The Honda Foundation was established in December 1977 by donations from the founder of Honda Motor Company, Soichiro Honda, and his younger brother, Benjiro. The Foundation was established as a result of the first DISCOVERIES*1 International Symposium that had been held the previous year.
As a manufacturer of motorcycles and automobiles, Honda has been unceasing in its exploration of the idea of what role the motorcycle and automobile should play in society. Especially with safety, the company recognized the importance not only of the conventional approach of upgrading product performance, but also of active efforts towards safety education. Based on this awareness, Honda created its Driving Safety Promotion Center in 1970.
As the scope of its activities expanded, however, Honda recognized the limitations of these efforts by a single company. This led to the establishment of the Honda-Fujisawa International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences （IATSS）. The objective of the Association is to explore the role of the automobile in society and the current state and future of our motorized society. The Association created opportunities for academic experts, intellectuals and representatives of industrial sectors to assemble, regardless of disciplinary boundaries, to engage in free discussion and research.
In the course of its activities to bring together experts from a broad range of fields including traffic and safety engineering, the Association realized the need for communication with other countries to promote its activities across a broader spectrum and thus organized the first DISCOVERIES＊ international symposium in 1976. Although the theme was "An Intelligent Human Approach to Traffic Problems," discussions took place over a broad range of fields beyond traffic and safety, across disciplines, and adopting an interdisciplinary and civilizational approach.
Its impact exceeded the Association's expectations, winning high recognition for its academic focus and theoretical approach to examining our civilization, and it seemed certain that the symposium would continue thereafter. The impact was felt deeply by, more than others, our founder Soichiro Honda himself. And, this was followed by the establishment of the Honda Foundation in 1977 as the organizing body for the DISCOVERIES symposia.
In 1979, the "DISCOVERIES Declaration" was announced at DISCOVERIES International Symposium 1979 in Stockholm. The declaration defined three objectives to serve as the basis of the Foundation's activities.
- Promote international technical cooperation for the establishment of Eco-Technology.
- Establish a HONDA PRIZE.
- Continue the "DISCOVERIES" International Symposia.
According to this Declaration, the Honda Foundation started the Honda Prize, which is an international award that honors individuals or groups that have achieved distinctive results in the field of ecotechnology, in 1980. Since then, the Foundation has been acknowledging the achievements of scientists and engineers that bring new value to the world.
In addition, the Honda Foundation started the Honda Y-E-S Award program for the excellent students in the field of science and technology in the countries of Asia in 2006 as a part of the 30th anniversary project. The scope of its activities expanded further into what it is today.
＊1. Definition and Identification Studies on Conveyance of Values, Effects and Risks Inherent in Environmental Synthesis.
Born as the eldest son of a skilled blacksmith on November 17, 1906, he spent his early years in Komyo Village (currently, Hamamatsu City). From 1922, he worked for the automobile repair factory Art Shokai in Tokyo. He set up the Hamamatsu Branch of Art Shokai in Hamamatsu City in 1928, where he started an automobile repair service. Later, he started a new enterprise named Tokai Seiki and began development of various types of machinery such as the manufacture of piston rings.
After World War II, he sold all of his shares in the company and set up Honda Motor Co., Ltd., becoming its president in 1948. He was personally involved in internal combustion engine research and began the production of motorcycles. He later expanded into automobiles leading to the growth of the company as a leading Japanese business corporation. He resigned from the office of company president at age 67 and was appointed executive advisor. In December 27, 1977, he founded the Honda Foundation. He received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for his long8me contribu8on to the industry. He passed away on August 5, 1991, at the age of 84.
He received the Medal with Blue Ribbon （1952）, the Order of the Polar Star from Sweden, the Legion of Honour from France, the Order of Leopold II from Belgium, the Holley Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers （1980）, the Global 500 Award from the United Nations Environment Programme （1987）, the Gold Medal of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile （1990）, and many others. He was the first Japanese to be inducted into the US Automobile Hall of Fame in 1989.
The award ceremony for the Honda Award takes place every year on November 17, Soichiro Honda's birthday.
