Re-invention rooted in a son’s love for his mother

Part 1 of 2

Come what May. It’s the merry month of May, and one of its most important days is dedicated to our mothers. We have always calendared the second Sunday of the month to spend quality time with the woman who birthed us, nurtured us, and first taught us what true love is like.

The love of, and for, a mother is universal, transcending cultures, boundaries, and even time itself.

Sometime in the late 19th century, a Japanese man was thinking about his mother when he completed an invention that would change the lives of Japanese women, and eventually the lives of billions of people over the next 130 years.

It’s quite difficult to fathom how one single invention could have such an effect on the world. But what I saw in Susono in Shizuoka Prefecture last April 23 and 24 made sense when I considered where all of these came from and why they have converged in this particular place.

A woven masterpiece begins with a single thread. If I were living in Japan in the fall of 1890 and witnessed Sakichi Toyoda present his mother with the wooden hand loom machine he invented so she would not toil too much into the night weaving more income for her struggling family, I would not have foreseen the amazing outcome that the world now sees as the Woven City in 2026.

Conversely, seeing all the technological wonders here at Woven City without the knowledge of that single wooden hand loom that started everything would be like marveling at an exquisite tapestry without appreciating the individual threads.

And so, in witnessing Woven City, I must consider both its past and its present.

Woven City, the state-of-the-art prototype city of the future, the so-called “Living Laboratory,” is not just a melting pot of inventions, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, hardware, software, and the inventors, engineers, and scientists behind them. It is built on a love story: a son’s love for his mother, later radiating to factory workers’ expressions of love for their community.

“Everything started here. At the time, Japan was not rich. And a lot of the women had to work at home late at night. Sakichi Toyoda wanted to find a way to make it easier so that his mother would not have to suffer so much,” said Daisuke Toyoda, Woven City’s senior vice president, and great-great-grandson of Sakichi, as he showed a looming machine on display in one of the buildings in Woven City at Day One of our tour April 23.

Woven City is built near the base of Mount Fuji. The occasion was the completion of Phase 1 of Woven City’s residential area, and I was among the 3,500 guests from around the world invited by Toyota Motor Corp to witness its official opening. But after meeting the engineers, developers, and specialists from all over the world who contributed to the project, “completion” is not in Toyota’s vocabulary. What we saw in the “now” is just a step to the “then”—a never-ending process of learning and improving upon the equipment, the systems, the networks, the intelligence, everything.

From weaving to wheeling

“The (son’s love for the mother) was inherited when we became an automotive company,” Daisuke said, still holding on to the loom machine. “The machine was manual (at first), and then it became automatic. There was one person to one machine. They used to use both feet and hands. Now, they can do it with just one hand. So, the quality really went up after this mechanism was introduced. It turned into one person operating multiple machines. All of that mindset has been used in automotive making. Now, even as a mobility company, this philosophy remains. Whatever we had at the beginning is going to stay. That is why we have this machine (displayed) right here.”

A single thread becomes a weave. A single idea becomes a philosophy. A reality populated by one becomes a community shared by many. “Everyone that has visited here has added to this. This is about weaving the future with everybody,” Daisuke told our group.

Daisuke then demonstrated how the loom machine works. His demo was a powerful reminder of how tradition, passed from one generation to another, maintains the very essence of an organization—even if that organization morphs several times to serve the needs of humanity. While Toyota’s automotive division began in the mid-1930s, its roots go back to 1926 with the establishment of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.

Daisuke is the son of Akio Toyoda (Toyota Motor Corp chairman) and a descendant of the founding family.

I just witnessed a process of evolution, a reinvention that I, in my personal capacity, am undergoing, too. I was given an opportunity to see the prototype city of the future. Toyota is integrating ultra-modernity into the serene, traditional backdrop of Shizuoka.

Kakezan Invention Hub

As we watched several automated e-Palette battery electric vehicles roam the streets of this ultra-modern community, we were led inside an all-glass structure called the Kakezan Invention Hub. There, we were shown how robots deliver packages to residents every day. When a truck enters Woven City, it does so via an underground network. These robots then retrieve the packages and transport them up via elevators.

While we were not shown the specific underground entrance, we were told that the external entrance is already operational, albeit in an experimental phase.

“We have an underground road already. It’s working. It’s running right here,” said Daisuke Tanaka, manager of the Inventor Community/Ecosystem Building, as he pointed to the ground. Tanaka noted that the initial hydrogen infrastructure is already in place along the underground logistics network, keeping the streets clear of delivery trucks and trash.

“We are helping invention through collaboration—between hardware and software inventors, and between ‘weavers’ (residents) and inventors. Some products are here, like a new type of vending machine. There are delivery robots running underground and human support robots to help residents. Residents try the products and give feedback to help inventors improve them.”

