Businessman and inventor. Born in Shizuoka as the son of a carpenter. He became a mechanic at a textile factory in Nagoya, where he invented his first wooden handloom in 1890, and the first Japanese-designed automatic power loom in 1897. Mitsui saw Toyoda's skill and welcomed him as their chief engineer at the Igeta Shokai in 1899. In 1906, Toyoda became Managing Director and Chief Engineer of Toyoda Loom Works Ltd., established and financed by Mitsui. He resigned from the company in 1910 because of policy differences. He completed an epoch-making Toyoda automatic loom in 1926, and then founded Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. He obtained many patents and continued studying until his last years.