Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi spent Monday evening at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo, where more than 200 guests gathered for a motorsport-themed reception marking the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy. Polyphony Digital was part of the program, and Yamauchi came away with a few things to say about Toyota’s place in Gran Turismo history.
The reception was timed to coincide with Japan’s Sports Day holiday, and it drew the top of the Japanese motorsport industry, including Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda and NISMO CEO Yutaka Sanada, alongside Italian brands from Ferrari and Pagani to Brembo and Pirelli.
Polyphony Digital’s contribution went beyond the guest list. According to ANSA.it, the embassy highlighted the Gran Turismo World Series round held in Milan back in May as part of its esports focus, and the embassy’s 160th-anniversary logo appeared during the Mille Miglia-inspired sprint race in the Nations Cup.
Autosport Web Japan also shows Igor Fraga playing Gran Turismo 7 at the reception, with Super Formula drivers Naoki Yamamoto and Giuliano Alesi among those on hand.
Toyoda arrived in a Toyota 2000GT, with Haas F1 Team Principal Ayao Komatsu in the passenger seat. Toyota, of course, entered a 2000GT in the inaugural 1000 Miglia Gran Turismo Experience this past June, the Polyphony-organized Mille Miglia support event.
According to Autosport Japan, Toyoda used his speech to say he intends to take part in next year’s Mille Miglia himself.
The part of Yamauchi’s post that will interest long-time readers is what he wrote about Toyota’s role in the series’ beginnings. Thirty years ago, he says, Toyota was the first manufacturer to support the original Gran Turismo project. He describes the idea as one that “seemed utterly far-fetched at the time,” and credits Toyota with responding by saying, “Let’s give it a try.”
Yamauchi has told the story before of how hard it was to get any car manufacturer to talk to a video game studio in the mid-1990s, and that Toyota was the first brand to come on board.
Yamauchi also says it was Toyota that later guided him to the Nürburgring, where he went on to race in the 24 Hours multiple times. The company is a founding partner of the Gran Turismo World Series, and, as he pointed out, a founding partner of the Mille Miglia GT Experience as well.
His closing line was a direct tribute. “Even as a large corporation,” he wrote, “I have always held deep respect for their curiosity, which never rejects new ideas, and their generosity of spirit.”
See more articles on 1000 Miglia Gran Turismo Experience, Kazunori Yamauchi, Mille Miglia, and Toyota.
