Okay. Let’s get the cat out of the bag. The reason Toyota Motor Philippines included me as a member of its media contingent to the recently concluded Japan Mobility Show (JMS) 2023 wasn’t because of who I was, or for the collective body of work I had done over the decades as a motoring journalist for this esteemed paper. It was because of one column piece I wrote for Road Talk that was published in this section last August 23. It was titled “Morizo: The Turbocharged Akio,” and it came out on the day Toyota Motor Corp chair Akio Toyoda, aka “Morizo”, was about to demonstrate his race driving skills before a sizeable crowd at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, part of the kickoff of this year’s Toyota Gazoo Racing series in the Philippines (which garnered a whopping 2.6 million livestream viewers and 6,000 car enthusiasts attending the event). 
Word reached me that when Akio-san read my story, he was so tickled pink that he wanted to invite the author to the JMS 2023 “to personally meet her there.” Of course, I couldn’t say no to that offer. And so, long story short, despite having no plans to join the JMS (formerly Tokyo Motor Show) since I just came from a major medical procedure, I had my travel papers in order in record time, thanks to my hosts over at TMP and Lexus Philippines.
Days prior to our departure for Tokyo on Oct. 23, I already had my script ready for when I would meet Akio-san face-to-face. I’d remind him that this would have already been our second meeting; the first was when I chanced upon him, unaccompanied, at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. I’d whip out the double-sided business card he gave me and show it to him as proof. I’d also offer that I could write his “authorized” biography if he so wished. I had such lines rehearsed, ready to utter them with such confidence on our arranged meeting day at the Tokyo Big Sight on October 25. There was just one caveat: There was no guarantee I could fit in his schedule.
Alas, the meeting was not meant to be. I was so, so achingly close. Akio-san was just mere meters away from where I stood, TMC and TMP executives were already by my side about to formally introduce me to him.
But at the last second, the Japanese Prime Minister got in the way. And when his security re-directed Akio-san, who also was the chair of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), the organizer of the JMS, towards the PM, I knew— we knew—the chance to meet Akio that day had already been lost.
What a letdown. In the hours and days after that missed opportunity, I and the rest of the team were left ruing over the “what ifs” and “what could have beens.” I missed the shinkansen of a chance to leapfrog into the attention of the leader of the world’s most prolific carmaker. That should have been the highlight of this trip for me.
But was all lost? In the end, it turned out it could have been for the best.
As they say, I was missing the forest for one tree (okay, it was a BIG tree). I was in the middle of the Japan Mobility Show. The future of Asian mobility was unfolding right in front of me. Everything wasn’t just about Toyota, or Lexus, or any other single Japanese carmaker. I had to “shake it off,” as Taylor Swift would urge her fandom, and focus on the expanse of the present.
It was a wise decision. For the next few days, I devoted my attention to the many technological wonders that have made Japan a country like no other—from the earthquake-resistant high rises to its super-efficient mass transport systems; from its high-tech toilets to its quirky retail shops. I was amazed at the level of inclusivity Japan’s mobility industry has become—from the speedy shinkansen to motorized wheelchairs (such as the Juu) that could practically go up staircases, from cars with Neo Steer that could be operated solely by arms, to battery-electric vehicles versatile enough to transport any type of cargo.
Although I didn’t get to meet the man again, I was able to get an exciting glimpse of Akio-san’s vision for the next-generation of drivers. There was the world premiere of Lexus’ Future Zero-emission Catalyst the LF-ZC and the Future Zero-emission Luxury LF-ZL, with the Arene Operating System making Lexus BEVs into “moving sensors that can see, touch, hear, and even smell.”
The sad irony wasn’t lost on me, however, when it was explained to me that Akio-san intended future Lexus cars to have that “back-and-forth communication” with their drivers, that “dialogue” between the human and the machine.
The actual dialogue between me and Akio-san didn’t happen. Nevertheless, he got his message across. There is more to Akio-san than just being the Toyota chair and the Lexus Master Driver. There’s certainly more to the man than just being the adrenaline junkie Morizo.
The Toyota and the Lexus of the future will be an instrument of mobility that would be useful for anyone, anywhere, with as little collateral damage to the environment as possible. How it’ll get the energy to get to that point is anybody’s guess. You’ll have to ask the man himself, if you can get past his impossibly busy schedule. And the Prime Minister.
