Nagoya · Nishi WardNo.501★★★Open in map →
Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology
A museum of working machines inside the red brick mill where the Toyota group began, a short ride west of Nagoya Station. Two halls cover textile machinery and cars, and staff run the exhibits instead of leaving them behind glass.
- FromMeitetsu Nagoya Station
- 1 train + 3 min walkMeitetsu train + 3 min walk
- Get off atSako Station (Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line)
- From there
- Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology
Where it is
27 more notes in Aichi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The red brick mill buildingsthe preserved shells of the Toyoda weaving plant, now the outer walls of the museum
- Textile Machinery Hallspinning and weaving machines from hand tools to automatic looms, operated by staff
- The Type G automatic loomSakichi Toyoda's non-stop shuttle-change loom, kept with the textile machines
- Automobile Hallengines, press machines and finished cars tracing the move from looms to vehicles
- The founding-era prototype shopa reconstruction of the workshop the group treats as the start of its car making
How to actually get there
- Nagoya Station → Meitetsu Nagoya Station (walk within the station complex).
- Meitetsu Nagoya → Sako Station (Nagoya Main Line; limited expresses do not stop).
- Sako Station → museum entrance (walk about 3 minutes southeast).
- Textile Machinery Hall → Automobile Hall, timed around the demonstration schedule posted at the entrance.
- Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line to Sako
- From JR Nagoya Station, walk through to Meitetsu Nagoya Station in the same complex and take a Nagoya Main Line train to Sako. Limited express and Mu Sky services run past Sako without stopping, so board a local, semi-express or express train.
- Return from Sako Station
- Ride back from Sako to Meitetsu Nagoya. Trains run through the day, but the fastest classes pass the station, so check the class shown on the platform display before boarding.
About the place
The museum stands on the ground where Sakichi Toyoda built his own weaving mill in the Nishi ward of Nagoya, and the brick buildings of that plant now hold the collection. It divides into two halls. The Textile Machinery Hall follows the craft from hand spinning through power looms to fully automatic machines. The Automobile Hall picks up where the group turned to car making, with a reconstruction of the prototype shop that marks the start of that business. Most exhibits are maintained in running condition, and staff operate them in front of visitors.
How to enjoy it
Doors open at 9:30 and the last tickets go at 16:30, so a morning arrival leaves room for both halls at an unhurried pace. Demonstration times are posted at the entrance — read them first and build the route around the ones you want to catch.
Background & history
Sakichi Toyoda set up the Toyoda weaving mill on this ground in 1911, using it as a test plant for the automatic loom he was developing. Spinning and weaving carried on here under later companies in the group as the business widened into other industries. When production ended the brick shells were kept rather than cleared, and they reopened as a museum in 1994. Among the machines held here is the Type G automatic loom, the design that could change its shuttle without stopping the weave.
Before you go
- Cash
- Adult admission was 1,000 yen at the time of checking, with separate rates set for university, high school and primary school students and for older visitors. Tickets are sold at the entrance counter, and a free car park sits on the grounds.
- Before you go
- The museum closes on Mondays and over the New Year period; when a public holiday falls on a Monday, the closed day moves to the following day. Everything is under cover, so rain makes no difference once you are inside.
- Another way
- The Meguru sightseeing loop bus leaves from the Nagoya Station bus terminal and stops on the museum grounds, which suits anyone with luggage or small children. By car, the site is a few minutes off the Nagoya Expressway.
- After you get off
- Leave Sako Station and walk southeast for about three minutes; the long brick wall along the street leads to the entrance drive.