A white vending machine produced by DyDo was also showcased. Residents can post feedback using colorful stickers, sharing their thoughts on what the future of vending machines should look like.

Mobility and robotics

We were also shown the flight monitor for Joby Aviation (the air taxi maker) on the large screens of the Kakezan Invention Hub. There were simulators where people could experience a Joby flight.

I recall a Joby aircraft displayed between the Lexus and Toyota booths at the Japan Mobility Show in 2025. The Japan Times recently reported that Toyota has pledged nearly $1 billion to Joby Aviation. Sandy Lobenstein, Toyota’s group vice president of flying mobility, was quoted on Feb. 15, 2026, saying that the automaker has a team of almost 200 employees supplying critical parts and assembly know-how using the Toyota Production System (TPS).

Tanaka said: “We are expecting to invite the Joby team in three or four years. For now, we would like to provide the experience of riding a Joby through simulators.”

Tanaka also demonstrated robots with smart logistics. “In Woven City, we have roads dedicated to logistics robots. Once goods arrive, a robot picks them up, goes underground to the building’s elevator, and delivers the box to the designated floor for the resident to pick up.”

Human support robots

Pointing to a blinking, winking robot, Tanaka introduced the human support robot (HSR). “HSRs support housework. We are planning to experiment with them inside Woven City rooms. We want residents to join in, but some might feel scared of cameras. Before we put a robot in each room, we demonstrate them here at the Kakezan Invention Hub so they can see it is safe. HSRs can bring dishes or pick up papers.”

Tanaka added that the HSR can grip objects like cups, and that residents can communicate with both the robot and its operator.

Summon and share

Walking further into the Woven City grounds, we saw a prototype self-driving robot called Guide Mobi. Using wireless communication, Guide Mobi “tows” a Toyota bZ4X battery electric vehicle.

Daisuke Sato, assistant manager of the Advanced Mobility System Division, explained: “Right now, it uses wi-fi for the demonstration, but in the future, it will use another communication protocol. This robot can run autonomously using a LiDAR sensor on its back to navigate and detect obstacles safely. Using LiDAR, the robot determines the distance, angle, and speed of the car being towed. Users can summon the system via an app.”

3-wheel electric Swake

We then moved to an area where several units of the Swake—a 3-wheeled electric personal mobility vehicle (PMV)—were parked. Developed by Toyota, it debuted at Woven City and was featured at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show.

A staff member demonstrated its stability with sharp turns. “Users can ride this stably and freely. It can lean and has high drivability. It’s more stable than 2-wheeled e-scooters,” said engineer Asahi Sugimoto. He noted that the Swake has a range of 30km, a top speed of 20kph, regenerative braking, and is waterproof. “We are still developing functions like sidewalk detection.”

Coffee and consumer behavior

Our tour continued to the Ueshima Coffee Co (UCC) lounge, where we met shop manager Kenji Yoshikawa and researcher Taichi Izuhara. Izuhara explained that his team, in order to understand consumer behavior, analyzes how long customers stay in the shop—with consent, of course.

Cameras in the shop feed video data to Woven City’s AI Vision Engine, a large-scale model that enables the city to respond to real-world conditions in real time. This identifies patterns and potential risks to improve safety. While I didn’t get to taste the coffee, I asked about the hydrogen-roasted variety; they noted it wasn’t available just yet.

Pollen-free living by Daikin

Finally, we were led to an anti-allergy room created by Daikin. By maintaining positive room pressure and introducing clean air, the system prevents 95 percent of pollen intrusion.

“We ask people how they feel inside the tested room. They have been able to reduce medication, and conditions like itchy eyes have been relieved,” a representative explained. Daikin is currently testing how to personalize these functional rooms by controlling temperature, humidity, and even aroma to optimize for activities like exercise or meditation.

As I entered the room, I immediately felt I could breathe more deeply. Perhaps it was psychological. But having had recent bouts of allergic rhinitis, I was bound to believe that the system Daikin used in the room was truly working.

Even as the technological innovations piled up one after another during this Day One coverage, I could still feel the humanity of Woven City. Perhaps because Daisuke Toyoda-san started things off with a very human and deeply personal story with the family’s (heir) loom, I couldn’t help but remember a couple of recent losses in my own family. My mother passed on late in 2024, and my father barely over a month ago. My parents’ love continues in their children, and their children’s children.

The real threads in Toyoda’s loom continue in the people who weave this remarkable story, which has gone global and ultra-futuristic.

(Next up: My second day at Woven City, this time at the Inventors Garage)