Sakichi Toyoda

Profession: Inventor and Industrialist

Nationality:

Biography: Sakichi Toyoda is known as the "King of Japanese Inventors" and the father of the Japanese industrial revolution.

Toyoda’s father was a carpenter and farmer who taught him carpentry. Toyoda grew up during a time of great change in Japan, as the country moved from the shogunate era to the Meiji era.

As a young man, Toyoda was inspired to improve the textile industry after visiting an exposition. He invented many devices for weaving and introduced new fueling systems for his machines. His most famous invention was the automatic power loom, which could stop itself when a problem occurred. This principle, called Jidoka, later became part of the Toyota Production System.

Toyoda also developed the 5 Whys problem-solving method, which asks "why" five times to find the root cause of a problem. In 1926, he founded the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, earning him the title of father of the Japanese industrial revolution. He also started Toyota Industries Co., Ltd., which his son Kiichiro would later use to establish Toyota, Japan's largest automaker.

Born: February 14, 1867
Birthplace: Kosai, Shizuoka, Japan
Star Sign: Aquarius

Died: October 30, 1930 (aged 63)