Turkmenportal visited Sumitomo Corporation headquarters in Tokyo, as well as the Toyota museum and production site in Aichi Prefecture, where it learned about the companies' history of cooperation with Turkmenistan. The visit took place within the framework of a media invitation program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the assistance of the Japanese Embassy in Turkmenistan.

The meeting with representatives of Sumitomo Corporation took place at the company's office in Tokyo's Otemachi Place East Tower. The Turkmen delegation was joined by employees of the corporation's automotive division: Ryusuke Miyake, General Manager of the Automotive Sales and Marketing Strategic Development Division; Yuki Ura, Assistant Manager; Yasuyuki Bek Katsube, Manager; and Ryo Hasegawa, Deputy General Manager of Sumitomo Corporation's Power & Mobility Division.

As Turkmenportal reported during the meeting, the Japanese corporation Sumitomo has been successfully collaborating with the Ministry of Road Transport of Turkmenistan for several years in the field of automotive supplies, providing the passenger transportation and taxi fleet with modern cars and buses. The parties noted the positive dynamics of the partnership and intend to further strengthen their business ties. In addition, Sumitomo has been supplying high-quality pipes to the super-giant “Galkynysh” natural gas field for many years, further demonstrating the company's long-standing and diverse cooperation with Turkmenistan.

Sumitomo Corporation is one of Japan's largest trading houses, founded in 1919. As of March 2026, the company's equity capital was 4,6 trillion yen. The company has been included in the Fortune Global 500 list for 31 consecutive years. Sumitomo operates from 123 offices in 62 countries and comprises ten business groups, including automotive, metallurgy (including energy pipe manufacturing), and digital technologies.

Within the framework of the trip, Turkmenportal also visited the Toyota Memorial Museum of Industry and Technology and the company's Nagoya plant, where a meeting was held with representatives of Toyota Motor Corporation – Takayuki Kanno, General Manager for the India and Middle East Region, and Toshiyuki Nakahara, Head of Project Planning. Guests were shown the Toyota Kaikan Museum, dedicated to the history and technology of the concern, as well as the production line of the Tsutsumi plant – one of four Toyota automobile plants in Aichi Prefecture.

The Tsutsumi plant, which has been in operation since December 1970, occupies 1,14 million square meters and employs approximately 7 thousand people. The plant produces the Prius, Prius PHEV, Corolla, Camry, Corolla Sports, and the Crown line (Crossover, Sport, and Estate), with a combined capacity of up to 36 thousand vehicles per month. As of February 2026, the plant's two production lines were producing over 1900 vehicles per day.

Over more than half a century of operation, the Tsutsumi plant has become part of the Toyota production network, which unites parent plants in the UK, Türkiye, China, the USA and Indonesia, from where technology and components are supplied to the concern's subsidiaries around the world.

There are two official Toyota dealerships in Turkmenistan: one in Ashgabat (“Garagum Ulag” and one in “Beyik Yupek Yoly”), and a quick-service center in Balkanabat. Toyota's global annual production capacity is approximately 10 million vehicles, and the brand has been present in the Turkmen market for over 15 years.