Brief history of Toyota Motor Co. and museum

Andres · Aug 9, 2016

Konaborne said: ↑

were they still doing the forge thing? Still have a little toyota stamped piston from when I was there. Pretty cool place
Click to expand...

I didn't see any stamping samples performed. There were people that would do demonstrations on how the weaving machines work as well as fabrication process like drilling machines, lathes, etc. Others were automated where you'd press a button and the machine would do an operation.

dutchjim · Aug 10, 2016

Andres[OP] initial post: ↑

Hi TW,

I had the opportunity of taking a trip to Japan, great noodles, ancient temples, kind people but there were was one place in particular I wanted to visit: the first and original Toyota factory in Japan (now called the Kaikan museum).

This is the factory where it all began and is now a dedicated museum to the history of Toyota Motor Company as well as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. I'm back to share with you some pictures that I personally took and a little piece of history which is deeply embedded here in TW that few of us realize.
Let's begin!

Toyota Motor Co. started as a textiles company in 1911 by Sakichi Toyoda (that's right, TO-YO-DA) who established the Toyoda automatic weaving mill in Sako, Nagoya. His factory performed research and development of automatic looms for the weaving of textiles.

In the 1920's, Sakichi contributed to many developments of the automatic loom machines leading to the development of the Type G automatic loom machine in 1924 which came to be regarded as the highest performing automatic loom machine at that time. Sakichi established Toyota Automatic loom works for the mass production of his loom machines becoming the nucleus for the growth of a future company which his son, Kiichiro Toyoda will develop.

Kiichiro was raised in an industrial environment providing him access for study, research and development in the automatic loom machines, however he developed a keen interest in automobiles. In a small room on a corner of his father's loom factory he began tinkering with a Smith Flyer vehicle, a small, simple two seat vehicle with a wooden frame. He was able to provide a kit that would attach a Smith Flyer wheel and motor onto an ordinary bicycle.

His next project was an ambitions one, the automobile. So how do you figure out how an automobile works in 1920's?
Simple!
You start by taking apart and studying an American Chevrolet car.
In a corner of of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, preparations began to build prototype vehicles while recruiting people with relevant experience from outside the company.

The production of Toyota's automobiles started in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works and by 1935 they had finally achieved their first production car, the A1 (or AA in Japan).

Personal note:
This vehicle is gorgeous!
It's a mechanical masterpiece, the first step forward for the automotive industry in Japan.

After the completion of the Model AA, Kiichiro turned it's attention to building a truck vehicle because it was more likely to be profitable in the short term, thus the first ever Toyota truck was born: the G1.

Alright so what's the deal with the name?
What's with TOYODA?
Isn't it TOYOTA?

In September 1936 the company ran a public competition to design a new logo for their line of vehicles, of 27,000 entries the end result was a combination of three Japanese letters spelling the word TOYOTA.

I personally happen to study basic Japanese language so I will attempt to uncover this mystery. Unlike our English alphabet which consists of 26 letters, Japanese writing has two forms of alphabets called Hiragana and Katakana. There's a third form of writing called Kanji but let's focus on Katakana for now

The Japanese letter for "TO" is written as "ト"
The Japanese letter for "YO" is written as "ヨ"
The Japanese letter for "DA" is written as "ダ"

The word TOYODA would've been seen as トヨダ
Notice the two lines at the top of ダ.

The decision to change the name to TOYOTA was because:

*In Japanese writing it takes eight brush strokes (a lucky number, Japanese culture).
*It was visually simpler.
*It was simpler to pronounce.

Thus the name "Toyota" (トヨタ) with the two lines removed from ダ was established in August 1937 as the Toyota Motor Company. Personally after reading about the new logo for Toyota it inspired me to make the TEQ emblem after coming back from Japan.

The second truck in production, the Model GA was the first vehicle sold under the new name of Toyota.

Fun fact: from September 1947 small size vehicles were sold under the name "Toyopet" (トヨペット) and was given the nick name after the SA model for it's small size as a result of another naming contest.

From this group of small size vehicles came other models including the Toyopet Corona, however after the introduction of these vehicles into American sales the name was drooped due to associations with toys and pets. From these smaller size vehicles came our famous Corolla, Camry, Celica and others.

The rest of the museum offers a good amount of information about the fabrication of these vehicles, testing, forging etc. There were lots of Japanese and foreign college students visiting the museum

Fun fact: In my early years of manufacturing I used to operate a 2-story high CNC machine labeled TOYODA. I'm not sure if the brand is a direct product of the Toyota motor company but I do know it started in 1941 originally made to facilitate the production lines of major automotive companies including Toyota Motor Co.

