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那年,當花費九年時間研發的火箭引擎「賽蓮」,帶著發射失敗的火箭衝入海裡,佃航平的夢想,也隨之消失在海平面下。灰心的佃辭去研究員的工作,轉而繼承家業「佃製作所」。

多年後,規模雖小,但佃製作所已以高品質在業界打響名號,某天卻莫名遭到競爭對手「中島工業」控告侵害專利,緊接著重要的大客戶取消訂單,連合作銀行也拒絕提供資金援助,佃製作所面臨隨時可能倒閉的危機。

此時,大企業「帝國重工」為了研發新一代的國產火箭引擎,有意以高價收購佃製作所擁有專利的關鍵零件技術,只要佃答應出售專利,就能讓公司擺脫目前的財務困境。

面對部分員工要求佃立刻賣掉專利拯救公司,佃卻陷入了猶豫。這項技術是佃的夢想,是他在賽蓮失敗之後,投入無數時間精力才改良完成,但他要如何說服員工,保有這項技術可以讓公司起死回生?或是真如員工所說,佃只是在滿足他個人的夢想,不顧員工的生計?

眼看佃製作所和當時搭載賽蓮的火箭一樣,正慢慢偏離軌道,他們最後會墜落大海,還是順利高飛升空?

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

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Jun Ikeido

110 books24 followers

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5 stars
82 (47%)
4 stars
64 (37%)
3 stars
18 (10%)
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5 (2%)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Hiroshi Tsukamoto.
17 reviews1 follower
March 3, 2011
土屋監査役からいただいた有難い本。下町のちっちゃな企業がロケットの技術で大企業を打ち負かしていくという痛快なストーリーが最高。すっごく面白いのと同時に、会社は何のために存在するのか、ということを真剣に考えさせられる深い話。よいタイミングでよい本を読ませていただけことに感謝です。
41 reviews
September 8, 2017
感動した。
夢について、夢を達成することについて、あきらめないことについて、働くことについて、いろいろ考えさせられる小説だった。
失敗し、挫折したとしても 夢は想像もしなかった形で叶う可能性がある
自分を信じてあきらめなければ

すごい自分を奮い立たせられる小説。
やる気出た。
Profile Image for Toshiya TSURU.
26 reviews1 follower
January 6, 2018
“「肝心なことは、後悔しないことだな。そのためには、全力をつくすしかない」”
Profile Image for Manal.
19 reviews
April 18, 2019
池井戸潤さん作の「半沢シリーズ」はお気に入り小説一覧をリードしている自分は、同作家の他作品を読んでみようと思ったのは当然だった。
下町ロケットを読み終えて思ったのは、半沢には劣らないどころか、みしろ半沢シリーズの全4部に勝る傑作なのかも知れないという期待を上回るような好評だった。
一つの町工場が直面する危機、それを乗り越えるための努力が絶妙に上手く描かれ、大きな夢に向かって挑戦するその中小会社、全社員が意見をぶつけ合いながら四苦八苦する姿に心を刺激され、色んなことを考えさせる他に、感動させられる面々で一杯あった。特に、エンディングには涙ぐんだ。
半沢シリーズの題材は銀行や経済系が主で、やや複雑なところはあったが、追いつかないほどではなく、むしろその専門的な部分にこそ読み甲斐を感じたり、濃厚で深刻なところもその醍醐味だとも言える。しかし、その点を恐れたり、その量に引いたりする人はいるだろうとも思う。
しかし、一方の下町ロケットは、会社の経営などを話の軸にしていて、内容はややシンプルで、その分読みやすいという長所がある(ま、そのシンプルなところこそを子供っぽいと嫌った感想も読むが、個人的にはむしろ気に入ったところ)。
さらに、池井戸潤の十八番とも言える企業政略や責任論など、経営に纏わる理論が十分に議論される作品でもある。
池井戸潤氏の作品を読んでみたいが、半沢シリーズの長さに抵抗を覚える方なら、この作品をぜひ読んでみて下さい。
Profile Image for Yu Jie.
221 reviews
May 5, 2020
這本書對我來說,最大困難點在於火箭技術。由於整本書是以火箭的閥門技術為主軸,技術內容專業,但我沒興趣深入了解,導致看得非常慢。但這無疑又是一本令人熱血沸騰的好看作品。

佃製作的第二代老闆佃,本來是一名火箭研究員,因為設計出的引擎導致火箭發射失敗,故離開研究領域,承接自家的公司。佃雖然不再是研究員,但仍對研究火箭有高度興趣,因此公司也是不斷開發新的氫引擎,因而拿到新的閥門專利。然而新的專利申請,卻阻擋了帝國重工的火箭工程,帝國重工便開始對佃提出購買專利,開始了佃人生事業的另一個挑戰。

面對帝國重工軟硬兼施的攻擊,再加上內部意見的分歧,佃在選擇上出現兩難,到底朝夢想邁進是不是一件現實的事?沒有夢想跟目標的工作,是不是自己真的想要的?追求自己想要的夢想,會不會因此讓公司經營陷入困境?

