Toyota Kuragaike Museum

The great achievement of this museum was the kind idea of the Toyota Corporation to share with us its work, located in the city of Toyota, Aichi.

The Toyota Kuragaike Commemorative Hall was built in September 1974 to commemorate the production of Toyota’s 10 millionth vehicle. Toyota Motor Corporation has reached its “second establishment period” and is currently putting efforts into various structural reforms. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Exhibition Hall has been renovated into the “Toyota Establishment Exhibition Hall,” and the residence of Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda has been reconstructed in a corner of this site to remember the early days.

The Commemorative Hall allows visitors to experience the challenging spirit of Toyota and the heart of the Toyota Group. The origins of Toyota, which evolved from spinning and weaving machines to automobiles, can be seen in the exhibition hall.

The Japanese brand Toyota was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda. But Toyota’s history dates back to 1919 when Sakichi Toyoda, Kiichiro’s father, founded the Toyoda Spinning and Weaving Company. Sakichi Toyoda was responsible for inventing Japan’s first electric spinning machine.

In 1924, with the help of his son, Sakichi Toyoda produced a fully automatic spinning machine. Two years later, the brand name was changed to Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.
In 1933, after incentives from the Japanese government, Kiichiro Toyoda created an automobile division, using the sale of the patent rights to the automatic spinning machine as funding. In 1936, production of the Toyota Model AA began, and a year later, the Toyota Motor Company was founded.

The Toyoda Model AA Sedan was Toyota’s first passenger car, appearing in September 1936. The model adopted the streamlining style of the time. Kiichiro’s desire to make cars for the masses and his sense of foresight can be understood through this design.

With the start of World War II, Toyota began producing military trucks for the Japanese army, returning to automobile production only at the end of the war. To this end, it launched the Toyota Model SA in 1947.

The Toyopet Crown Modelo RS was the first completely domestically produced car in Japan. It debuted in 1955, fulfilling Kiichiro’s dream and marking the beginning of an era of purely domestic cars.

In 1957, Toyota ventured into the American market with the Toyota Crown, and in 1963 into the European market.

In 1966, the first generation of the Toyota Corolla was launched. With this model, Toyota began to acquire a good reputation for build quality and also achieved a good sales volume in the American market.

In 1980, Toyota reached 30 million units produced, and in 1989 it launched a new brand, its luxury division Lexus.

With the start of the 90s, Toyota began adding more models and more luxury cars to its range.

In 1997, Toyota became the first brand to mass-produce a hybrid car: the Toyota Prius. This model uses a gasoline engine and electric batteries. The Toyota Prius became a huge sales success, especially in the United States, being the best-selling hybrid car. This car is capable of achieving very low fuel consumption and a reduced level of emissions into the atmosphere.

In 1999, Toyota reached over 100 million units produced.