Toyota Motor Co. has prospered and is now one of the finest example of lean manufacturing over the world. They also continue to make a variety of products such as this advanced loom machine shown below that can dye each thread a different color to produce a photo on the fabric.

Our tour ended with a special duet playing instruments live.

I hope you enjoy.

-Andres
Click to expand...

So nice. Thank you for this.

Andres · Aug 11, 2016

dutchjim said: ↑

So nice. Thank you for this.
Click to expand...

You're welcome bud, it was quite a pleasure writing about something that caught my interest that way in a long time.

thebottomline · Aug 11, 2016

Could you comment on costs there? Japan has a reputation as being very cost prohibitive. How much is entry etc?

NJBaird3 · Aug 12, 2016

Andres[OP] initial post: ↑

Hi TW,

I had the opportunity of taking a trip to Japan, great noodles, ancient temples, kind people but there were was one place in particular I wanted to visit: the first and original Toyota factory in Japan (now called the Kaikan museum).

This is the factory where it all began and is now a dedicated museum to the history of Toyota Motor Company as well as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. I'm back to share with you some pictures that I personally took and a little piece of history which is deeply embedded here in TW that few of us realize.
Let's begin!

Toyota Motor Co. started as a textiles company in 1911 by Sakichi Toyoda (that's right, TO-YO-DA) who established the Toyoda automatic weaving mill in Sako, Nagoya. His factory performed research and development of automatic looms for the weaving of textiles.

In the 1920's, Sakichi contributed to many developments of the automatic loom machines leading to the development of the Type G automatic loom machine in 1924 which came to be regarded as the highest performing automatic loom machine at that time. Sakichi established Toyota Automatic loom works for the mass production of his loom machines becoming the nucleus for the growth of a future company which his son, Kiichiro Toyoda will develop.

Kiichiro was raised in an industrial environment providing him access for study, research and development in the automatic loom machines, however he developed a keen interest in automobiles. In a small room on a corner of his father's loom factory he began tinkering with a Smith Flyer vehicle, a small, simple two seat vehicle with a wooden frame. He was able to provide a kit that would attach a Smith Flyer wheel and motor onto an ordinary bicycle.

His next project was an ambitions one, the automobile. So how do you figure out how an automobile works in 1920's?
Simple!
You start by taking apart and studying an American Chevrolet car.
In a corner of of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, preparations began to build prototype vehicles while recruiting people with relevant experience from outside the company.

The production of Toyota's automobiles started in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works and by 1935 they had finally achieved their first production car, the A1 (or AA in Japan).

Personal note:
This vehicle is gorgeous!
It's a mechanical masterpiece, the first step forward for the automotive industry in Japan.

After the completion of the Model AA, Kiichiro turned it's attention to building a truck vehicle because it was more likely to be profitable in the short term, thus the first ever Toyota truck was born: the G1.

Alright so what's the deal with the name?
What's with TOYODA?
Isn't it TOYOTA?

In September 1936 the company ran a public competition to design a new logo for their line of vehicles, of 27,000 entries the end result was a combination of three Japanese letters spelling the word TOYOTA.

I personally happen to study basic Japanese language so I will attempt to uncover this mystery. Unlike our English alphabet which consists of 26 letters, Japanese writing has two forms of alphabets called Hiragana and Katakana. There's a third form of writing called Kanji but let's focus on Katakana for now

The Japanese letter for "TO" is written as "ト"
The Japanese letter for "YO" is written as "ヨ"
The Japanese letter for "DA" is written as "ダ"

The word TOYODA would've been seen as トヨダ
Notice the two lines at the top of ダ.

The decision to change the name to TOYOTA was because:

*In Japanese writing it takes eight brush strokes (a lucky number, Japanese culture).
*It was visually simpler.
*It was simpler to pronounce.

Thus the name "Toyota" (トヨタ) with the two lines removed from ダ was established in August 1937 as the Toyota Motor Company. Personally after reading about the new logo for Toyota it inspired me to make the TEQ emblem after coming back from Japan.

The second truck in production, the Model GA was the first vehicle sold under the new name of Toyota.

Fun fact: from September 1947 small size vehicles were sold under the name "Toyopet" (トヨペット) and was given the nick name after the SA model for it's small size as a result of another naming contest.

From this group of small size vehicles came other models including the Toyopet Corona, however after the introduction of these vehicles into American sales the name was drooped due to associations with toys and pets. From these smaller size vehicles came our famous Corolla, Camry, Celica and others.

