The Bridgestone Tire Company was founded in 1930 by Sojiro Ishibashi in the city of Kurume, Japan. The name Bridgestone come from the literal translation of ishibashi from japanese to english.
After World War II Bridgestone started manufacturing motorcycles, but its main income was from supplying tires to its rival motorcycle makers such as Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha and it was later decided to cease motorcycle manufacturing.