Honda celebrates Super Cub 60th birth anniversary via manga art

MANILA: Honda has been observing the 60th birthday of the Super Cub throughout the year. The first Honda Super Cub C100 was built at Honda’s Yamamoto factory — 10 years after the foundation of the company. It came into existence in 1958. Honda has associated with prominent Japanese manga artists for the Super Cub’s 60th Anniversary.

Hisashi Eguchi, one of Japan’s most renowned female character cartoonists, has been a manga artist for 40 years. His work has encouraged generations of Japanese fans, and he previously owned a Super Cub which made him naturally fit for Honda’s partnership. Honda made numerous requests for Eguchi like the models needed to wear helmets and gloves, and should not expose skin.

“As I draw illustrations and pictures, new talent comes out one by one, and I feel like I’m getting old… I am aiming for an old-age feeling. I feel sympathy for the Super Cub in that sense. It is the same with the Super Cub, and there are things like jeans which will be cool even after a long time. I want to be such an existence, so I think I am attracted to the Super Cub in that way,” Eguchi said. “Most of my drawings show admiration and respect for women. I draw the girl I want to be. I would have liked to wear these clothes if I were born a girl… When girls say they want to become illustrators because of me, I feel greatly satisfied. The frustration that I wanted to be born a woman is solved a little by that, and I’m glad… I think every woman can be beautiful.”

Honda has been releasing a manga series to commemorate the Super Cub’s 60th anniversary. Tone Koken will pen these Japanese "slice of life" comic books and Hiroshi will embellish it. It will depict the story of a lonesome high-school girl from Yamanashi, who learns to ride a Cub. Her experiences with the bike open her up to new bonds, admiration, and a sense of exploration.