A wooden loom recently transported into Woven City turned out to be a replica of a 136-year-old invention. What does this connection to the past mean in a place seeking to create "the future fabric of life?"
Diversity with shared roots
This course is being run at various workplaces across Toyota. The four Woven by Toyota sessions mentioned were attended by more than 200 participants in total.
Azusa Orima, a member of the Communications & Marketing team that oversees the course’s impact, explained its importance to the company.
Azusa Orima
Since our team members, myself included, didn’t know much about the history behind this company, we felt it necessary to learn about our origins.
Around the same time, our company name changed (from Woven Planet Holdings) to Woven by Toyota.
Toyota is transforming into a mobility company. Since we have a part to play in that process, we realized the importance of properly understanding our roots, and that’s why we requested the course.
Woven by Toyota comprises employees transferred from Toyota and other Group companies, along with mid-career hires who have switched over from various industries.
The staff have diverse backgrounds, coming from more than 60 countries and regions around the world. Perhaps this made finding shared roots all the more important.
Participants say the course offered them “an opportunity to recognize where we came from, and where we are going.”
Where past meets future
As we found out, the Powertrain Administration Department trio who run the course had a shared ambition.
“Our dream had always been to set up a loom in Woven City, a place whose very name traces back to that invention…” says Nanba.
“Regardless of what cutting-edge endeavors we pursue in Woven City, it all started with this wooden loom,” adds Nishiyama. “We wanted to continue honoring that founding spirit.”
Now their dream is taking shape. The idea of installing a wooden loom in Woven City was approved, with an unveiling ceremony held on March 31.
At the event, representatives from Woven by Toyota and Toyota, including the three members of the Powertrain Administration Department responsible for building the loom, shared their sentiments and handed over the shuttle.
It was ultimately received by Senior Vice President Daisuke Toyoda, who heads the Woven City project. With instructions from Kenmochi, he used the shuttle to weave the first piece of cloth.
This passing of the shuttle and first weave are “rituals that imbue the loom with a soul,” Kenmochi explains.
Just as cloth is made by passing horizontal threads through the vertical, these acts reflected everyone’s commitment to ensuring that the past and present are woven into the future.
Kenmochi looked back on his decade of rebuilding wooden looms.
“At first, it took all I had just to make the loom, but from the second one on I began to feel that I shouldn’t keep this just to myself. Many people have given their understanding and assistance, bringing us to where we are today. I feel that they all shared the same vision and poured their dreams into the loom. I hope that those who follow in our footsteps will carry these thoughts and aspirations into the future.”
“To make dreams come true, you cannot think only of yourself. This loom taught me the importance of guiding your actions by the happiness of others,” reflects Nanba. Meanwhile, Nishiyama, is looking to the future: “No matter how global the company becomes, I hope we continue to build partnerships based on a desire to work for others.”
The loom will be set up at a facility for welcoming visitors to Woven City. Orima explained how she views its role as a point of contact with the outside world.
Azusa Orima
Our present and future exist upon the history that has come before. Likewise, I feel that the foundations laid by our carmaking predecessors are what allow us to focus our daily efforts on the future.
I think the people drawn to Woven City are those who are looking for a way to contribute.
Inventions arise when people have a problem to solve, and a desire to help others.
I hope the loom provides visitors with an opportunity to discover and share the ideas that we want to pass down in Woven City.
Working for the sake of others. In a city that will help create the future and one day be home to 2,000 people, Toyota’s unwavering founding spirit lives on.