Holiday in Nagoya (5) - Birthplace of Toyota (Part 2)

In 1921, Sakichi Toyoda’s son Kiichiro joined his father’s company Toyoda Boshoku (Spinning and Weaving) Corporation (present Toyota Boshoku Corporation). During his business trips to the US and Europe, he was very impressed by the popularity of automobiles and thought of the great potential of the automobile industry. In 1933, he established the Automobile Division in Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. In the Automobile Pavilion, you can see the scene of trial production of the Model A1 passenger car. It must have required advanced craftmanship.

In 1936, their first passenger car, the Model AA was released. It looked gorgeous. Next year, the Automobile Division became independent, and Toyota Motor Company Ltd. was established.

The pavilion exhibited the flow-type mass production system in the Koromo Plant during 1938-1942. It could produce 2000 units per month.

The seats were made by using a sewing machine. I was very interested in this old sewing machine made by Singer because my grandmother also had a similar machine of the same manufacturer in the attic of her house.

If you are a car lover, this museum is a must to visit.

Some old vehicles looked nicer than modern ones. I liked the design and color of Toyoda Model G1 Truck made in 1935. When I saw it on the site, I imagined somehow that it had been used in farms. The color reminds of me of a green pepper.

This is Corolla Sprinter in 1968.

Camry is a long-seller model. This one was made in 1982.

The color of this Corolla Tercel (1980 US Spec) is nice.

There were also PRIUS PHV in 2017,

and a main body assembly automatic welder for PRIUS in 2015.

I learned later that they also exhibit electric vehicles, but I think I missed it. The pavilion was large and had a lot to see. Some areas were under renovation and forbidden to enter until December 28, 2019.

Outside the pavilion, there was a group of Toyota Partner Robots. They played musical instruments at the Expo 2005 Aichi. Though they don’t play any more in this museum except the one that plays the violin (not in the picture), you can see in youtube how well the trumpeter robot can play the trumpet. If you are interested in these robots, search with “Toyota Partner Robot.”

The museum shop had many interesting goods such as original spanner spoons & forks.

I didn’t have time to visit, but Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology has Technoland where you can experience the fun of manufacturing. I think children can have a very good time there. The museum has a website in multiple languages: Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Thai. It is quite informative.