Why the largest automaker is Toyota and not Toyoda

Why is the car giant Toyota not Toyoda?

Akio Toyoda was in Washington to deal with the crisis at car giant Toyota, the company set up by his grandfather more than 70 years ago.

But why did the company change its name from Toyoda to Toyota?

The change is largely down to the fact that the word Toyota is associated with the lucky number eight, according to the company’s English-language website.

After learning this, we felt more explanation was needed.

The Toyota Motor Corporation has its origins in a company that manufactured automated looms for Japan’s weaving industry.

“Toyota originated from Toyoda Industries (Kariya) when they started its automotive division in 1933,” explains Dr Seijiro Takeshita, director of investment banking firm Mizuho International, London.

“Toyoda (in English) and its kanji version were used in the beginning, but as the company started exporting heavily into the US, it wanted an emblem that would work in Japanese and English.
“In 1936, the company held a competition for a new name. Toyota was a popular choice among many.”

According to the company, it received some 27,000 entries.

It says the winning design led to a change in the name of the automobiles and plants from “Toyoda” to “Toyota.”

The name was chosen “because the number of strokes to write Toyota in Japanese (eight) was thought to bring luck and prosperity,” it goes on.

The presentation of kanji is highly symbolic, and an art form in itself. The name Toyoda is represented by two ideographs— the first “toyo” means “abundant”, while da means “rice field”.

The kanji for “da” can also be read as “ta”.

Translate Toyoda into katakana and the result contains 10 “brush strokes”.

But change it to Toyota, and the result in both katakana and hiragana is eight strokes