The company origins from 1900 started with production of Kepi-style caps by Yuichiro Arai, the father of Hirotake Arai who took over the business in 1930. Hirotake Arai, a keen motorcyclist, was approached to create a new design of sun-barrier hats for the growing Imperial Japanese Army which later was involved in the 1934 invasion of China, the Sino-Japanese war of 1937 and finally World War II. During WWII production stopped. Afterwards, in the late 1940s when Japan was under occupation, Hirotake Arai created the Arai Sewing Machine Company which produced and exported T shirts and overalls. When the Japanese construction industry unions made protective headwear compulsory, from 1950 Hirotake Arai produced safety helmets for construction workers made from a resin outer shell lined with cork. He wore an industrial safety helmet when riding his motorcycle and established a new business, the Arai Hirotake Shoten Co. Ltd. Awarded the Japanese Industrial Standards license, from 1952 his product range diversified into the first Japanese helmets for motorcycling, designated H.A. after his initials. Hirotake Arai's son Michio had spent time in United States, recognising a potential market for their helmets which was dominated at the time by Bell. Arai was approached by New Jersey based motorsport accessory retailer, Roger B Weston, later in late 1970s establishing Arai Helmet Americas, with a goal to recruit an American racer from Daytona 200-racing to wear an Arai helmet. Despite approaches to top American racers and with hopes of Dave Aldana agreeing, it was not until 1978 that Ted Boody Jr. became the first official Arai racer outside of Japan, followed by Freddie Spencer who was the first non-Japanese Arai-contracted Grands Prix rider. In 1983, Belgian former motorcycle road racer Ferry Brouwer formulated a business plan to bring Arai helmets to Continental Europe, creating Arai Europe based in The Netherlands.
Technical aspects
Every Arai helmet is hand-built. All Arai helmets sold in the US meet or exceed the Snell Memorial Foundationsafety standards. The current certification for motorcycles is M2010 which was released in the beginning of 2010. For auto racing and karting the helmets that are sold today are still SA2005 and K2005 certified, these helmets will be legal for competition until 2015. The 2010 certified auto racing and karting helmets will not be available for sale until October 1, 2010. These will be certified as SA2010, K2010 and a new SAH2010 will be introduced which will include HANS anchor posts as part of the certification process. The product has been ranked first in customer satisfaction in all ten annual J. D. Power and Associates Motorcycle Helmet Satisfaction Studies. It was also first in three of four categories: Overall Satisfaction, Ventilation, and Styling. Formula 1 drivers use Arai Helmets since the Arai GP-6 RC is one of the helmets that meets the FIA requirements for the sports.
