The Vanished- 14: Lena Goes to Toyota, Aichi, and Splains Some Things

In which we travel with Mauger and friends to Toyota City, Aichi, to meet "connections". Home to Toyota Motor Corporation, of course, and Lena claims that people are fleeing the "jewel of Japan [which] has been sinking in the recession." Since 2008, and she knows this how? Because "(t)hey say". Let's consider a couple of bits straight off. First: What does the government say about Toyota's population? 2005- 400K 2010- 413K 2015- 414K So that's that. Lena is too preoccupied with her preconceived notions about Toyota (and Japan) to be distracted by mere facts. Moreover, she senses something sinister in "Planet Toyota", where everything is named, you guessed it, Toyota. As in Toyota Station, Toyota Post Office, Toyota Elementary School, Toyota Hospital.. A bit like Niigata City, with its 新潟小学校、新潟高等学校、新潟大学、新潟中央郵便局, 新潟市民病院... A bit like anywhere. "In 1959, the Japanese government renamed the small city of Koromo, known from then on as Toyota City." Nope. This is not the DPRK, Lena. The city assembly did, for multiple reasons: 1) the kanji rendering Koromo were difficult to read: 挙母 (Good luck getting 'Koromo' from that-in fact, Toyota's headquarters adopted katakana: コロモ); 2) to avoid confusion with a city of the same name in Nagano; and 3) to identify the city as home to Toyota Motor Corp.

Drop in sales in 2010? Nope. Toyota reported an 8% jump for that year.