Ryoji Ihara, Toyota's Assembly Line: A View from the Factory Floor (Paperback)

Any dedicated Toyota driver and admirer of the Toyota Production System will be shocked to read of Ryoji Ihara's experience as a casual worker in a Toyota factory in Japan. As Toyota Motor Corporation continues its inexorable march to become the world's biggest and most profitable carmaker, workers on the factory floor are still making sacrifices under the appalling conditions.

Ihara's book is both a fearless expose and a meticulous academic study firmly situated within the context of the sociology of labor. Drawing on recent theoretical debates in Japan and internationally, the author challenges widely held views on the respective roles of skill, supervision and quality control in the car industry. Specialists in car industry research unable to access Japanese language sources should welcome this English translation of Ryoji Ihara's book, now with an additional chapter update.

Yet, belying its academic intent, the work is written in a relaxed, entertaining style that should appeal to any reader with an interest in car making, the sociology of work or Japanese society in general.