The Toyota Automobile Museum, Toyota Motor Corporation’s cultural facility located in Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture, will hold a featured exhibition of certain special-purpose vehicles used in emergency and industrial roles, which are highly popular with children. This 10th edition of the event, held from July 16 to November 27, will also be the first exhibition in the newly established feature exhibition zone on the second floor of the annex, following the museum’s partial redesign in early 2016.
Using special “Investigator Notebooks” written in both Japanese and English, and focusing on the six vehicles featured, this exhibition offers a fun lesson for children about the roles and functions of vehicles used for special jobs, as well as teaching them about the work of the highly trained personnel who operate them. The exhibition has relocated from the second floor of the main building used previously to the new feature exhibition zone on the second floor of the annex, allowing the vehicles to be positioned in a more accessible manner. In previous years, children were able to experience the interiors of only some of the exhibition vehicles but this year they will be able to climb inside all six vehicles. The Investigator Notebooks contain material related to the exhibition, and also include quiz-type stamp rallies related to the museum’s permanent exhibitions. Consequently, this notebook promotes the opportunity to learn through both exhibitions.
There will be a variety of other events to coincide with the exhibition, including outdoor vehicle demonstration events with specialist personnel from various fields, which will be held a total of five times. Furthermore, the Vehicle Picture Book Library Room, which houses vehicle-related picture books with a focus on cars, has been newly established in the library on the third floor of the annex. Curators will host regular guided tours of permanent exhibitions.
As an extra incentive, admission to the museum will be free for elementary school students from July 16 to August 31.
