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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Edited by: Declan Murphy Recommended: Suggested Itineraries Favorite Aichi moments... Best ways to get there Aichi Photogallery Newsgroups: fj.rec.travel.japan, Alt-FAQ Bulletin Boards: Fun/Clubs/Nightlife  Accommodation/Discounts
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History: Toyota Motor Company Ltd. was established in Koromo Town, Aichi Prefecture in 1937 by Mr. Kiichiro Toyoda. Koromo was a major producer of silk and before the founding of the automobile company, the Toyoda family was involved in the maufacture of automatic looms used by the silk and cotton industry.
Mr. Kiichiro's father, Sakichi Toyoda, after 40 years of constant tinkering and improvement, invented the Type G automatic loom. The loom helped mills achieve extremely high productivity levels, threatening the continuing viability of the British textile industry which had long dominated the markets. The patent was sold to a British company (Platt Brothers) in 1929 for 100,000 pounds sterling, providing a large amount of capital just before the great depression.
During the 1930's the textile industry suffered and orders for new looms from the Toyoda family's factory were slow. Looking for new growth markets and to hand the company over to his son, Sakichi Toyoda permitted the creation of an Automobile Department in 1933 inside the "Toyoda Automatic Loom Works" company. Until then all cars in Japan were either imported or assembled from imported parts. There was no suitable steel supplier, and a large number of material issues needed to be solved. The early designs were essentially a matter of reverse engineering. The Type A engine in 1934, a passenger vehicle prototype (Model A1) and a truck (G1) in 1935. In 1936 the production of the first "made in Japan" passenger car began with the launch of the "Toyoda Model AA Sedan". This was still an essentially hand crafted vehicle.
In 1937, the department was spun off and became an independent company inside the group, which continues to make textile machinery. The name of the new company was changed from Toyoda to Toyota - one you will probably hear if you go on one of the plant tours. The name "Toyota" for the company instead of the family name "Toyoda" for several reasons. First, Kiichiro Toyoda wanted to make a distinction between his family (private life) and his company (public life). In Japan, people count the number of strokes it takes to write kanji, hiragana or katakana. In katakana, it takes 10 strokes to write "Toyoda" and 8 strikes to write "Toyota". In Japanese, eight is a good number because the kanji used to write eight also has the meaning of "infinity". By using the name "Toyota", he was expressing his hope for "unlimited" possibilities for his new company. The last and probably most important reason why "Toyota" was chosen was because Japanese people feel that it has a clearer sound than "Toyoda".
As the war lengthened and spread from the Asian mainland to include the entire Pacific area, manufacturing companies lost a lot of their independence as far as decision making was concerned and produced what they were directed to by the military government of the time. Toyota rapidly became a specialist truck supplier. To minimise costs, the trucks were extremely basic (for example with only 1 headlight) and could be convered to charcoal burners. Skilled workers were often drafted, replaced with inexperienced workers or young (drafted) childen. The company narrowly survived the war, with the surrender coming just before the Koromo plant was scheduled to be eliminated by a B29 strike.
After the war the company rebuilt itself, resuming passenger vehicle production, receiving a boost from orders placed due to the Korean war, and implementing new systems including better quality control, production engineering and materials management. Toyota company quickly became a success and in 1959, the town of Koromo changed its name "Toyota". Today, Toyota City is about 25 times bigger than it was in the 1930s with a population of 350,000. The Toyota Group itself is now the world's most successful automobile producer.
Factories
Toyota has fifteen plants in Japan, twelve of which are located in Toyota city, the other three in Kyushu,
Hokkaido and northern Honshu. The 12 plants in Toyota divide the
production of parts and automobile assembly as follows:
Automobile assembly: Honsha, Motomachi, Takaoka, Tsutsumi, and Tahara plants
Engine and engine related assembly: Kamigo and Shimoyama plants
Casting drive trains, engines etc: Miyoshi, Myochi, Kinu-ura and Teiho plants
Electronics: the Hirose plant
Production Tours: Tour groups gather in the Toyota Kaikan Exhibition hall between 9am-3pm (no tours 10:40-11:25) and go by bus to the plants. The tours are conducted in Japanese or English and are led by one of Toyota's guides. Admission is free, but you will need to reserve a spot from 3 months to 2 weeks in advance. To make reservations contact: 0565-23-3922 (English) or 0565-29-3355 (Japanese)
Assembly Line Tour
This tour gives you a bird's eye view of the production floor. The assembly line is step four in a five step process. Steps one through three involve stamping the body panels from sheet metal, welding the panels together, and painting. The Cars arrive in the assembly plants as painted shells and will leave fully assembled, ready for the final step of checking and adjusting before shipment to dealers.As you walk above the production line, you will get a chance to see the Toyota Production System (TPS) in action. This "just-in-time" system reduces waste by producing exactly the quantity of parts that are needed. One line will produce several different car models. Look for the small grey boxes on the car roofs. These boxes communicate with the robots to tell them what model the robot is working on as well as what parts to use, etc.
Environmental Tour
This tour visits the assembly line and environmental facilities of one of the following three plants: Motomachi Plant (Environmental Center), Takaoka Plant (Wastewater Treatment) or Tsutsumi Plant (Recycling Center). Toyota decides which plant will be visited, so you will not be able to choose.
Museums
The first floor of the hall is broken into nine zones. According to the Toyota brochure, the "final" zone is the New Model Exhibit (where you can try out the new cars), but many visitors start here first and go backwards through the exhibit. It doesn't really matter where you start, but if you want to follow the brochure, you will begin with zone 1 to the left of the main entrance hall. Also on the first floor is the Toyota Theater where you can watch a 20 minute fantasy film about time traveling kids and cars of the future. Admission is free.
