The following information was true as of May 15, 2013. Please be aware that the site described and the links provided below may have been updated or edited since then.
- 75 Years of Toyota: Ever-better Cars
English page: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/index.html
Japanese page: http://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/company/history/75years/
The Toyota Motor Corporation celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2012 and marked the occasion with the launch of a company history web site entitled “75 Years of Toyota: Ever-better Cars.” The site is divided into a text section, “Read,” and a data section, “Find Out.” The former consists of a detailed chronological narrative of Toyota's history with images and other supplementary documents in addition to the text. The latter is further divided into five thematic sections and includes historical overviews and timelines for each business activity.
- Read (text section)
English page: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/text/index.html
Japanese page: http://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/company/history/75years/text/index.html - Find Out (data section)
English page: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/data/index.html
Japanese page: http://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/company/history/75years/data/index.html
The Vehicle Lineage is particularly noteworthy, giving family-tree type lineages for all of Toyota's vehicles. The PDF version is simply a searchable linage, but the Flash version can be browsed by model, body type, or year, and includes pages for each model with detailed information and supplementary materials such as digitized catalogues, videos, and news releases.
- Vehicle Lineage
English page: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/vehicle_lineage/family_tree/index.html
Japanese page: http://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/company/history/75years/vehicle_lineage/family_tree/index.html
Given that company histories in Japan have traditionally been in-house publications with limited circulation, the broad accessibility of this resource is a large plus. Various features of the site, such as the ability to enlarge images in the text section and the accessibility and range of supplementary resources provided in the vehicle lineage, are further benefits of the online format as they would be difficult to replicate in print. In addition, the careful footnotes and extensive supplementary resources provide a high level of credibility and ensure that the huge amount of information made available online, all of it in both Japanese and English, serves as both an invaluable resource for scholars and a fascinating treasure trove for car enthusiasts around the world.
Link(s)
- New Categories "Shashi-related Website Reviews" and "Nishiki-e-related Website Reviews"
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tobira/20130205
