The Otomo was a Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 built by Junya Toyokawa from 1924 to 1927 at the Hakuyosha Ironworks in Tokyo. It was meant to build upon his experimental Ales

Ales (1921 Automobile)

The Ales was designed by engineer Junya Toyokawa, inventor of gyro-compasses for aircraft and boat control, and produced by Hakuyosha Ironworks Ltd, Tokyo, in 1921. The development of the two Ales experimental touring cars led to the production of the commercially sold 1924 Otomo...

 cars of 1921. Otomo offered an air-cooled 944 cc four-cylinder light car

Light car

A Light Car is a term used in Great Britain since the early part of the 20th Century for an automobile less than 1.5 litres engine capacity. In modern car classification this term would be roughly equivalent to a subcompact car...

, available as two- or four-seat tourer or saloon (sedan), or as a van. This was joined in 1926 by a water-cooled 24 hp model. During this time, Otomo was one of only two Japanese automakers, joined by Gorham (which was financed by American aircraft engineer William R. Gorham).