Stumbled accross this-Subaru history of Logo
14 February 2007, 06:45 PM
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Stumbled accross this-Subaru history of Logo
Hey people, stumbled accross this today at work, was news to me so thought some of you guys may find it interesting.
Good day to you all.
Fifty-three years ago, five Japanese companies merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI).
Adopting a cluster of six stars as the official logo, one arm of this newly formed company was dedicated to the manufacture of motor vehicles – this company was called Subaru.
The history of the Subaru name and six-star badge is well known among enthusiast groups and employees, with its background entrenched in both Japanese and Greek tradition.
The term Subaru comes from the Japanese language meaning “unite”. It is also a term identifying a cluster of six stars, which the Greeks called the Pleiades - part of the Taurus constellation. According to Greek mythology, Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars.
The six-stars cluster featured in the Subaru badge design is known in Japan as mutsuraboshi (six stars), and FHI was the first vehicle manufacturer to use a Japanese word for a brand of automobile.
The first vehicle to wear the Subaru name was the Subaru 1500 – a car designed to comfortably seat four adults. Lessons learned in the development of the Subaru 1500 led to the debut of the Subaru 360 – a milestone that established Subaru as a builder of small, affordable, yet technologically advanced cars.
Good day to you all.
Fifty-three years ago, five Japanese companies merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI).
Adopting a cluster of six stars as the official logo, one arm of this newly formed company was dedicated to the manufacture of motor vehicles – this company was called Subaru.
The history of the Subaru name and six-star badge is well known among enthusiast groups and employees, with its background entrenched in both Japanese and Greek tradition.
The term Subaru comes from the Japanese language meaning “unite”. It is also a term identifying a cluster of six stars, which the Greeks called the Pleiades - part of the Taurus constellation. According to Greek mythology, Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars.
The six-stars cluster featured in the Subaru badge design is known in Japan as mutsuraboshi (six stars), and FHI was the first vehicle manufacturer to use a Japanese word for a brand of automobile.
The first vehicle to wear the Subaru name was the Subaru 1500 – a car designed to comfortably seat four adults. Lessons learned in the development of the Subaru 1500 led to the debut of the Subaru 360 – a milestone that established Subaru as a builder of small, affordable, yet technologically advanced cars.
14 February 2007, 07:46 PM
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Bit more blurrr...
The first president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), Kenji Kita, had some definite opinions on the subject of automobiles. "If you're going to build a car, build a full-fledged car." "Japanese cars should have Japanese names." Mr. Kita was ardent about producing passenger cars and was the most passionate of all about the 1954 prototype of the Company's first passenger car, the P-1.
Mr. Kita canvassed the Company for suggestions about naming the P-1, but none of the proposals were appealing. In the end, Mr. Kita gave the car a beautiful Japanese name that he had been quietly cherishing in his heart --- Subaru.
Subaru is the name of a star cluster in the Taurus constellation. Six of its stars are visible to the naked eye, but about 250 bluish stars can be seen if one uses a telescope.
In the West the cluster is called Pleiades, in China, Mao, and in Japan, Subaru ("to govern" or gather together"). In Japan, it also goes by the name Mutsuraboshi ("Six Stars"), under which title it appears frequently in very old Japanese documents such as Kojiki and Manyosyu and literature such as Makura-no-soshi. Clearly, this is one of the clusters much loved by the Japanese from ancient times. Interestingly enough, FHI was created by the merger of six companies, so you can see what a truly evocative name Subaru is.
The first president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), Kenji Kita, had some definite opinions on the subject of automobiles. "If you're going to build a car, build a full-fledged car." "Japanese cars should have Japanese names." Mr. Kita was ardent about producing passenger cars and was the most passionate of all about the 1954 prototype of the Company's first passenger car, the P-1.
Mr. Kita canvassed the Company for suggestions about naming the P-1, but none of the proposals were appealing. In the end, Mr. Kita gave the car a beautiful Japanese name that he had been quietly cherishing in his heart --- Subaru.
Subaru is the name of a star cluster in the Taurus constellation. Six of its stars are visible to the naked eye, but about 250 bluish stars can be seen if one uses a telescope.
In the West the cluster is called Pleiades, in China, Mao, and in Japan, Subaru ("to govern" or gather together"). In Japan, it also goes by the name Mutsuraboshi ("Six Stars"), under which title it appears frequently in very old Japanese documents such as Kojiki and Manyosyu and literature such as Makura-no-soshi. Clearly, this is one of the clusters much loved by the Japanese from ancient times. Interestingly enough, FHI was created by the merger of six companies, so you can see what a truly evocative name Subaru is.
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