History
Toyota has a history of collaboration with the community of Susono City that began in the 1960s.
We look forward to continuing our many decades of working together with the local community.
History of Susono City and the Toyota Group
In November 1966, the Automotive Performance Test Center, later to become the Higashi-Fuji Research Center, was completed. In May 1967, a passenger car assembly plant was completed and later became the TMEJ Higashi-Fuji Plant.
To be beloved in the community
Since then, we have always strived to be beloved and useful to everyone in the community and we intend to continue working toward that through collaboration, deepening our interaction with residents, and by adding local value.
We have conducted many activities in Susono City over the past 50 years including starting the Toyota School program in 1977, through which a total of 40,000 children have learned about the automobile industry and local industries.
The origin of Woven City
After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, Toyota built a new manufacturing plant in the Tohoku area to support the region's recovery by creating new jobs, paying local taxes, and helping bolster its long-term prosperity.
In order to realize this, Toyota transferred the Higashi-Fuji Plant of Toyota Motor East Japan to the Tohoku area. Regrettably, the original TMEJ Higashi-Fuji Plant, with total of 7,000 employees, was closed in December 2020.
Until then, it had produced a cumulative total of 7.52 million vehicles, comprising more than 40 models ranging from the Mark II series, Crown Comfort, and Isis to the Century and JPN Taxi.
The plant was a driving force in the motorization of Japan, supported people's daily lives, and helped create the car culture of today.
TMEJ employee episodes
During a conversation with Akio Toyoda, then President of Toyota Motor Corporation, an employee told him, “I would like to move to Tohoku and continue to make cars, but due to various reasons, not all employees will be able to move and work there.”
That employee put his fellow workers and other people's feelings first, rather than his own. Higashi-Fuji has a history built by TMEJ employees who prioritize others over themselves. Woven City will not simply be built on a vacant lot. Rather, it will be human-centered, inheriting the history and beliefs of TMEJ employees who put other people's feelings first.
Toward the future
