Wender·Vista
Toyota
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileJapan
in Aichi Prefecture, east of Nagoya

Toyota

— — a city that took the name of its factory.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city in Aichi, east of Nagoya, that took its present name in 1959 from the carmaker headquartered there. Before that it was Koromo, a silk-weaving town on the Yahagi River. Korankei Gorge holds the autumn-leaf crowds an hour north. The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art sits on a hill at the city's western edge.

from the studio
Toyota
— bring it home

Toyota, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Toyota

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Toyota City lies in the central plain of Aichi Prefecture, about thirty kilometres east of Nagoya, on the Yahagi River. The current city was formed in 1959 when the town of Koromo merged with surrounding municipalities and adopted the name of its largest employer. Population is approximately 420,000. The headquarters of Toyota Motor Corporation, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, and Toyota Stadium are the principal civic landmarks.

— the year

The renaming in 1959 was unusual — Japanese cities rarely take corporate names. Koromo had been a silk-weaving town since the Edo period; the Toyoda family chose it for their first automobile plant in 1938, drawn by the available textile labour. The Toyota Production System took its current form here through the 1950s and 1960s under Taiichi Ohno. The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology in Nagoya documents both the textile and automobile chapters.

— the season

An hour north of the city, Korankei Gorge along the Tomoe River holds one of central Honshū's most-visited autumn-leaf displays. About four thousand maples were planted in the 1630s by the monks of Kojakuji Temple; the colour usually peaks in mid- to late November. Toyota City itself stays quieter — the cherry blossoms along the Yahagi in early April, the Oiden Festival in late July with its summer dance through the streets, the rice harvest on the surrounding plain.

— informed by Aichi Now — Korankei
— where
Japan · Toyota, Aichi Prefecture
— position
35.0827° N · 137.1564° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
30 km W
Nagoya
city
30 km N
Korankei Gorge
gorge
25 km S
Okazaki
city
15 km NE
Mount Sanage
mountain
N
Toyota
Nagoya
Korankei Gorge
Okazaki
Mount Sanage
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Toyota — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

It was renamed in 1959 after the Toyota Motor Corporation, which built its first plant there in 1938. The town had previously been called Koromo, a silk-weaving centre on the Yahagi River.

In Aichi Prefecture, about thirty kilometres east of Nagoya on the central Honshū plain. The Yahagi River runs through the city; Korankei Gorge lies an hour to the north.

A maple-lined gorge along the Tomoe River, north of the city. About four thousand maples were planted in the 1630s by the monks of Kojakuji Temple; the autumn colour peaks in mid- to late November.

The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, Toyota Stadium, the Sanage-yama range, and the Oiden Festival each July. The Korankei autumn display sits an hour north along the Tomoe.

The company first. The Toyoda family adopted the spelling Toyota for their automobile firm in 1937; the city took the name in 1959 to recognise what had become its largest employer.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Many of our customers send it to retired Toyota engineers, to expatriates from the city, or to friends in the company. A Small or Medium framed in pale ash holds the Japanese register well.

Japandi, modern minimalist, and warm contemporary rooms. The artwork's calm palette and structured composition hold against pale wood, white plaster, and tatami-adjacent materials.

Japandi pieces have stayed steady for several years and rooms with restrained palettes favour place art over abstract pattern. The Toyota piece reads as architectural rather than touristic.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural. Above a console table or low chest, a Medium sits at standing eye-line.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist moisture and scratching; the colour lives in the ceramic surface and won't lift in steam.

A microfibre cloth and water. No abrasives or solvents. The finish wipes clean and the colour beneath stays steady through years of dusting.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio. We don't license third-party imagery. The Toyota composition was drawn for this catalogue.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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