| 2023 | November |
44th Honda Prize 2023 Conferring Ceremony held |
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April |
Our office relocated due to redevelopment from April 2023 |
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| 2022 | November |
43rd Honda Prize 2022 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2021-22 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2021 | November |
42nd Honda Prize 2021 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2020-21 Annual Activity Report published |
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July |
4th Honda Y-E-S Forum held |
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| 2020 | November |
41st Honda Prize 2020 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2020-21 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2019 | December |
Honda Foundation/Royal University of Phnom Penh Symposium (Phnom Penh) |
November |
40th Honda Prize 2019 Conferring Ceremony held |
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August |
The Y-E-S Award started in Bangladesh |
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July |
2019-20 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2018 | November |
39th Honda Prize 2018 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2017-18 Annual Activity Report published |
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July |
3rd Honda Y-E-S Forum held |
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May |
Honda Foundation/The Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Symposium (Astana) |
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| 2017 | November |
38th Honda Prize 2017 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2016-17 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2016 | November |
2nd Honda Y-E-S Forum held |
November |
37th Honda Prize 2016 Conferring Ceremony held |
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July |
2015-16 Annual Activity Report published |
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May |
Honda Foundation/CCSTD Symposium (Tashkent) |
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| 2015 | November |
1st Honda Y-E-S Forum held |
November |
36th Honda Prize 2015 Conferring Ceremony held |
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July |
2014-15 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2014 | December |
Honda Foundation/King Saud University Symposium (Riyadh) |
November |
35th Honda Prize 2014 Conferring Ceremony held |
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November |
35th Honda Prize Commemorative Symposium |
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November |
Renewal booklet "Our Mission" published |
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July |
The Y-E-S Award started in Myanmar |
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July |
2013-14 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2013 | November |
34th Honda Prize 2013 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2012-13 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2012 | November |
33rd Honda Prize 2012 Conferring Ceremony held |
July |
2011-12 Annual Activity Report published |
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June |
Honda Foundation/KADIN Indonesia International Symposium (Jakarta) |
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June |
Honda Foundation/Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA) Workshop (Yangon) |
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| 2011 | November |
32nd Honda Prize 2011 Conferring Ceremony held |
August |
Qualified as a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation under the renewed Japanese law |
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August |
Appointment of third president Hiroto Ishida (August 1) |
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July |
Resignation of second president Hiromori Kawashima (July 31) |
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May |
2010-11 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2010 | November |
31st Honda Prize 2010 Conferring Ceremony held |
September |
Chronicle "Fifteen Years of the Honda Prize - 1995- 2009" published |
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March |
2009 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2009 | November |
30th Honda Prize 2009 Conferring Ceremony held |
March |
2008 Annual Activity Report published |
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| 2008 | November |
29th Honda Prize 2008 Conferring Ceremony held |
April |
The Y-E-S Award started in Cambodia and Laos |
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March |
30th Anniversary Booklet “Our Dream” published |
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| 2007 | August |
The Y-E-S Award India initiated |
February |
2006 Annual Activity Report Vol.1 published |
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| 2006 | November |
100th anniversary of Soichiro Honda's birth |
June |
The Y-E-S Award initiated (Vietnam) | |
| 2005 | November |
Ecotechnology Workshop 2005, Ho Chi Minh City |
October |
Commended by Japan Committee on the World Year of Physics 2005 | |
February |
 The Honda FoundationInternational Symposium, 2005, Hanoi |
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| 2003 | March |
Chronicle "Twenty-five Years of the Honda Foundation" published |
| 2002 | October |
 China-Japan-Korea International Symposium commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Honda Foundation in Tokyo |
| 2000 | October |
Japan-Korea Leaders Forum Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and The Sejong Institute in Seoul |
| 1999 | November |
20th Ceremony of the Honda Prize |
| 1998 | October |
Beijing University International Symposium in Beijing |
| 1996 | June |
Seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and Bank Austria in Vienna |
| 1995 | November |
Chronicle "Fifteen Years of the Honda Prize - 1985- 1994" published |
| 1994 | November |
Eco-Technology Symposium commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Honda Prize in Tokyo |
| 1993 | October |
Symposium Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and the Royal Society of Canada in Ottawa |
October |
11th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Toronto | |
| 1992 | December |
Founder Benjiro Honda died. (December 1) |
September |
Bilateral Symposium in Taiwan (Taipei) | |
January |
Appointment of second president Hiromori Kawashima | |
| 1991 | August |
Founder Soichiro Honda died. (August 5) |
June |
 10th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Bonn |
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| 1989 | November |
10th Ceremony of the Honda Prize |
September- October |
Co-sponsored the symposiums of Science & Technology "Europalia 89 Japan". (Brussels, Toulous, Varese, Berlin, Lisbon) | |
| 1988 | September |
5th seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and AGNELLI FOUNDATION in Torino |
| 1987 | December |
Seminar Sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION with the cooperation of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in Tokyo |
July |
 9th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Vienna |
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| 1986 | November |
Conferring Ceremony of the Honda Prize 1986 Seminar Sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION with the cooperation of the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing |
October |
4th Seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and AGNELLI FOUNDATION in Tokyo | |
| 1985 | October |
 8th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Brussels |
September |
3rd Seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and AGNELLI FOUNDATION in Torino | |
| 1984 | August |
 7th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Melbourne |
May |
2nd Seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and AGNELLI FOUNDATION in Tokyo | |
| 1983 | December |
Malaysia International Symposium in Kuala Lumpur |
September |
1st Seminar Co-sponsored by the HONDA FOUNDATION and AGNELLI FOUNDATION in Torino | |
April |
 6th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in London |
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| 1982 | May |
 5th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Columbus, Ohio |
| 1980 | November |
Conferring Ceremony of the Honda Prize 1980 |
| 1979 | August |
 4th DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Stockholm |
| 1978 | November |
1st HONDA FOUNDATION Tokyo Symposium |
| 1978 | October |
 3rd DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Paris |
| 1977 | December |
HONDA FOUNDATION established Appointment of first president Takeso Shimoda |
November |
 2nd DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Rome |
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May- June |
Soichiro Honda tours Europe to promote the cause of DISCOVERIES | |
| 1976 | October |
 1st DISCOVERIES International Symposium in Tokyo |
