MAZDA

It was a morning on which the bright blue sky was reflected in the Enko-gawa River. At a wharf alongside the river, Mazda’s ferry, the Nihomaru, stood ready to carry employees across to Fuchizaki Plant on the opposite side. At 8:15 a.m., the boatmen exchanged routine remarks.

“Time for departure.”

“Ok, go!”

The only difference from any other day was that this was the day the Nihomaru would make its final trip.

For more than 16 years, since 1958, the ferry had served as a means of transportation, linking Mazda’s headquarters with its Fuchizaki Plant on the other side of the river. It carried about 10,000 employees per month. But as more people began using the Niho Bridge, built in the mid-1960s as part of a prefectural road construction and improvement plan, the decision was made to end the water transportation service.

After departing the wharf for Fuchizaki as usual, the man at the helm of the ferry recalled an event that had occurred a long time ago:

“Man overboard!”

He had heard somebody on the bank shouting, and had looked to see a father and son drowning, having been thrown into the water from another boat. He had quickly steered the ferry toward them and, extending his hands out to the father, who had hold of his son, was able to rescue them.

He wondered how old the son was now. He still remembered the weight of life in his hands.

Other memories brought a wry grin to the boatmen’s faces. In the 1960s, the ferry was packed tightly with commuters during peak times. One time an employee rushed to get on the ferry, saying, “I’m late for the morning meeting.” He managed to jump onto the boat but then lost his balance, falling into the shallow waters. How many times had they saved such employees? Another recurring event was all the times the ferry had engine issues midway across the river. Sometimes they had to swim back to the wharf to get another boat. Thinking about these times, the men felt pangs of nostalgia mixed with feelings of pride at having accomplished their mission.

On the last day, the ferry made 40 round trips as usual between the headquarters and Fuchizaki Plant. At 4:50 p.m., with the ferry about to leave after its final trip, something happened that caught the eye of everyone on board. In the gathering dusk, people were leaning out of the windows of the plant and waving their caps in their air. The employees who had used the ferry service twice a day were giving a last send-off to the long-serving Nihomaru completing its final crossing.