A STRONG FOUNDATION
In 1950, Arai Hirotake Shoten Co. Ltd. was awarded a Japanese Industrial Standards license. Soon after, Arai began manufacturing and retailing the first commercial motorcycle helmets in the island country, marked “H.A.” after his initials. “The first market was for Japanese ‘gamble’ racing,” said Michio. “It’s like betting on horses, except the ‘jockeys’ ride motorcycles. Naturally, the racers had a lot of crashes and injuries, so they approached my father to supply helmets.” Hirotake experimented with new materials and pioneered manufacturing techniques that are still in use today. A strong fiberglass shell allied with an energy-absorbing, expanded-polystyrene liner remains the foundation for all Arai helmets. “My father didn’t even finish high school,” said Michio Arai. “I don’t know how he
According to Michio, his father knew little about chemicals. “He read an article about fiberglass, and he went to a professor at a Japanese university and found out how to make a half shell. That was the first fiberglass shell in this country.” Decades have since passed, but the manufacturing process is comparable. “My father made a ‘bird’s nest’ shaped from fiberglass,” said Michio Arai. “He put the nest in a mold, added resin, and applied heat and pressurized it with an airbag to make a shell. We still do it that way.”
did it, but he somehow discovered what was needed to protect riders even before there were standards for helmets. That was the basis for the modern motorcycle helmet.”
Hirotake even cobbled together a drop test. “To make a helmet better, you must test,” said Michio Arai. “There was no device to test, so my father made a device: a junk helmet, a head form and a rope. That was very primitive, but at least you could tell which one was better.” Hirotake Arai was alone in his efforts, Michio noted. “Before my father, there was no helmet business in this country. He started an industry that has gotten bigger and bigger. I was born with helmets, and I raced with helmets. A helmet is like a part of my body.”
He put the nest in a mold, added resin, and applied heat and pressurized it with an airbag to make a shell. We still do it that way.
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