Japan's First Car: The 1907 Takuri — A Short-Lived Pioneer

The first automobile manufactured in Japan was the Takuri (タクリー), produced in 1907 by the Takuri Automobile Manufacturing Company (タクリー自動車製造株式会社) in Tokyo.

Specifications

Why It Failed

• Cost: Prohibitively expensive for Japanese market
• Infrastructure: Almost no roads, fuel supply, or repair ecosystem
• Competition: Imported Fords, Chevrolets, Renaults were cheaper and better supported
• Timing: Japan's industrial base not ready; zaibatsu not yet engaged

Historical Significance

Despite commercial failure, the Takuri proved domestic automobile production was physically possible in Japan. It inspired later pioneers:

• 1911: Kaishinsha Motor Works → DAT (later Datsun → Nissan)
• 1917: Mitsubishi Model A — first mass-produced Japanese car (22 units)
• 1936: Toyota AA — first Toyota passenger car
• 1947: Toyota SA — post-war restart

Where Are They Now?

No complete Takuri survives. The Toyota Automobile Museum (Nagakute) and Nissan Heritage Collection (Zama) display replicas and early successors. The Takuri name lives on in automotive history as Japan's first attempt.

Japan's auto dominance began with a 20-unit flop—a reminder that industrial revolutions start with experiments, not successes.