Toyota Opens Woven City Demonstration Site near Mt. Fuji, Shows off Its ‘Test Course for the Future’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:23 JST, September 26, 2025

Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday opened Woven City, a demonstration site for advanced technology built on the former grounds of a factory in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The site will serve as a location for the development of new products and services, with 20 companies and individuals participating, including Toyota and nonautomotive firms.

Experiments in various fields, including autonomous driving technology, will be conducted, while employees and other people with connections to Toyota reside in the area.

On Thursday, Toyota disclosed to the press an autonomous robotic vehicle that leads cars to destinations, which is thought to be used for car sharing services in the future. The automaker also revealed single-person three-wheeled electric vehicles, which will be used as a means of transportation at Woven City.

“(Woven City) will serve as a test course for the future,” said Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda at an opening ceremony.

The demonstration site currently covers 47,000 square meters, with the automaker planning to eventually expand it to 294,000 square meters.

Toyota has not specified construction costs or when construction will be completed, as the automaker plans to change the layout of Woven City based on future development of products and services.

Only a few households currently reside in the area, but about 300 people will move to there during the first phase. The number is expected to reach about 2,000 in the final phase.

Toyoda first announced the concept of Woven City in 2020 when he was the president. “We will build a ‘city’ from scratch,” he said at the time.

In October last year, construction work for the site’s initial phase was completed. The automaker has been preparing to start experiments since then.