Yamaha Motor ヤマハ発動機

Yamaha Motor was established on July 1, 1955, when Nippon Gakki (today's Yamaha Corporation, a musical instrument maker founded in 1887) spun off its motorcycle manufacturing division under president Genichi Kawakami. Its first product, the YA-1, a 125cc motorcycle nicknamed the 'Red Dragonfly,' had already gone on sale earlier that year, and just days after Yamaha Motor's founding it swept the top places at the Mt. Fuji Ascent Race.

Yamaha Motor grew far beyond motorcycles into marine outboard engines, personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, and other powersports products, becoming one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers alongside Honda. It remains a separate, independently listed company from Yamaha Corporation, though the two still share the tuning-fork logo and brand heritage.