Akio Toyoda, chairman of the board of directors of the car manufacturer, has appeared several times in the company of a peculiar vehicle in recent weeks. It is a specially modified edition of the Toyota APM (Accessible People Mover), widely used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which is immediately recognizable by the huge, grinning cat head adorning its nose. This animal motif could even decorate one of the carriages of an amusement park carousel, but it is much more than that: a deep-rooted tribute to another aspect of Japanese culture – this time, contemporary visual art.
Those who are familiar with the movie Totoro – The Secret of the Enchanted Forest and know the defining cultural and social significance of the work of two-time Oscar winner Miyazaki Hayao had in Japan, it is unnecessary to explain what it is about. In this all-night cartoon from 1988, the nekobasu, i.e. the cat bus, appears: a twelve-legged, huge cat that magically appears when called and transports its passengers wherever they want in its body designed as a passenger compartment.
The nekobasu is rooted in an ancient Japanese legend, according to which old cats can shapeshift; and in the context of Totoro, it can also be seen as a link between nature and civilization, human reality and the spirit world, rationality and spirituality.
It is no coincidence that Professor Naoki Nagatsu, an employee of Toyota’s forward-looking design division (Vision Design Division), found common ground with this story, and with this character within it, since Totoro tells about the harmony of nature and man, which is the It is also a defining pillar of Toyota’s corporate creed and social responsibility, and the cat bus is literally an environmentally friendly, sustainable vehicle.
The development was prompted by the recent opening and continuous expansion of the Ghibli film studio’s experience park, founded by Hajao Miyazaki, in the memorial park created at the site of the 2005 Aichi World Exposition, realized with the main support of Toyota. Here, guests are transported by nekobaszu, which (or rather who?) Naoki Nagacu and his team spent a lot of time and energy on shaping. On behalf of the film studio, Miyazaki-san’s son, Goro Miyazaki, the park’s designer and director, took part in the work.
As a layperson, we would not even imagine how many pitfalls are involved in translating a cartoon character into reality. The black outlines of the drawn characters, for example, would look unnatural on a three-dimensional figure, so here the body parts were demarcated with colors and “topography” differences. However, it took a lot of time to find the appropriate shades of these colors – they reached the perfect tone of the whites of the claws, teeth, and eyes with long experiments, which was made even more difficult by the fact that the eyes of the cat bus – like those of all regular cats – light up at night.
The difference between digital and analogue, two-dimensional and spatial presented challenges to the designers again and again, who, when finalizing the colors and shapes, not only had to bring to the common denominator the proportions that live differently in the cartoon and in reality, but also the basic requirements of passenger transport : safety systems and markings, light signals, and of course the appropriate vehicle functions had to be taken into account.
For example, in order for the cat bus not to lie awkwardly on the asphalt, but – just like its fairy-tale companion – to be firm and ready to jump, the floor plate had to be perfectly horizontal. This was partly achieved by the differential pressure of the tires, partly helped by the fact that the driver’s seat of the Toyota APM is located in the center line of the vehicle, so the driver’s weight does not tip the vehicle to the side.
Naturally, the seats were given soft-to-the-touch, fluffy upholstery, but at the same time, the cover had to be removable and washable for hygienic reasons, without spoiling the illusion. The same was the case with the ramp allowing disabled people to enter, or with the handrails, which were given a natural, non-slip leather covering in a practical and stylish solution.
However, if we could highlight only one characteristic aspect of the development process, it would be the definition of viewpoints: whether it is the proportions and colors of the smallest details, or the outward-looking mice placed in the four corners of the roof, everything was designed so that a 100-centimeter-tall child see everything as perfect as possible. This is how Totoro’s silhouette appeared as a faint shadow on the passenger compartment rain curtain: just like the forest spirits, this graphic detail can only be seen by those who look for miracles in everything with a pure heart, childlike enthusiasm and sincere optimism.
The APM vehicles, which are the basis of the cat buses put into operation on the first of March, are suitable for transporting five passengers (or three passengers and a wheelchair) as standard. The 3.9 meter long, 1.6 meter wide and 2.0 meter high vehicles roll on airless wheels, their maximum speed is 19 km/h, and their range is 100 kilometers. Toyota has also drawn up plans for an APM-based ambulance: it can accommodate a crew of three and a standard stretcher.
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