Toyota City Museum: Learn about Toyota City's History, Culture, Industry, and Nature!

This time we will introduce the Toyota City Museum, which opened on Friday, April 26, 2024. It is a comprehensive museum themed around Toyota's history, culture, nature, industry, and more.

Adjacent to the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, the museum inherited the functions of the "Local History Museum," which closed in 2022, and the "Modern Industry and Life Discovery Museum," which closed in 2023, and exhibits its collection on a wide range of themes including local history, culture, industry, and nature.

The concept is
"A Museum Built Together"

The concept of the museum is "A Museum Built Together." It features exhibits that collect the memories (stories and memories) of local residents, as well as exhibits planned together with local residents themselves, making it a museum that everyone can use, from children to adults, the elderly, people of different nationalities, and people with disabilities.

Access to Toyota City Museum

Toyota City Museum is located about a 15-minute walk from Toyotashi Station or Shin-Toyota Station. It is built on the former site of Toyota Higashi High School, north of the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.

<By car>
Approximately 15 minutes from the Toyota Interchange on the Tomei Expressway
Approximately 20 minutes from the Toyota Higashi IC on the Isewan Expressway
About 15 minutes from the Tokaido Expressway "Toyota Matsudaira IC"

<Parking lot (free of charge)>
Passenger cars: 150
*When it is crowded, you can also use the museum's parking lot. It is about a 5-minute walk from the museum parking lot to the museum.
Parking for disabled people: 10

Disaster prevention facilities

The building was designed by Shigeru Ban, a highly acclaimed architect. It features a bright and open space, befitting a 21st century museum. The building is made of plentiful cedar from Toyota City, and is an architecture that reduces CO2 emissions.

The landscape was designed by Peter Walker, who also designed the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. The landscape design is continuous with that of the museum, gently connecting the two sites.

From the garden, you can enjoy a view of the cityscape of Toyota and the mountain range centered around Mt. Sanage.

Furthermore, the building serves not only as a cultural center, but also as a disaster prevention center. In the event of a disaster, a disaster response headquarters can be set up at the museum, making the building not only environmentally friendly and energy efficient, but also disaster-resistant.

This huge display shelf also serves as a pillar supporting the building.

Interaction space "Ennichi Space"

The "Ennichi Space" connects each zone. Here, various activities related to Toyota's history, nature, and manufacturing are introduced.

On this day, floats from the Koromo Festival were on display.

*The exhibition has ended.

The theme of the exhibition is "Toyota's nature and people's lives."
Permanent Exhibition Room

The Toyota Monologue

The permanent exhibition room has a theme of "The Lives of People in Toyota's Nature" and uses dioramas and videos to introduce Toyota's history, nature, and people's lives, along with various materials.

The impressive display shelves display everyday items and crafts used in life in Toyota, a city where people have lived for over 30,000 years and where rich nature and human activities coexist.

Toyota Memory Travel

"Toyota Memory Travel" displays the memories of people living today as they are. This exhibition is constantly collecting memories, and in addition to those related to Toyota City's past and present, you can also contribute memories of the areas and countries you used to live in.

You can fill out a memory card at the counter in the permanent exhibition room (Toyoda Memory Travel). Completed memory cards will be kept by the museum and may be displayed in Toyoda Memory Travel or introduced together with other materials.

Please feel free to add your thoughts to the card.

Another highlight of Memory Travel is the section that combines displays and videos. Throughout the exhibition, "witness testimonials" from each era are displayed as video exhibits, telling a story of how the exhibits were used.

Toyota Tankyu Lab

Toyota Tankyu Lab introduces the nature and life of Toyota City. Toyota City has an elevation difference of over 1,000m from the plains to the mountains, and many living creatures live there and have coexisted with nature.

Here, you can explore "Toyota" by looking, listening, touching and smelling. The impressive diorama introduces Toyota's nature, history, culture and industry through dioramas and images, with the theme of "Toyota's Nature and People's Lives."

There is also a well-equipped hands-on corner for children to enjoy. They can have fun while learning by observing insects and flowers under a microscope, touching tools that were actually used, and creating patterns on pottery.

In the acorn exhibition area, you can learn about the 15 types of acorns that grow naturally in Toyota by looking at the panels.

The Stories of Toyota

How was Toyota City shaped as it is today? Here, you can discover the various charms of "Toyota" through a story that connects nature, history, and the lives of its people.

Focusing on modern industry, the exhibition showcases the progress of Toyota City as it grows into a city with a population of 420,000.

An exhibition of "Garabo (Garabo spinning machine)", a spinning machine that dramatically improved the efficiency of spinning cotton thread. Even today, there are several companies across the country that make fabrics using this Garabo.

Car enthusiasts will also be thrilled to see the display of the first-generation Corolla, a car that became a long-selling global model from Toyota Motor Corporation.

The cars on display here are changed regularly.

Everyone's Lab

The second floor is the "Everyone's Lab" that anyone can use. It has a space where you can view museum materials and hold meetings about activities, as well as a storage space for materials.

屋外展示

There are also various exhibits outdoors.

This building was relocated from the main house of the Hiraiwa family, who were farmers in Toyomatsu town (Matsudaira district).

It is one of the few modern residential buildings in the city and is said to have been built sometime between the late 18th century and early 19th century (around the mid- to late Edo period).

A storehouse is a building attached to a private home. Its exterior walls are finished with plaster and are used to store important items, and it has fire, moisture and theft protection functions.

This building was built in Kitamachi (Koromo district) around 1907 (Meiji 40). It is a two-story wooden structure made from cypress, pine and other wood materials.

Because this storehouse was built in the Koromo area, which was prone to flooding, it was built on top of a stone wall and has a raised floor.

This circular tumulus, about 10 meters in diameter, was located in Nomiyama Town (Takahashi district). It is thought to have been built in the early 8th century, towards the end of the Kofun period, to bury a powerful man who had developed the plains along the river.

The inside is so small that a person cannot stand. Please take a look.

Museum Shop
Be sure to check out "888mitsubachi" too!

The museum shop has a wide selection of souvenirs that can only be found in Toyota City! The shop features a selection of Toyota's finest items.

A candy set inspired by Tero district's bronze bells.

Museum-loving badges (9 types in total).

These original museum badges feature Toyota City's favorites.

This bath additive contains moisturizing ingredients extracted from Inabu silk cocoons. The moisturizing ingredients extracted from natural silk moisturize the skin and prevent dryness.

Toyota specialties now available as stickers!

The pop and slightly surreal design is cute.

営業時間 10:00～17:30

The museum shop also has a café where you can enjoy not only coffee and light meals, but also sweets, wine, and beer.

Business hours: 10:00-17:30 (orders accepted until 17:00)

Toyota City Museum is a facility where you can learn by "seeing" and "touching." We also hold a variety of experience programs that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.

Be sure to visit Toyota City Museum to experience the history and culture of Toyota city.