A visit to Yamaha Communication Plaza, Japan

Gallery What is it?What’s in there?The visit!A must visit!

What is it?

A space that presents the past, present and future of the Yamaha Motor group. That’s what it reads when you visit the plaza’s official website. But as you step inside that place, you’ll realise it’s not a space. It’s a whole new universe inside. The communication plaza is like a goldmine, minus that stone. But replace that with machines, technology, innovations and passion. The bikes from the 50s to the current world – all have been housed inside this complex.

So as a part of Yamaha India's Call of the Blue campaign, a few of us went to Hamamatsu, a city with plenty of motorcycling history. It’s the same city where team blue has its headquarters.

What’s in there?

Motorcycles. Marine products. ATVs. Snowmobiles. Lexus LFA. All of have been well catalogued and displayed neatly. The 2-floor building is divided into three-parts – ground floor houses all the modern bikes and machines. The first-floor is home to the past Yamaha bikes, including the first Yamaha bike ever produced. The top floor is their administrative department that is home to conference rooms.

The visit!

Our visit started with a short presentation about the history of Yamaha and the plaza. We were taken through the various journeys of the brand, including its relation to Yamaha Music Company. The company first started as a music equipment maker before diversifying to a mass motorcycle and mobility company. I was too eager to just leave that conference room and head to the first floor as early as possible. A few minutes later, we all did.

We were taken to see the bike that made it all happen – the YA-1. Yamaha’s first ever motorcycle that went into production in 1955. Its simple design and chestnut red paint scheme made it a success. This motorcycle shared its space with its race version, which won the 3rd Mt. Fuji race.

We then proceeded towards the most stunning stage of the plaza, race machines. From RD56, Yamaha’s first ever GP bike, to the YZR500, a 170bhp GP machine with Marlboro paint scheme – all were part of this glamorous stage. A lot of time was spent in this area understanding the significance of each bike and its effect on the legendary Yamaha brand. My personal favourite was the 1978 YZR500 for its bright yellow paint scheme. This bike was also Yamaha’s first GP bike to get the Yamaha Power Valve System (YPVS).

We then moved on from on-road race machines to the off-road ones. That’s where I saw the massive and intimidating YZE750T Super Tenere. It’s a 1991 Dakar Rally bike that had done wonders for Yamaha. It sports an 802cc liquid-cooled parallel twin 73bhp engine.

It had a fuel tank capacity of a whopping 64-litres (38 litres primary tank, and 26-litres secondary tank). This section also had the TY250 Competition bike, the 1983 YZM500, a 2-stroke 500cc motocross bike along with the 1997 YZM400F, Yamaha’s first factory motocross bike which was powered by a four-stroke engine.

Just when I thought to take a liquid break, I encountered the on-road bike space. There were around 20 bikes, starting from a mere 50cc Passol step-through scooter to the 1991 FJ1200A, one of the fastest sports tourers of its time. There was also a V-Twin bike, the XV750E, which was developed based on the American cruiser XV750 Special. There were a few dual purpose bikes too. The 1976 XT500 was used by many teams in the early years of Paris Dakar rally. It was powered by a 499cc single-cylinder engine and weighed just 139kgs.

I wanted to spend some more time near these amazing machines, but lack of time means I had to go the ground-floor and see the modern world of Yamaha.

There were trail bikes. Road bikes. Maxi-scooters. Adventure bikes. All that are on sale in the world market. These bikes were glittering in its full form. There was a bit of temptation to flick one or two, but had to control my feelings and greed. This side of the plaza also had a few India-made bikes on display too. At the far end, there were the technology and design zones. There was an exhibition space too where the various features of a products are showcased. For simulation purposes, Yamaha uses 2008 YZF-R1.

The center of the plaza is home to symbol zone. Here, products from Yamaha Motor history and their modern equivalents are on display here. From motorcycles, marine products and recreational vehicles to electrically power-assisted bicycles and automobile engines, all are showcased here. There was the Toyota 2000GT and the Lexus LFA on display too. While the former was co-developed and built by Yamaha, the latter got its V10 engine from Yamaha. Yamaha’s futuristic product, the Motoroid also shared this space along with some other classic GP machines.

A must visit!

If you ever come to Japan, take the Shinkansen and visit this iconic place. The Yamaha Communications Plaza is a must visit place if you are in the world of motorcycling. Even if you aren’t, a brief visit to this place would leave you awestruck. The rich history, futuristic vision and the winning present makes Yamaha an interesting brand to relate to.