How to Get ThereThe Zones:
1/ Toyota and the Environment: This section is pretty cool for its displays of mini electric cars and the only Toyota hybrid gas/electric car currently on the market. There is also info about Toyota's recycling programs and other environmental management contributions. If you like to look at engine blocks, this is the place for you!2/ Toyota and Safety: Ever wonder what your car would look like if you crashed it at 60km/hr? This zone has just such a display. At least for a full sized Toyota (not a mini car), it looks like the passenger cab remains intact with a crash speed of 60km, but you might not fare so well at higher speeds--food for thought. Other safety systems to check out are seatbelts, airbags, and ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) as well as a "GOA" theater about (surprise!) safety. Videos, simulators and info panels discuss "active" vs. "passive" safety.
3/ Techno-Scope: A video presenting a sort of "X-ray vision" view of the technological and mechanical systems in a car. If you want to learn how things work and operate while the car is moving, check out this display.
4/ R&D Theater: A movie about Toyota's research and developement activites in planning & design and testing & evaluation. Topics include: prototype maufacturing, engine technologies, vehicle operation in cold conditions, high-speed running, styling desing, etc...
5/ Virtual Factory: A video in English and Japanese about the production process from start to finish. Interesting and worth watching before you go on a tour of one of the plants.
6/ ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems): This zone shows you the future of Toyota covering five areas-- car multimedia (GPS systems, communications, traffic and travel info), intelligent vehicles (visual aid sensors, automatic driving controls, automatic distance control between vehicles), transport sytems(development and operational services), facilities ( electronic toll collection and parking sytems), logistics (trafic controll and other logistic systems).
7/ Car Design Studio: This zone has several computer stations where you can design your own car and simulate driving it. It's pretty kid oriented.
8/ Advanced Automobile Technologies: Display of Formula One racing cars and other "epoch-making" cars.
9/ New Model Exhibit: (The best part) A showroom of new models to get in and try out. Most cars have operating electrical systems so you can adjust the seats, windows, and check out the Global Positioning Systems, etc...
From Okazaki:
Take the Aikan Loop Line from JR Station (Trains leave at 20minutes and 50 minutes past the hour) to Mikawa Toyota Station. It will take about 15 mintues to walk from the station to Toyota Kaikan. The total journey takes about 45 minutes.
From Nagoya:
Subway: Take Higashiyama Line from Nagoya Station to Fushimi Station. Change here for the Tsurumai subway line or the Meitetsu Toyota line and get off at Toyota-shi Station. From here you will have to take bus, taxi or the Aikan Loop Line train to Toyota Headquarters. The total journey should take about 90 minutes.Meitetsu Train: Take the Meitetsu Nagoya Line from Nagoya Station to Chiryu Station. Change here to the Mikawa Meitetsu line and get off at the Tsuchihashi Station. From here you will have to get a taxi to the Toyota Kaikan. Total journey should take about 1 hour.
Open: Tuesday-Sunday 9:30am-4:30pm (5pm April-October)
Admission fee: 1000 yen adults, 600 yen jr. & sr. high school students, 400 yen elementary students
Guided tours are available in the main building.
Parking is free.
How to get there:
From Okazaki: Take the JR Tokaido line to Nagoya Station.From Nagoya: Take the Subway Higashiyama Line from Nagoya Station to Fujigaoka Station. From here take the Meitetsu Bus (Terminal 2) to Nagakuteshako. From Nagakuteshako it is a five minute to the museum.
This is a fantastic museum created to commemorate the spirit of creativity and "making things". In these days of sophisticated manufactoring processes and technology it is uncommon for the avergae person to have the opportunity to see the manufacture of goods. The aim of this museum is to give the average person a chance to experience the spirit and ingenuity needed to create machines that are used to "make things". With this goal in mind, the musem is divided into to three pavilions: Textile Machinery, Autombile and Technoland.
Textile Machinery
This section shows the developement of textile making from the spinning wheel to the automated looms. As you walk through the
textile machinery exhibit, you will see many different kinds of looms including the loom invented by Mr. Sakichi Toyoda which is considered
to be the best loom of its time. As you leave the textile exhibit, you will enter the hall for
demonstrations of metal working technologies. Here you can see metal casting, forging and cutting--processes that you are
not usually able to see even when you go on factory tours.
Automobile Pavilion
This pavilion has interactive displays about automobile mechanisms and components, development technology, and production technology.
The displays are interesting because you can actually see car components such as engines, brakes, suspension etc... in action and
understand how they work. You can also compare the technologies as they were developed through the years including safety features and new power sources.
While you can see the current production process on a tour of one of Toyota's plants, here, you can see the changes made to the production line process
over the years. The automobile pavilion really gives you a sense of the way things were made in the past and how the process changes as technology develops.
Technoland
Here is your chance to learn through experience about principals of different kinds of force and its application to mechanics.
How to Get There
This museum is located in Nagoya. There are three ways to get to the museum from the Nagoya JR station. For more detailed information,
please call the museum: 052-551-6115, or fax: 052-551-6199.
Meitetsu Train: Take the Meitetsu Nagoya Line to Sako Sation. From Sako station it is a 3 minute walk.
Subway: From Nagoya station take the Higashiyama Line terminus Takabata. Get off at Kamejima station (one stop). It is a 10 minute walk from the subway station to the museum.
Bus: Take the Nagoya Station Green Line bus number 11 to Noritake Shinmachi 3-chome bus stop.
Tours - Japan Discovery visits
Toyota Motor.
Click here for more information regarding when Discovery visits this destination.
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Disclaimer and Request:
Opening hours, prices, booking procedures, schedules etc are subject to changes beyond our control. This site is just a guide, and we advise that you always check and confirm in advance. Suggestions, additions and correction of errors are always welcome. Please contact us.
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