[Toyota Times] Cars as Culture – Chairman Toyoda Leads the Automobile Business & Culture Association of Japan

Incoming Chairman Toyoda

I’m Akio Toyoda. From today, I will be serving as chairman of the Automobile Business & Culture Association of Japan. I look forward to working with you all.

At the general meeting earlier, I shared with our members my slogan for the Automobile Business & Culture Association, and I would like to share it here as well. Here it is.

After being approached by the association, I looked back over its founding charter.

The first line of this document, written 79 years ago in 1946, reads:

“Cars are essential for sustaining people’s way of life and enriching the nation’s culture.”

With your continued support, cars today serve an indispensable role in the flow of people and goods in Japan.

At the same time, however, are they truly contributing to the country’s culture? I wasn’t so sure.

When I travel abroad, I am often asked what my country is like. If you were in that position, what aspects of Japan would you proudly put forward?

The four seasons, Japanese food, traditional arts, crafts, peace and safety—I think there is much to be proud of in this country. Perhaps anime is another recent addition.

I tried posing this question to AI, the latest sensation.

As you might expect, at the top of the list are culture, traditions, sights, and nature. Technology and industry come next. Within that, we finally see the auto industry.

Similarly, I asked where German pride lies.

Their biggest sources of pride are the country’s economy and technological capabilities, with automobiles as the star player.

I’m told that AI is trained on all of the information available online. If that’s the case, asking real German people will likely give you similar results.

Seeing that made me envious of Germany. How wonderful it would be if Japan, like Germany, were a country where the first response was “Cars are our culture.”

If others spoke of cars as the “pride of our country,” wouldn’t that make us in the auto industry prouder of our work?

I want to bring us to a point where, when you ask most Japanese people what makes them proud of their country, they will respond, “Cars are the pride of Japan.”

To go a step further, I want to reach the stage where even AI gives the same answer.

“Let’s make cars Japan’s culture!”

I would like these words to serve as a slogan for the various activities we undertake as the Automobile Business & Culture Association of Japan.

I look forward to working with you.