Founder Rinzo Toyota The Story
(History of the Toyota Family)
The technique of making iron and steel using iron sand and charcoal in a unique way is called tatara-zeki, and tatara-zeki has been very popular in the mountains of the Izumo region because of the abundance of good quality iron sand that has been available since ancient times.
Around 1820, during the Edo period (1820), the Toyota family of Nakatani in Habumachi, Hiroshima Prefecture, had an ancestor called Takiemon, who was the founder of the Toyota foundry and the originator of the Fuchu foundry. At that time, there were no foundries in Fuchu or Shinichi, and there were no houses nearby, so the sparks from melting could be seen from a mile away, and there were five to eight people attached to the blower, who stepped on the planks to send the wind. This is the image of the Tatara place in "Princess Mononoke". It is said that in those days, they also made household items such as pots, kettles and braziers, as well as works of art such as temple bells and turtles in the handbasins of shrines.
Even today, it is said that the temple bell of the Shaka-in temple in Fuchu City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a product of the Toyoda Foundry.
At the end of the Meiji era , the factory caught fire and after a temporary closure, Seiichi Toyoda moved the factory to Fuchu City in the Taisho eraand resumed operations. The founder, Rinzo Toyota, was born as the third son of Seiichi Toyota and Ume.
However, the foundry closed down around 1921, and due to the hardships of life, Rinzo left Hiroshima for Tamatsukuri, Osaka, in 1924 (Taisho 13) when he was eight years old, as an apprentice. He began his apprenticeship at the Shimizu family's business, Daiichi Work Cap, doing housework, babysitting and cleaning the shop, and gradually learned all the miscellaneous tasks and how to use a sewing machine.
In him later years, he told him children and grandchildren that he was envious of the children of him own age who were at school and that he missed her family, which was far away from him.
Of his five male siblings, his second son, Shiichi, and fourth son, Iji, also went to Kyushu and other places to serve as apprentices.
After 12 years of service, in 1937, when he was 21, he set up a sewing factory in Miyakojima, Osaka.
He undertook the sewing of cutter shirts and other garments, as well as munitions, and at this time deepened his connections with various spinning companies and trading companies.
Around this time, he met Yaeko through an arranged marriage and they were blessed with a son and three daughters.
After the war, he opened four shops in Semba, Osaka, selling sewing thread, cutter shirts and knitted jumpers, where his own brand, Himalaya Lion, was born.
In the family home, Seiichi's second son, Shiichi Toyota, opened a foundry in Kabe, Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, after the war, which continued for many years.
Rinzo and Shiichi shared the same hobby of bonsai, and although they had grown apart as children, as adults they developed a close friendship through bonsai.
He was a very good bonsai hobbyist and even won awards for his bonsai.
Mitsuo Toyota, the grandson of Seichi's eldest son, worked for Toyota Trading(Company before it became Toyotashigyo） in the 1950s. Mitsuo was very good at drawing and had an artistic streak, so when he was in primary school, Rinzo's eldest son, Koji, used to teach him and play with him.
Later, Mitsuo married someone he met in the company and returned to Fuchu, where he opened a foundry in Habu from 1960 to 1970, manufacturing machine castings and other products.
In 1964, with the closure of the Senba shop, he moved to Hirano, where Yaeko's family lived, and changed his main focus from sales to a processing factory.
At that time, there were few buildings high enough to see Osaka Castle from Nagahara in Hirano-ku, Osaka.
Until his stroke in 1991, he was constantly on the move, sparing no time for sleep, working, hobbies and contributing to the local community.
Even after the stroke, which left him paralysed, he was determined to get back to work! He was such a powerful person that he was sometimes stopped from doing too much rehabilitation.
He had a close family relationship with the Shimizu family of Daiichi Work Cap, where he worked, even after his apprenticeship. Both Hayashizo and Eijiro have passed away, but the family relationship between the Toyoda and Shimizu families continues to this day, and exactly 100 years have passed since they met during their apprenticeship!
(Incidentally, Eijiro Shimizu was awarded the Medal with Blue Ribbon in 2007 and was a classmate of Ryotaro Shiba when they were university students.)
The brothers were separated at an early age and their days together were short, but the family bond was strong and the brothers joined forces to support the Toyota Foundry in its rebuilding.
And although the foundry and the gas firing process, which is a textile processing business, are completely different industries, they work with the same fire. I can't help but feel a connection with this as well.
Rinzo Toyota lived through the Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras and is still adored by his children and grandchildren, and his life must have been blessed with his own powerful vitality and the relationships with the people he met.
