Me & Lexus, the Toyota welcome board,
the Ise Jingu shrine and Seta san
Toyota & Ise Jingu
Time, as they say is the most powerful in this world. It does not allow things to remain as they are. It makes them change. Nothing that is today remains as it is tomorrow. Man has understood this principle of nature for quite some time now and hence man always tries to change his world – for the better!
This article is about change in different perspectives!
Toyota city and Ise city are 2 cities located in the south-west of Japan. Geographically they are not much apart. However, identity wise, both have quite unique identities. Ise is the cradle of Japanese Shinto religion and hence a major site that preserves ancient Japanese religious tradition & custom. Toyota city on the other hand is the heart and soul of the Japanese auto giant “Toyota” which is a representation of modern, progressive, quality conscious Japan.
As you will notice while reading this article – both Ise and Toyota city are 2 extremes of Japanese culture. One represents the conservative, faith oriented Japan and the other represents the dynamic, ever changing, progressive modern Japan. Yet both have a striking similarity that will be revealed towards the end.
Toyota city
“Koromo” was a silk producing city in Japan and prospered in the Mikawa Region from the Meiji era through the Taisho period. When the silk industry declined Kiichiro Toyoda came up with the idea of setting up alternatives to the Toyoda family’s automatic loom manufacturing business. This led to the formation of the Toyota motor corporation later on and the city changed its name to “Toyota city” in 1959. So as one can imagine even the name of the city underwent a change. Toyota flourished later on and is a success story today. The city has 12 plants in Japan. 10 out of these are situated in and around Toyota city. Out of the 13000 Toyota employees in Japan, about 10000 work in Toyota city. Further, the grandeur can be imagined by the fact that the company has its own 10 parking lots in the city that can accommodate 20000 cars!
The plant runs totally on the TPS or the Toyota production system that has been home-grown by Toyota. There is a clear cut focus on quality and productivity – however using a combination of automation as well as manual skills. The best example of this within the company is the body welding shop and the inspection shop. While the welding shop is 93% automated using about 1000 robots that weld about 400 parts using 4500 welds, the inspection shop is 100% manned. No machines are used. The logic is simple. Welding is a job that can be automated to perfection and does not need any manual intervention; however, inspection is a process that needs human intelligence and judgment to ascertain the quality of the product. Toyota boasts of impressive statistics such as using 5km long rolls for stamping with a 4600 ton press, procuring 30000 parts (70% of total content) from over 200 suppliers – 80% of whom are within 90 minutes distance from the plant, reducing the total cycle time for producing 1 car to as low as 20 hours and delivering about 36000 cars per month!! All this not by producing 1 model in every plant, but actually producing cars “to order”. So, in short it is consistency in quality and productivity while manufacturing a variety.
Toyota has always changed with times. It may be switching from loom business to automobile or launching US models or localizing production by setting up facilities throughout the major markets of the world. What has not changed in the entire process is Toyota’s commitment to quality and continuous improvement in all fields possible. That has become possible due to a “system” driven working rather than a “person” driven working. Even the company name is not the same as the family name. The reason told (if it is to be believed) is that Mr. Toyoda – the owner wanted to emphasize that the company is Toyota & not Toyoda which means that the family and the company are different and the employees should commit themselves to the company and not the family as is in most of worlds’ family run businesses.
The assembly line has a “Jodoka” or a man-machine rope switch. Whenever a worker finds any fault in a car that comes to his work station, he pulls the rope indicating a yellow neon with the station number displayed on the board. The line supervisor approcahes the work station immediately and together with the worker tries to resolve the problem immediately. Any problem that occurs is registered and necessary action is taken to avoid repetition of the same in the future.
The visit to Toyota plant really tells you the secret behind success of modern Japan – the urge to work to the finest detail to achieve the highest level of quality and the meticulousness and discipline to follow the systems & processes laid down after years of research and thinking.
Ise – Jingu or the Shinto shrine
Ise city, which is located a few kilometers from Toyota city, is a calm and quiet city. Neither will you see the rush of Tokyo like cities, nor the industrialization like Osaka like areas. Ise is considered as the head quarters of Japanese Shinto religion. It has the 2 famous shrines – Naiku and Geku – which literally means inner shrine and outer shrine respectively. The Naiku houses the sun goddesses “Amaterasu Omikami” and the Geku houses the kami of agriculture & industry – Toyouke Omikami. The 2 structures are a few kilometers apart from each other but do have a distinctive feature in common. Since last 1200 years, the main shrine buildings and other buildings in the vicinity including the access bridge to the shrine area are “replaced” every 20 years. This literally means that a duplicate building is built side by side the existing structure. After completion the deities are moved to the new building and the old structure is dismantled. This has been continued as a tradition of years now. However, what is strictly followed is that the architecture of the building remains unchanged. It is an exact replica of the earlier one.
