Could you please explain to me the meaning for names like Toyota,
Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mazda? I know that at least Toyota means
something translatable.

Hello abc12321,

Toyota is an alteration of the founding family's name, Toyoda.

"Toyota Motor Corporation"
Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/toyota

Honda is the name of the company's founder.

"Honda"
Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/honda

Mitsubishi means "rhombus" or "three diamonds."

"Mitsubishi"
Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/Mitsubishi

Subaru is the word for the star cluster Pleiades.

"Subaru"
Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/Subaru

Mazda stems from Ahura Mazda, a Zoroastrian God, and resembles the
founder's name, Matsuda.

"Mazda History"
Mazda Motors UK Ltd 
http://www.mazda.co.uk/know/history.asp

- justaskscott


Search strategy --

Searched on Google for:

toyota
honda
mitsubishi
subaru
mazda
mazda history

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Request for Answer Clarification by abc12321-ga on 19 Aug 2005 23:54 PDT

Well Thank you very much for your answer!
But, ... actually I've heard that Toyota still have a translation
(even if it's an alteration of family name) particularly it consists
of 3 kanjis and two of them mean "eastern" and "ocean". What does the
third kanji mean?

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 20 Aug 2005 00:40 PDT

I haven't found an indication that "Toyota" has a meaning along the
lines of eastern ocean.  Rather, I've seen several indications that
"Toyoda" means abundant (or rich, plentiful, etc.) rice field.  For
example:

"The Origins of the Name Toyota," by Dan Banks
Maryland 'Z Club
http://www.mdzclub.org/articles/toyotaname.pdf

"Toyota" is written in Katakana, rather than Kanji.  This apparently
is another indication that it doesn't have a distinct meaning.

The Japanese Writing Tutor [under "Katakana is most commonly used to express"]
http://members.aol.com/writejapan/