Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology

トヨタ産業技術記念館

Housed in a red-brick weaving mill at Toyota's birthplace, the museum features live demonstrations of machines from automatic looms to car production lines, and is widely regarded as one of Japan's finest manufacturing museums.

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology is about 1 km northwest of Nagoya Station, on the former site of Toyoda Sakichi's Toyoda Spinning and Weaving headquarters, founded in 1911. Housed in a Taisho-era red-brick factory, it opened in 1994 and tells the hundred-year story of Toyota, from textile machinery to automobiles. The museum has two main areas. The Textile Machinery Hall starts with hand spinning and showcases the automatic looms invented by Toyoda Sakichi. The G-type automatic loom provided the funding that led to Toyota Motor. Almost all the machines can be started by a guide on the spot, and the sounds and movements of spinning and weaving are vivid. The Automobile Hall begins with Toyoda Kiichiro's founding of the car business in the 1930s and displays vehicles from the first AA model to modern cars, along with real stamping, welding and assembly equipment and robot demonstrations held at set times each day. There are also dismantled displays of engines and hybrid technology. The entrance hall has a circular loom from 1906, and the second floor has a Technology Playground where children can get hands-on with mechanical principles. Steam engine and loom demonstrations run every 30 to 60 minutes, so it's best to plan your visit around the timetable. Admission is 1,000 yen for adults and 300 yen for junior and senior high school students. It is about a 20-minute walk from Nagoya Station, or you can take the Meitetsu line to Sakae Station and walk 3 minutes. The Me~guru sightseeing bus also stops here. Allow about 2 hours, or half a day if you love machines and cars. Note: closed on Mondays. Guided tours are mainly in Japanese, but there are English and Chinese guide booklets and a free audio guide. The nearby Noritake Garden, a porcelain museum with gardens, can be visited at the same time, and the two are about a 10-minute walk apart.

Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology

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