The shrine building takes 8 years to build. The reasons for 20 year duration are many. Two main are however. First that technology can be passed down from one generation to another after 20 years. The second is related to rice. Japan was always an agricultural country and rice was the main food. Hence rice required storage, This was done in the shrine like buildings which are found at Ise. It has been observed that 20 years is normally the life of rice grains after which they start to deteriorate. Also since the structures are wooden, there is a likelihood that they wear and tear over a period of 20 years.
There is a forest surrounding the Naiku which covers an area of 5500 hectares (ca. 13600 acres), which amounts to about one third of Ise city.
The main sanctuary of both Naiku and Geku is situated each within 90 hectares of forest that has been left untouched since the time of the enshrinement of the kami. The remaining forests covering 5320 hectares have been used to supply all the timber of Japanese cypress needed for the reconstruction of the sanctuaries at the time of the Shikinen Sengu ceremony, i.e the shrine re-building ceremony.
In 1926, a new reforestation program was started in order to supply the necessary timber of Japanese cypress for the Shikinen Sengu ceremony over the coming 200 years. By performing the Shikinen Sengu, probably people renew their minds by remembering that their ancestors had enshrined Amaterasu Omikami in Ise. It also involves the wish that Japanese traditional culture should be transmitted to the next generation. The renewal of the buildings and of the treasures has been conducted in the same traditional way ever since the first Shikinen Sengu had been performed 1300 years ago. Technology makes manual technology obsolete in some fields. However, by performing the Shikinen Sengu, traditional technologies are preserved. The rebuilding is done mainly by local carpenters, who set aside their usual work for this privilege for two to four years. There are plans which have been handed down regarding the rebuilding of each shrine, but in addition to this is it vital that the master carpenters teach the apprentices the steps taken in rebuilding the shrines, as the tools and methods used have been passed down from ancient times. No nails are used at all in the process of rebuilding. 1085 sacred apparel ("onshouzoku") coming in 125 categories, and 491 sacred treasures ("goshimpou") made up of 189 kinds of objects, plus an additional 1600 accessories are transfered from the old to the new sanctuary. About 600 artisans take part in the rebuilding which is done over a period of 8 years and involves 80000 wooden joints without the use of a single nail or bolt.
The last reconstruction was in 1993 (61st time) for a total cost of no less than ¥5 billion.
What a vast contrast in Toyota and Ise!!
· One believes in continuous change – the other in maintaining everything as it is – unchanged
· One uses automation to the highest level – the other uses totally traditional and manual methods – even to lit the fire everyday
· One tries out variety – the other maintains similarity to the smallest detail
· One strives to become as much global as possible – the other tries to maintain its local identity to the best extent possible
· One out sources more than 70% of its parts – the other produces all in-house – even the raw material i.e. the trees required for producing are grown in-house
· One plans material “just-in-time” using kan ban. The other plans material 100 years in advance.
· One has a cycle time of 20 hours & the other has 8 years!!!
· One continuously thinks of ROI. The other is a charity based organization!!
Are there any similarities?
Yes, if one sees with a different perspective – there is a striking similarity!!
Consider the fact that Toyota uses robots extensively i.e where pre-set manual programs are run without using any additional intelligence every time. Ise also has a set-up program which is strictly adhered to by the next generation without diluting it. Toyota uses systems and procedures to hand over technology down the line from generation to generation -Ise uses 20 year cycles wherein experienced workers can hand over technology to new workers
It seems as if nothing changes at Ise but in fact everything changes –the workmen, the wood, the place – everything changes every 20 years!
Both Toyota and Ise represent the same thing!
The discipline, meticulousness, planning skills, values, repeatability and dedication of the Japanese mind and soul
Both of them give a similar message – Once a system is laid down – follow the games of the rule. They clearly propagate a system oriented working and that has been the key to their existence, continuity and growth over the number of years!
This is one of the unique and easy ways of knowing modern as well as ancient Japan at a time– visit Toyota and visit Ise shrine. I had this unique opportunity to visit these places along with Yukitoshi Seta san (ex-consultant of EKK) and I am really thankful to him for this visit and his valuable inputs in preparing this short article.
Atul A. Bivalkar - during the stay in Japan