it was started by a man called Soichiro Honda, who had a dream, thats why their slogan is the peowers of dreams, his dream was to be able to give people a cheap method of transport, so he got a bicycle and fitted an engine to it, sold it for cheap, had to produce his own fuel because japan at this time (during/post war) didn't have any, then he started making his own parts, and then his own full motorbikes, until he was making thousands and thousands, then he started making cars and exporting cheap japanese cars to europe.........etc.......thats very brief, everyone elses web site tips will give you more.......