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The only vote against banning imports
Japan's technology was still low in 1948. The people building motorcycles and cars around Honda's founder wanted to get together and petition the government to not allow imports. He was the only one who voted against it.
His reasoning was that the way to win is to build a superior technology. If the product is the best, it won't just be profitable in Japan. It will spread throughout the entire world.
Customers choosing the better product beat a law that keeps the competition out. He wanted to win because he built the best product.
Why did Japan consider banning imports then?
Japan's industry lay in ruins after the war, and officials favored shielding young manufacturers from foreign competition. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry, created in 1949, steered that policy through tariffs, quotas, and limits on foreign investment. Economists call the underlying logic the infant industry argument, which dates to the 1840s writings of Friedrich List. Japan did not liberalize passenger car imports until 1965.
How did Honda grow into a global brand?
Honda Motor Company was formed in 1948, and Soichiro Honda began by selling small engines meant to be attached to bicycles. The company released the Super Cub motorcycle in 1958, a step-through design built for ordinary riders. Honda announced in 2017 that it had produced its 100 millionth Super Cub, the best-selling powered vehicle in history by its count.
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