The rest of the museum offers a good amount of information about the fabrication of these vehicles, testing, forging etc. There were lots of Japanese and foreign college students visiting the museum

Fun fact: In my early years of manufacturing I used to operate a 2-story high CNC machine labeled TOYODA. I'm not sure if the brand is a direct product of the Toyota motor company but I do know it started in 1941 originally made to facilitate the production lines of major automotive companies including Toyota Motor Co.

Toyota Motor Co. has prospered and is now one of the finest example of lean manufacturing over the world. They also continue to make a variety of products such as this advanced loom machine shown below that can dye each thread a different color to produce a photo on the fabric.

Our tour ended with a special duet playing instruments live.

I hope you enjoy.

-Andres
Click to expand...

Excellent! I had the privilege of living in Nagoya (technically Inuyama) for a period of time and also went there. Brought back a lot of great memories, thanks!

coffeesnob · Aug 12, 2016

Andres[OP] said: ↑

Agreed.

I also visited a Toyota automobile museum and the Toyota factory line.
Unfortunately no pictures allowed in the factory line but it is unbelievably organized.
It was said that they have major plans on renovating the production plant that we visited.
Click to expand...

didn't the United States teach them how to run a factory and build assembly line's inventory / quality control etc...after WW2

ABA180 · Aug 12, 2016

@DoubleRGirl

Andres · Aug 12, 2016

coffeesnob said: ↑

didn't the United States teach them how to run a factory and build assembly line's inventory / quality control etc...after WW2
Click to expand...

It's quite possible they contracted outside help, however Toyota was already producing vehicles before WW2 as early as 1935.

I should also mention that Kiichiro Toyoda came to the US to visit car manufacturing plants before WW2, it was inside american factories where he studied how an assembly line should run.

Andres · Aug 12, 2016

thebottomline said: ↑

Could you comment on costs there? Japan has a reputation as being very cost prohibitive. How much is entry etc?
Click to expand...

*Food was cheap. I didn't see a lot of sushi surprisingly but lots or Ramen noodles.
*I bought a train pass which gives me unlimited train rides so I used it as much as I could. They're wicked fast and right on schedule.
*The museum entrance was free if I remember correctly.
*To buy land in Japan is very expesive, specially inside cities like Tokyo, Kyoto

ALTWORD · Aug 27, 2016

Andres - thank you so much for sharing. I restored two Smith Motor Wheels and this is the first reference I have seen about its presence in Japan. And in response to coffeesnob's question, Edwards Deming did indeed introduce quality control techniques to Japan in the rebuilding of Japan after WWII. He is largely credited with the economic miracle of Japan's resurgence.

Andres · Aug 28, 2016

ALTWORD said: ↑

Andres - thank you so much for sharing. I restored two Smith Motor Wheels and this is the first reference I have seen about its presence in Japan. And in response to coffeesnob's question, Edwards Deming did indeed introduce quality control techniques to Japan in the rebuilding of Japan after WWII. He is largely credited with the economic miracle of Japan's resurgence.

Click to expand...

Way cool!
I bet thos wheels were hard to come by.
Like I said, Toyota had been producing cars before WWII and they did in fact received foreign help but it hadn't been the company as we see it today, it took great effort and lots of outside help.

othater · Aug 28, 2016

Andres,
Love the history. Wish I can write like you.

Andres · Aug 28, 2016

othater said: ↑

Andres,
Love the history. Wish I can write like you.
Click to expand...

Haha I'm far from a writer but thanks for the compliments.

-Andres

Andres · Sep 23, 2016

Anyone been to any other factories?

moeducate · Sep 23, 2016

Really enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing this interesting information.

Andres · Sep 23, 2016

moeducate said: ↑

Really enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing this interesting information.
Click to expand...

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed.

= ]

Squatting Pigeon · Sep 26, 2016

Great info!
Those pictures are incredible, so much history under one roof.

Thanks for sharing!

PROseur · Sep 26, 2016

Thanks for the pictures. Its been years since I have been. I had the pleasure of visiting the LFA production line and the NSX back in the day. I would love to visit the GTR line, but haven't been able to.

I love EVERYTHING about Japan. However, all the women look like 10 year old boys.

Andres · Sep 26, 2016

Squatting_pigeon said: ↑

Great info!
Those pictures are incredible, so much history under one roof.

Thanks for sharing!

Click to expand...

You're welcome.
Luckily this place wasn't demolished or sold, it's the original factory now turned into an outstanding museum.

