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february 24, 2021 - Toyota

Woven City Construction Kicks Off: Akio's Promise at Groundbreaking Ceremony

  • Higashi-Fuji Plant Ends its 53-Year History
  • Weaving the Plant’s History into Woven City’s Future
  • Promise Made to Higashi-Fuji Plant Members

On February 23, #wovencity, a prototype city of the future initiated by #Toyota, marked the start of its construction.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in the morning at the old vehicle yard adjacent to the former Higashi-Fuji Plant of #Toyota Motor East #Japan (TMEJ), located at the base of Mount Fuji, to pray for the safe construction of the city.

One year has passed since Akio announced this project at CES in Las Vegas in January 2020.

After the announcement, the COVID-19 pandemic started to slow down the world, including people’s daily lives and the economy. Nonetheless, the #wovencity project proceeded as planned and reached a milestone of starting construction without any delay.

The ceremony was conducted with invited guests, which included municipal representatives such as Heita Kawakatsu, Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture and Kenji Takamura, Mayor of Susono City, as well as TMEJ president Kazuhiro Miyauchi, and executives from suppliers located within the area.

Akio made one promise in the remarks he gave as the host.

In fact, Akio has made some promises in other occasions since the idea of #wovencity was born.

Although his remarks was a brief one of about three minutes in length, it reminded #Toyota members of the previous occasions when he made those promises.

Akio Toyoda remarks

Today, as we hold a groundbreaking ceremony, I would like to express my appreciation to the #people of Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and other local communities, as well as our construction partners, who have given us tremendous support for the #wovencity project.

It is not easy to proceed with things as planned under the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all those involved in the project for their hard efforts to make this happen.

On December 9, 2020, the Higashi-Fuji Plant of #Toyota Motor East #Japan (TMEJ) drew its history to a close, after 53 years of producing vehicles with the support of the community.

In total, 7,000 members have worked here at the plant. This means that plant members have left as many as 14 million footprints in this place every day.

We have produced 7.52 million vehicles, in great variety, from the #Toyota Century to JPN Taxi.

I believe the plant had been a driving force for motorization in #Japan, supporting people’s daily lives and promoting a car culture.

The history of the Higashi-Fuji Plant dates back to the 1960s when #Japan had experienced a rapid wave of motorization. In response to the needs of testing vehicles under high-speed driving environments, #Toyota decided to locate its new R&D facility in Higashi-Fuji, which had a vast space of land available for vehicle development.

The Higashi-Fuji Workshop was established in a corner of the facility, where Kanto #auto Works (that formed TMEJ with Central Motor and #Toyota Motor Tohoku in 2012) started production of vehicles in 1967 in the form of onsite outsourcing.

In 1968, Kanto #auto Works finished constructing the Higashi-Fuji Plant in the same #Toyota facility. It was a huge investment for the company. To start the operation of the plant, as many as 1,000 skilled members were transferred from their headquarters and plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture (a neighboring prefecture of Shizuoka).

In the late 1980s, the number of vehicle production rapidly increased in response to the growing car sales in #Japan. The plant contributed to the growth of #Toyota and Japan’s motorization.

At its peak, 2,000 members worked at the plant, and 7,000 members in total came to make vehicles. They made reliable cars such as the #Toyota Century, Toyota’s flagship chauffeur car, and the JPN Taxi, a car that requires a high level of durability.