Ten years have passed since Toyota Motor East Japan Inc. first established itself in Ohira, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 1, 2012. Under the initiative of Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda, this “northern base” was created by merging Kanto Auto Works in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Central Motor in Ohira and Toyota Motor Tohoku in Taiwa, Miyagi Prefecture.
“There will be no recovery of Japan without the recovery of the Tohoku region. Toyota Motor East Japan will be its driving force,” Toyoda said at the time, expressing his determination to transform the new company into Toyota group’s third base behind similar operations in the Chubu and Kyushu regions.
The establishment of Toyota East Japan has brought about various changes in the Tohoku region — the area of Japan most impacted by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.