[1] After Honda pulled out of F1 after the 1968 season to focus on production vehicles, he returned to Japan and rose through the company's ranks.
[1] Honda returned to Formula One in 1983, eventually winning six consecutive titles with Williams and McLaren.
[2] Kawamoto acted quickly to change Honda's corporate culture, rushing through market-driven product development that resulted in recreational vehicles such as the Odyssey and the CR-V, and a decrease on vehicles that were popular with Honda's engineers but not with the buying public.
[5] Kawamoto also had a love of planes, from watching the Imperial Japanese Navy take off for bombing runs of China during World War II.
In December 1998, he was awarded an honorary knighthood (KBE) for "valuable contributions to improving relations between Britain and Japan".