Everyone knows Toyota for its cars, but few know the company’s connection to a position in Japan, where they started. A Reddit article claimed that the city of Toyota in Japan received the call from the company, and not the other way around, because of the automaker’s success. Originally, the city was called Koromo, but the call was repositioned in 1959.
Several resources have taken and displayed this information. A 2020 Reuters article says: “Toyota Motor Corp’s headquarters are in Aichi Prefecture, Toyota City, which bears the company’s name in the 1950s to reflect its role as the region’s largest employer. “
The New York Times also reported in 2019 that the city “formerly known as KoromoArray. . . a classic center of agricultural and silk production before its transformation into a production center. “The report adds that the city of 420,000 is “the home of the automaker. “whence [it takes] its name. “
What do the people themselves say about it? According to their official tourism website:
Toyota City in central Aichi Prefecture is a colorful mix of culture and technology, state-of-the-art studios and industrial facilities, and spaces of abundant pristine nature and desirable history. In fact, the city of Toyota didn’t exist until it received a call from the region’s largest employer in 1959. Previously, the ancient township was known as Koromo and was ruled by the Miyake and Naito clans of the false castle of Koromo. Today, thanks to Toyota Motor Corporation, lately the ninth largest company in the world through profits and one of the largest automakers in the world, there is a bit of Aichi around the world.
According to Toyota UK magazine, Toyota’s oldest plant, the Honsha plant, was built in this city along with other factories. which originally called the Koromo plant, and which removed the plant from Honsha in August 1960: “The call also replaces a mirrored image of the fact that the call from the city in which the plant was located had been withdrawn from the city of Koromo to the city of Toyota in January 1959. “
According to a 2015 AFP article, some 70,000 more people worked for Toyota in the area, and many of their parents and grandparents also depended on the company for work. Around 40% of local workers worked in the automotive sector. Call to replace in the 50s “a debatable resolution at that time”.
Toyota City Mayor Toshihiko Ota told AFP that the city was not limited to the car company. “It’s true that it’s the city of the automobile, the call speaks for itself, but that’s not all,” he said. the largest rice manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture and we also grow grapes and pears. Toyota City has many faces, masked through cars. “
A not unusual word highlighted the dependence of the company’s residents, especially after the 2008 currency crisis that led to thousands of layoffs: “When Toyota coughs, the whole town catches a cold. “, hospitals and municipal projects, were largely sponsored through Toyota.
A 2010 report through TIME magazine showed the company’s profound influence in the region:
The locals were so proud of Toyota that in 1959 they replaced the town’s name, Koromo, to suit their ultimate living citizen. But the city’s fortunes rise and fall with Toyota’s. The company’s sprawling plant complexes are within walking distance of the center. , and as in any corporate city, Toyota’s workers’ paychecks are the number one source for its restaurants and stores. [. . . ]
Toyota City already gives the impression of a city under siege. Toyota’s gigantic headquarters is inaccessible, like a castle at war. keeping lips closed. Those who are approached on the street, their Toyota ID cards obviously visible, bow their heads and say they can’t comment. Only one young employee, who did not need to give his name, murmured: “We don’t know what’s going to happen.
Ultimately, the automaker’s ties to the city run deep, from the impact on its economic life to its name.
And they did not prevent there. In 2020, the company announced plans to build a long-term “prototype city” in a 175-acre living laboratory at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan” and “powered through hydrogen fuel cells. “.
Sources:
“75 years of TOYOTA | Part 2, Chapter 1, Section 1, Article 1: Construction of the Motomachi Passenger Vehicle Plant. “Toyota Motor Corporation website. https://www. toyota-. com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/text /entering_the_automotive_business/chapter1/section1/item1. html. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
“About Toyota. ” VISIT TOYOTA CITY‐ Toyota City official site. https://www. tourismtoyota. jp/en/about/. Consulté October 4, 2022.
Aries, Anne. ” Toyota literally has an entire city in Japan. “Business Insider, https://www. businessinsider. com/afp-toyota-town-symbol-of-japans-auto-rise-2015-5. Consulté October 4, 2022.
Clifford, Joe. ” Toyota Honsha Plant: Progress towards 0 Emissions”. Toyota UK Magazine, September 19, 2019, https://mag. toyota. co. uk/toyota-honsha-plant-progressing-to-0-emissions/. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
“The Japanese governor engages with Toyota’s suppliers as production declines. “Reuters, April 23, 2020. https://www. Reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-aichi-idUSKCN2251O4. Consulté October 4, 2022.
Richarz, Allan. ” There’s more Toyota City driving than cars. “The New York Times, September 12, 2019. NYTimes. com, https://www. nytimes. com/2019/09/12/travel/toyota-city- rugby-world-cup. html. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
Schumann, Michel. At the base of Toyota, the inhabitants of the city are worried. Time, February 10, 2010. content. time. com, https://content. time. com/time/world/article/0,8599,1963322,00. html.
“Toyota will build a prototype city of the future| Company | Global Newsroom. Toyota Motor Corporation official global website, January 6, 2020. https://global. toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/31171023. html. Consultado October 4, 2022.
Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a journalist from Lahore, Pakistan, founded in New York. He began his career as a manufacturer associated with Al Jazeera English’s “The Stream”, covering a variety of Array. read more
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