最後的結局也讓讀者鬆了一口氣,忍不住想對佃說一句:真的是太好了!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Pascale.
335 reviews18 followers
May 18, 2020
J'ai vraiment aimé. l'intrigue est bonne, l'intérêt reste bien présent tout au long de l'histoire. Tout est bien raconté.

La façon de faire des entreprises japonaises est assez intéressante vu d'un point de vue nord Américain. Vraiment j'ai adoré et je le suggère fortement a ceux et celles qui aiment ce genre d'histoire.
40 reviews
July 4, 2021
I read this in Korean so I'm not exactly sure I'm at the right book.....


It was okay - for light reading.
It basically oozes "positivity" and "inspirational" and if that's what you like, I promise you that's what you would get. Lots of cliches surrounding the struggles of the main character such as divorce, still too rose-tinted for my taste....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
11 reviews
August 21, 2022
1. 예전에 이 작가 소설이 원작인 한자와 나오키 드라마를 본 적이 있는데, 그 드라마도 그렇고 이 소설도 그렇고 사이다의 정석이라고 생각한다. 악당이 나오고 -> 얄밉게 주인공을 방해하다가 -> 참교육 당하고 퇴장 -> 반복... 통쾌하니까 적당히 재밌기는 한데 어떻게 진행될지 뻔히 보여서 크게 감동적이지는 않다.

2. 그리고 매우 낭만적이다. 주인공은 평생의 꿈을 이루기 위해 회사 이익에 반하는 결정을 하지만 직원들은 이를 이해하고 따라준다. 불만을 가지는 직원들도 있지만 결국 감화되고, 모든 일이 좋게 흘러가 결국 주인공의 선택이정답이었다라는 결론을 내리게 된다. 그 과정에서 약간의 변수와 갈등이 있지만 절대로 결과가 바뀌지 않을 것이라는 것을 작가도 알고 읽고 있는 나도 안다. 이런 요소들은 소설을 읽는 부담을 크게 줄여주고 딱 기대한 만큼의 재미를 느끼게 해준다. 아마 이 작가의 나머지 작품들도 다 비슷할 것이라고 생각한다.

3. 윌라의 녹음에서 두 가지 아쉬운 점이 있었다. 첫째, 화를 내는 연기가 각 캐릭터의 성격이나 상황에 맞지 않게 동일해서 많이 어색했다. 주인공이 혼자 분을 삭히는 장면이나, 라이벌 회사 직원이 윽박지르는 장면이나, 부하 직원이 사장의 방침에 항의하는 장면이나 다 억양과 강세를 비슷하게 하다 보니 '이 상황에서 이렇게 얘기할 수 있나?' 라는 의문이 종종 들었다. 둘째, 이건 많은 윌라 오디오북에서 동일하게 발견되는 문제인데, 오디오북 파일을 분할하는 과정에서 내용이 몇 초 중복되는 경우가 많았다. 사소한 것이지만 이런 기본적인 부분에서 실수가 나오면 안될텐데... 전반적으로 파일들을 점검해보면 좋을 것 같다.
Profile Image for Cathy.
615 reviews12 followers
July 1, 2021
很細節的描寫中小企業與主要往來銀行、競爭對手大企業、律師.....之間的攻防戰,主角是中小企業的社長,懷抱著製造火箭、發射火箭的夢想。社長經營的公司受到競爭對手大企業各種刁難,但是社長堅持工作品質,堅持研究開發的價值,堅持帶領公司製作精良的產品。這些夢想如同想發射,卻需要長期醞釀與努力,不知何日才能發射的火箭。社長的心血、夢想、工作成果隨著火箭一起升空後的最後一幕真的很感動。我看過作者的另一套作品半澤直樹,同樣是在看似小蝦米對抗大鯨魚的狀況下戰勝各種挑戰,我覺的下町火箭比較好看,因為火箭的motif讓這本書主題意象鮮明,社長的人生經歷也使他比半澤更有趣。
Profile Image for Mako Svensson.
13 reviews
July 28, 2020
社長のロケット部品への情熱と中小企業の社長としての頑張り。最後はスッキリと感度で読み終わった。
Profile Image for Kyoko.
108 reviews2 followers
February 17, 2021
Audibleで聴了。
おじさんの世界、面白く、発見もいろいろあった。オーディオブックのナレーターさんが上手く、キャラクター迷子にならずに済んだ。
24 reviews
October 18, 2021
Just absolutely wonderful. Can't help reading from cover to cover.
Profile Image for Nagisa.
435 reviews13 followers
October 24, 2021
Major firms cruelly try to drag down a small business, Tsukuda factory, to penury.
The company overcomes challenges one by one, and its journey is a page-turner.
Profile Image for coflo.
442 reviews20 followers
September 13, 2021
4.5 stars. It is like a romance for people who works in small and medium enterprises, for people who work their ass off believing in the quality of their product and keeping pursuing their unachieved goal. It's utterly romantic to see such a resolute boss and such employees who can also withstand the difficulties all connected together and fight off their menacing opponents.
130 reviews23 followers
April 30, 2016
An inspiring tale about a former rocket scientist, Tsukuda Kouhei, who had inherited his father's engine making small company after the rocket engine he designed led to a rocket launch failure. Despite having failed in the past, Tsukuda did not give up his dream. Using his knowledge in R&D, Tsukuda's company successfully developed a top class valve system, and obtained its intellectual property right, just ahead of the top rocket engineering, Teikoku Heavy Industry. Tsukuda's company was plagued by income decrease as one of its biggest client decided to make its own engine instead of buying from Tsukuda.
Furthermore, a rival company has sued Tsukuda for IP right violation, demanding for compensation that could lead to bankruptcy of Tsukuda. On the other hand, Teikoku Heavy Industry had offered to purchase the IP right of the valve system developed by Tsukuda.
Knowing full well that his company needed the money from the sale of IP right, Tsukuda decided to hold on to his dream and offered to manufacture and provide the valve systems for the rocket engine made by Teikoku Heavy Industry instead.

