Toyota aims to open its futuristic city in Japan this year

By Chester Dawson

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to move in the first 100 residents of a futuristic city at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan by as soon as this fall, but declined to specify how much the ambitious project is costing the company.

The initial residents of Woven City will be composed mostly of the carmaker’s own employees and their families, and will gradually expand to about 2,000 residents as part of its initial phases, Toyota said Monday.

“This year, residents will begin to moving in as we slowly bring Woven City to life,” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said at a press conference at CES in Las Vegas. “We aim to accelerate the pace at which new technologies can be tested and developed at Woven City.”

Toyoda debuted plans for the “living laboratory” five years ago as Toyota’s then-president, saying it would be a fully sustainable city and real-world showcase for artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, self-driving cars and smart homes.

Woven City won’t be open to the wider public for at least two years and it may never be profitable.

“Will this Woven City make Toyota any money? Well, maybe not,” Toyoda said. “As global citizens, I believe Toyota has a responsibility to invest in our collective future.”

Woven’s Chief Executive Officer Hajime Kumabe pushed back on that by saying he does want the unit to become profitable, but added that might be hard to quantify as its innovations will blend into its parent’s carmaking.

Toyota appointed Kumabe as head of the wholly owned Woven subsidiary in 2023 as part of a shift from a research-heavy focus to become more involved in production of next-generation vehicles.

Woven’s Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon wouldn’t specify how much is being spent on city-building, other than to tell reporters it’s a “big investment.” He added that Toyota’s chair has invested his own money in the subsidiary.

A key part of Toyota’s broader Woven initiative is a new software platform and vehicle operating system it calls Arene, which is designed to speed up car development and lower costs. It plans to deploy the system this year and make it a core component of its next-generation EVs starting in 2026.

Woven City won’t be part of the initial deployment of Arena in mass production vehicles, but it will be used eventually at the site, including for mobility functions beyond cars, said John Absmeier, Woven’s chief technology officer.