps, small fire trucks, pumps for construction and drainage, and refrigeration units for transportation. It also does real estate

property management Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and mon ...

in Japan.

History

The company can be traced back to 1922, when the Takata Motor Research Institute began carrying out research into various forms of internal combustion engines. Research and development of high-speed, portable engine generators and radio-controlled generators began immediately; these were brought to production in 1930. During the 1930s and 40s, Tohatsu consolidated its product line and moved its corporate office to Tokyo. Among its products in the 1930s were railcars for the Ministry of Railways. In 1950, production and sales of motorcycles began. 1955 brought aggressive growth to Tohatsu. Capital increased to 150 million yen and production on a new line of engines started. Sales offices were established in

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and

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

. Dealerships were set up throughout Japan. In the mid-1950s, the company held the top market share, with 22 percent of the Japanese motorbike market. They also manufactured racing motorcycles and achieved success in Japan and abroad. Financial problems led to the discontinuation of Tohatsu motorcycle production in 1964. Tohatsu Runpet Sports CA2

Tohatsu Outboards

1956 ushered in the production of the first Tohatsu Outboards (1.5 hp). Since then, Tohatsu outboards have served a variety of marketplaces: commercial fishing, military, marine transport, surf life saving, recreation and competition racing. They are the second largest producer of outboards in the world. Tohatsu 50

As well as marketing outboards under its own brand, Tohatsu outboards are

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

and sold as other brands. In 1988 Tohatsu and

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees in ...

set up a joint venture named Tohatsu Marine Corporation to produce outboards for

Mercury Marine Mercury Marine is a marine engine division of Brunswick Corporation headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The main product line is outboard motors. It also produces the MerCruiser line of sterndrives and inboard engines, as well as a li ...

. Some Mercury outboards with less than 60 HP are rebranded Tohatsus. In 2011, Tohatsu and

Evinrude Outboard Motors Evinrude Outboard Motors was a North American company that built a major brand of Two-stroke engine, two-stroke outboard motors for boats. Founded by Ole Evinrude in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1907, it was formerly owned by the publicly traded Outboa ...

made a deal to make smaller engines ranging from 15 HP and down with Evinrude decals. All outboard engines sold in North America by the now-defunct

Nissan Marine Nissan Marine began their North American operations in 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee as a division of Nissan Industrial Equipment Co. Over the next 6 years, the Marine Division experienced explosive growth and in 1991 Nissan Marine was separated fr ...

were rebadged Tohatsus. Tohatsu four stroke outboard engines above 50 HP sold in North America after 2013 are rebadged Honda, though at some point after that Tohatsu introduced their own 60 HP model which is an up-rated variant of their 40/50 HP engine. As of at least 2022 all outboards up to 60 HP are designed and built by Tohatsu.

References

External links

Mercury outboards made by Tohatsu

Official global website
Engineering companies based in Tokyo Marine engine manufacturers Engine manufacturers of Japan Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Manufacturing companies established in 1922 1922 establishments in Japan Japanese brands Pump manufacturers