That is a summary of the story, so full of struggle yet full of hope and dream. Despite being at an age where one has to settle down and take less risk, Tsukuda tried his best to make his dream comes true, even though he was dismissed from the rocket science R&D centre after the launch failure.

Another interesting detail presented in all Ikeido Jun's book is the corporate interaction. People avoid risk because they have to be held responsible for a risky decision. i do not know how far 責任論 (responsibility in a bad way) has been practised in real life, but that might be the reason why we do not achieve greater improvement compared to ages before.
Profile Image for Lu.
258 reviews27 followers
March 5, 2020
「人往往不是在平時,而是在身陷困境時才會顯露本性。」

自從讀了《七個會議》之後就對池井戶潤的書興致勃勃,這次讀的下町火箭才看前幾章就非常吸引我。主角佃航平在過去以研究員的身份在火箭計畫上失利後因責任歸咎而辭職,偏離研究軌道的他走往繼承家業—佃製作所的道路,即使身份變成了經營者,對於開發的努力仍然未曾放棄⋯⋯

單看這個段落,會覺得很像是沒有放棄研究的研究員繼續追逐夢想的勵志故事,而池井戶潤卻能以更豐富的角度帶入各種元素。在閱讀的過程中,最讓我驚嘆的是主角所面臨的各種困境完全是中小企業間可能遇到的挑戰,近乎絕望的情況下這間公司和老闆到底會如何抉擇,是一個很吸引我閱讀下去的要素。

除了不忘夢想而活之外,不同員工的刻畫與個性,讓各種角色的意念豐富在故事的段落之中,也是池井戶潤在這本作品上讓我覺得很被吸引的部分。這個故事在時間軸的推進上不會太過理想,而故事的展開也讓人覺得很真實,彷彿真的可能會遇到這些情境,讓人佩服池井戶潤的描繪功力。在大企業與中小企業的抗衡之間,他並沒有選擇讓哪一邊貼上絕對的標籤(例如大企業就是惡),而是依據不同的抉擇與特性來帶出不同企業精神的下場。

從大企業的背景與資金的現實面描寫中小企業的困難與不利開始,下町火箭並不是一個依序漸進實現夢想的故事,而是像現實人生一樣,在面對各種困境與緣份的交錯之下走向了夢想。
Profile Image for Yuko.
249 reviews
February 23, 2016
what a great read! Initially I thought, oh another story about an ex banker working for a small company.. but no, not this one. I was transformed into one of the employees at the Tsukuda manufacturing, sharing the big dream of the company president, and actually beating the bigger companies with commitment to innovation and quality. such a feel good ending as well. fantastic .
Profile Image for Erika.
2,836 reviews88 followers
June 4, 2021
面白かったけど、軽い読み物。
余韻のある部類ではない。

というか、会話部分を読むだけで話の流れがわかる、
そういう本。
8 reviews
May 22, 2016
面白かった。子供向けなのか、やや内容が浅かった印象だった(自分の理解が足りなかった可能性もあるが)。
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