Company Bytes · Episode 4 · Company Bytes · Season 1 · It started as something else
Toyota's Weaving Machines
Before cars, the Toyoda family built looms, the machines that weave threads into cloth. Sakichi Toyoda made the first Japanese-designed power loom in 1897, went on to invent automatic looms and founded Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. In the 1930s his son Kiichiro started car research inside the loom works, and that research grew into the Toyota car company.
What a loom does
A loom is a machine that weaves threads together into cloth. One set of threads runs along the length of the cloth, and another thread passes across them, going over and under, one row at a time. Row by row, the threads become a strip of fabric. Our video shows this as a simple close-up drawing, not a picture of any real machine.
An inventor in Japan
In Japan, an inventor named Sakichi Toyoda worked on better looms. In 1897 he made the first Japanese-designed power loom: a loom driven by a power source instead of only by hand. In our video, the wooden loom gains a turning wheel and a drive belt to show that idea.
Automatic looms and a company
Toyoda went on to invent automatic looms, and he founded a company to build them: Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Notice the spelling: Toyoda, with a D. That is the family name. The car company we know today is spelled with a T, but our sources don't say why or when the name changed, so we leave that out.
Cars inside the loom works
In the 1930s, Sakichi's son Kiichiro Toyoda started researching cars, right inside the loom works. That car research grew into the Toyota car company. So a company famous for cars began in a family business that made machines for weaving cloth.
Try it yourself
Look at the label on a piece of clothing or a towel and find out what it's made of. Then look closely at the fabric, using a magnifying glass if you have one: can you see the threads going over and under each other, row by row? That pattern is what a loom makes.
Good to know
- Sakichi Toyoda's 1897 loom is described as the first Japanese-designed power loom (the sources date his wooden power loom to 1896-97).
- "Worked on better looms" is a plain summary of his many loom inventions.
- Kiichiro Toyoda started automobile research inside the loom works in the 1930s; "grew into the Toyota car company" is the plain link between those facts.
- The video points out the Toyoda/Toyota spelling but does not explain the change, because our sources don't cover it.
- All artwork in the video is our own. No logos, emblems or car designs are shown. Byte Sized Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by any company mentioned.
Your take
Which family invention would you turn into a company? There's no wrong answer. Tell us what you think of the Toyoda family's story, and your own idea, in the comments.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Sakichi Toyoda": the first Japanese-designed power loom in 1897, his automatic looms, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, and Kiichiro's car research in the 1930s
- National Diet Library, "Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures: Toyoda Sakichi": his loom inventions and the company he founded
Video transcript
Toyota made weaving machines before it made cars. So how did looms lead to a car company?
First, a loom is a machine that weaves threads together into cloth, over and under, row by row.
In Japan, an inventor named Sakichi Toyoda worked on better looms. In eighteen ninety-seven, he made the first Japanese-designed power loom.
He went on to invent automatic looms, and he founded a company to build them: Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.
Notice the spelling: Toyoda, with a D.
In the nineteen thirties, his son Kiichiro started researching cars, right inside the loom works. That car research grew into the Toyota car company.
Which family invention would you turn into a company? Comment below!
That's your byte.