Japanese Cars and Women in the Last 100 Years

Exhibition takes a look at the relationship between cars and women in Japan via five theme zones and nine vehicles on display.
It was in the 1910s that a woman was issued a driver’s license in Japan for the first time, and intrepid female drivers were competing in motorsports events by the 1950s. Foreseeing the growth of female drivers, Japanese automakers at the time began releasing special edition vehicles designed for women. Today, diverse individuals are taking major roles in auto manufacturing regardless of gender. The vehicles featured in this exhibition include those owned by the Toyota Automobile Museum as well as those on loan from automakers and automobile museums in Japan. 

At a time when mobility solutions are undergoing major transformations, automakers must gather deep insights from diverse people and continue to passionately produce attractive “cars.” In exploring diversity, we chose to focus on the relationship between cars and women —a theme that has tended to be overlooked and is therefore likely to yield new discoveries. It is our hope that the exhibition will help visitors imagine a more synergistic relationship between people and cars in a diverse world. 

Date	7 September 2024 – 13 January 2025
Venue	Special Exhibition Room (on the second floor of the Cultural Gallery), Toyota Automobile Museum

Exhibited vehicles

	Zone	Vehicles
1	The birth of female drivers	ー
2	More women take to the wheels	Datsun Model 16 Sedan (1937)
3	Embracing the motorsports challenge	Isuzu Hillman Minx (1960)
		Datsun Fairlady 1200 (1961)
4	Female-targeted cars gain traction	Datsun Bluebird 1200 Fancy Deluxe (1963)
		Daihatsu Mira (1982−85)
		Suzuki Alto Asami Special (1985)
		Toyota WiLL Vi (2000)
5	The advancement of female engineers—toward an age of greater diversity	Mazda Demio* (2014)
		Lexus UX250h (2021)

* The Mazda Demio will be on show except from Wednesday, 2 October to Tuesday, 8 October. 

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