ChadsPride · Sep 26, 2016

Andres[OP] initial post: ↑

Hi TW,

I had the opportunity of taking a trip to Japan, great noodles, ancient temples, kind people but there were was one place in particular I wanted to visit: the first and original Toyota factory in Japan (now called the Kaikan museum).

This is the factory where it all began and is now a dedicated museum to the history of Toyota Motor Company as well as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. I'm back to share with you some pictures that I personally took and a little piece of history which is deeply embedded here in TW that few of us realize.
Let's begin!

Toyota Motor Co. started as a textiles company in 1911 by Sakichi Toyoda (that's right, TO-YO-DA) who established the Toyoda automatic weaving mill in Sako, Nagoya. His factory performed research and development of automatic looms for the weaving of textiles.

In the 1920's, Sakichi contributed to many developments of the automatic loom machines leading to the development of the Type G automatic loom machine in 1924 which came to be regarded as the highest performing automatic loom machine at that time. Sakichi established Toyota Automatic loom works for the mass production of his loom machines becoming the nucleus for the growth of a future company which his son, Kiichiro Toyoda will develop.

Kiichiro was raised in an industrial environment providing him access for study, research and development in the automatic loom machines, however he developed a keen interest in automobiles. In a small room on a corner of his father's loom factory he began tinkering with a Smith Flyer vehicle, a small, simple two seat vehicle with a wooden frame. He was able to provide a kit that would attach a Smith Flyer wheel and motor onto an ordinary bicycle.

His next project was an ambitions one, the automobile. So how do you figure out how an automobile works in 1920's?
Simple!
You start by taking apart and studying an American Chevrolet car.
In a corner of of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, preparations began to build prototype vehicles while recruiting people with relevant experience from outside the company.

The production of Toyota's automobiles started in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works and by 1935 they had finally achieved their first production car, the A1 (or AA in Japan).

Personal note:
This vehicle is gorgeous!
It's a mechanical masterpiece, the first step forward for the automotive industry in Japan.

After the completion of the Model AA, Kiichiro turned it's attention to building a truck vehicle because it was more likely to be profitable in the short term, thus the first ever Toyota truck was born: the G1.

Alright so what's the deal with the name?
What's with TOYODA?
Isn't it TOYOTA?

In September 1936 the company ran a public competition to design a new logo for their line of vehicles, of 27,000 entries the end result was a combination of three Japanese letters spelling the word TOYOTA.

I personally happen to study basic Japanese language so I will attempt to uncover this mystery. Unlike our English alphabet which consists of 26 letters, Japanese writing has two forms of alphabets called Hiragana and Katakana. There's a third form of writing called Kanji but let's focus on Katakana for now

The Japanese letter for "TO" is written as "ト"
The Japanese letter for "YO" is written as "ヨ"
The Japanese letter for "DA" is written as "ダ"

The word TOYODA would've been seen as トヨダ
Notice the two lines at the top of ダ.

The decision to change the name to TOYOTA was because:

*In Japanese writing it takes eight brush strokes (a lucky number, Japanese culture).
*It was visually simpler.
*It was simpler to pronounce.

Thus the name "Toyota" (トヨタ) with the two lines removed from ダ was established in August 1937 as the Toyota Motor Company. Personally after reading about the new logo for Toyota it inspired me to make the TEQ emblem after coming back from Japan.

The second truck in production, the Model GA was the first vehicle sold under the new name of Toyota.

Fun fact: from September 1947 small size vehicles were sold under the name "Toyopet" (トヨペット) and was given the nick name after the SA model for it's small size as a result of another naming contest.

From this group of small size vehicles came other models including the Toyopet Corona, however after the introduction of these vehicles into American sales the name was drooped due to associations with toys and pets. From these smaller size vehicles came our famous Corolla, Camry, Celica and others.

The rest of the museum offers a good amount of information about the fabrication of these vehicles, testing, forging etc. There were lots of Japanese and foreign college students visiting the museum

Fun fact: In my early years of manufacturing I used to operate a 2-story high CNC machine labeled TOYODA. I'm not sure if the brand is a direct product of the Toyota motor company but I do know it started in 1941 originally made to facilitate the production lines of major automotive companies including Toyota Motor Co.

Toyota Motor Co. has prospered and is now one of the finest example of lean manufacturing over the world. They also continue to make a variety of products such as this advanced loom machine shown below that can dye each thread a different color to produce a photo on the fabric.

Our tour ended with a special duet playing instruments live.

I hope you enjoy.

-Andres
Click to expand...

So cool @Andres

Thank you for sharing!!!!

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