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Under Kawakami's leadership, the company adapted the machinery in the
1950s to produce Yamaha's first motorbike, the YA-1, nicknamed "aka
tombo" or red dragonfly. 

Spun off as Yamaha Motor Co in 1955, the motorbike manufacturing firm
entered an overcrowded Japanese market from two single-story wooden
factory buildings with a capacity to turn out 200 motorcycles a month. 


Subsequent success in international motorbike races brought recognition
to the Yamaha bike brand around the world. It is now the world's
second-largest manufacturer of motorbikes, after fellow-Japanese maker
Honda. Yamaha Motor also manufactures boats, outboard motors,
snowmobiles and golf carts, as well as industrial machinery. 

Though Japan's stagnant economy and aging population are affecting
domestic sales of motorbikes, the firm is marketing its products
aggressively in the younger markets of China and India. 

"I believe the most important thing when building a product is to keep
in mind the standpoint of the people who will use it," a Yamaha Web
site quotes Kawakami as saying shortly after founding Yamaha Motor. 

Yamaha has been looking to diversify still further by developing new
businesses in the infotech and biotech areas. 

Kawakami retired from Yamaha in 1992 and had been in hospital for some
months prior to his death, which was attributed to old age. A private
family funeral is to be held on May 29.