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This is an ongoing series looking at the master artisans supporting the automotive industry. Here, in Part 2 of the 17th installment, we hear from the master decorative engineer behind the new Century's beautiful wooden panels.
Bringing a fresh perspective to car interiors
Ubukata was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1992. At university, he studied chemical engineering, a discipline associated with plant and factory design, through to graduate level.
He joined Yamaha upon graduation in 2016. When questioned about his choice of employer, Ubukata gave an embarrassed smile, explaining that “it seemed like a place with few chemical engineers.”
Ubukata
From an early age until junior high school, I actually took piano and electronic organ lessons at a Yamaha music school. I love music and still play the piano, which helped pique my interest in Yamaha.
Given my unusual background in chemical engineering, I also felt that my fresh perspective could create synergies. And I wanted to challenge myself to try something new in an arena that has nothing to do with chemical engineering.
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Ubukata assumed he would be assigned to a department related to musical instruments, acoustics, or some of Yamaha’s latest technologies. Against all expectations, he found himself at the Yamaha Fine Technologies Car Parts Division, where he has been developing interior decorations ever since.
As someone who never cared much about colors, with a smile Ubukata says that even he is surprised to be spending his days “talking about which shade of black works best.”
Similarly, he went from having little interest in cars to seeing interior design as his life’s work, which spurs him to constantly seek new information, check out real cars, and come up with his own ideas.
Ubukata
I want to build up a wealth of knowledge and experience, such that when customers come to us wanting to try something new, I can immediately offer suggestions.
I didn’t start out as someone who loved cars, and at university I studied in a completely unrelated field.
Yet it is precisely because of this background that I want to explore the possibilities and appeal of interior decoration with fresh ideas.
With the automotive world said to be undergoing a once-in-a-century period of transformation, changes such as electrification and autonomous driving will no doubt also reshape car interiors. In such times, we can count on people like Ubukata to create new value and approaches to interior design.