When adding seasoning, it is necessary to determine one’s own flavor. Even if you were to conduct a survey and ask customers what kinds of flavor they want, you wouldn’t find the answer there. Rather, there are two possible questions that you could ask customers. Does it taste good or bad? Or, do you want to eat it again or not? This is because customers are not professionals, and if you increase or decrease the salt according to customer requests, the flavor will gradually become peculiar. There is no sense in seeking a middle of the road taste that practically no-one would dislike. Of course, flavoring something only in accordance with your own personal preferences is not acceptable. That said, as a professional, no one will accept your creation unless you develop a style distinctly your own. In my case, when seasoning, I ask and answer questions by myself from the perspective of the customer. I first sit in the back seat, then in the passenger seat, and last sit in the driver’s seat and hold the steering wheel. My method is to first apply the seasoning from a distance. I perform this repeatedly, and the flavor is slowly perfected. After this step is completed, one’s own flavor is finally achieved.
As automotive manufacturing has recently entered the CAD/CAM era, people like to replace everything with data and calculate everything by computers. Data, however, only indicates results in numeral form; the figures cannot represent transient characteristics that occur only momentarily. This is also the case with cooking, as the flavor is determined in an instant. Even if something is cooked according to the recipe, it does not always have the same flavor. A computer alone cannot generate flavor. I fear that we are becoming over-dependent on the computers. At one point, there was an attempt to quantify my know-how and create a manual. In the end, however, it didn’t turn out well. This is because know-how is not the same as knowledge. Results such as “in this type of situation, I used this kind of countermeasure” are no more than solutions for specific problems. What is important is asking how the solution was reached, or why something was done the way it was. This is what we call technique or craftsmanship. Craftsmanship is not handed down through education. Things that are learnt from others passively will never be useful. What is necessary is “nurturing.” In other words, you will not learn unless you feel that you must do something and want to do something and have the desire to learn and to take from others. Craftsmanship is handed down in implicit knowledge.
Races are the best forum for handing down craftsmanship and nurturing human resources. Unexpected things happen all the time and things that must be done out of necessity occur constantly. It is necessary to skillfully and accurately solve problems with limited time and tools. These types of things do not happen within a computer, but happen right before our eyes. It is under these extreme conditions that we focus entirely on winning the race and work as hard as we possibly can. The word “can’t” does not exist at the racetrack. This type of experience builds our character, and builds cars. Both the drivers and engineers focus their five senses to engage in a dialogue with the car under the extreme conditions of the race. It is through this dialogue that the perfect flavor becomes visible. Since Toyota’s foundation, it has placed particular importance on checking based on the
Genchi Genbutsu approach, and it is through this that the flavor of cars is created. As I mentioned earlier, what is important is not discussing automobile development based on words and data, but to actually install the parts, feel them with your own hands, and see them with your own eyes. Looking back over Toyota’s history, prototypes of both the Toyota 2000GT and the AE86 were put in races before they went on sale, to refine their flavor. Toyota has always made cars based on this principle. I want car developers to study their craft through the medium of car racing, and remember that the flavor of Toyota cars was created on the racetrack. Even now, European cars such as Porsche and Ferrari are created on the racetrack.
A restaurant has a person who is responsible for determining the flavor of the dishes. That is the chef. The decisions of the chef are final. Dishes that the chef has determined unacceptable are never brought to a customer’s table; if the chef gives the okay, the dish will appear on the restaurant’s menu and will be served to customers no matter how many others object. Determining the flavor isn’t done by a majority vote. Deciding things by compromise is also highly objectionable. European automakers employ a master craftsman (meister) who is responsible for determining the flavor of the cars, and until that person gives the okay, the cars cannot be sold. I believe that Toyota needs this type of person in the future. A restaurant chef not only determines the flavor of the dishes, but has the authority to make decisions on all stages of preparation, right from procuring the ingredients. To me, the ideal would be for a member of the Toyota management team to be such a chef who understands completely the ingredients and the flavors.