I thought this would be a 2-3 hour adventure, but we ended up being gone for 12 hours!! I am often amazed how long it takes to get places in Japan, but no one else seems to realize how inconvenient it really is. (What I wouldn't give for my car and Interstate 75 during these trips!!) Keep reading to hear about about my long day...
We set off for Tahara City, which is about 100 km from Nagoya. (60 miles = 60 minutes in the USA, right?!)
The blue shaded area is Tahara City on the Atsumi Peninsula. The northern side is Mikawa Bay, and the southern side if the mighty Pacific! 
After 3 hours on a train and in a car, we have arrived at the strawberry "farm". I was impressed by all of the windmills in the distance! 
Our group of 15 consisted of Mitsui and Toyota workers, and we have finally arrived at our greenhouse. 
Yes, they go strawberry picking inside greenhouses!! I knew something was up when all of my friends showed up in dresses and high heels! This also explains why the strawberry season in Japan lasts from January to May. They don't have to contend with winter weather!!
In Japan you go strawberry picking to eat them right away, not take home with you! So here is Kerri and her friends enjoying their strawberries! 
Rows and rows of yumminess! 
Many of my friends starve themselves all day just so they can gorge on strawberries, but I must admit that all of that sweetness was rotting my stomach!! 
The winner for the biggest strawberry! 
I imagine that if my American friends were there, we would have bet someone $5 to eat a green or barely pink strawberry!! LOL. Sick, twisted, immature Americans :) 
All you could eat strawberries for just $10. (We stayed there for about 30 minutes.) That's a pretty good deal considering when you buy them at the grocery store in Japan they are available in trays of 6 for $6.
Here's all of my strawberry stems, and many people like to dip their strawberries into the sweet milk creme on right. I wasn't such a big fan of it.
Next, we went to a Tahara City lookout spot. I loved all of the windmills. I never get to see them close up in America!!
That big blue building in the middle is the Tahara Toyota plant, which is the largest Toyota plant in Japan. They are an award-winning plant, especially with all of the windmill power right on their own property. The rows of buildings in front of the plant are (you guessed it) housing for the Toyota workers!! I'm shocked that a manufacturing plant has ocean front property (this would never fly in America), but I guess that's what happens when your entire country is an island!
FYI - I did a little research on Tahara City, and surprisingly their "sister city" is Georgetown, Kentucky! In addition, the Tahara plant is the "mother plant" to TMMI (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana), so Princeton, Indiana is a special "friendship city" to Tahara as well!!
Directly to the right of the plant is the Tahara Port, where they ship out Lexus and Toyota vehicles to all over the world. Pretty convenient that they don't have to transport them to the port!! Maybe I should ask at work if I can go for a tour at this place :)
Kerri and Hari enjoy the windy view.
Next stop was the ocean. I always laugh at their palm trees in central Japan because this weather is so not tropical, but they are imported to make it feel more beachy for visitors!! We didn't stay long because it was windy and cold, the ladies in skirts couldn't handle it.
Lastly, here is sign for the restaurant we ate dinner at. I have no idea why the frightening sign says "It dies."!! It was a ramen joint, with the key word being "joint". Oddly, all of the posters inside were related to Bob Marley, Cheech & Chong, and marijuana! Thankfully, I didn't see any more skulls and crossbones.
I finally arrived home just after 10pm. All I could think about was that if I were living in Kentucky, I could have driven to Michigan, had dinner with the parents, and driven home in the time it took us to go strawberry picking. I'm pretty sure if this was the case in America, no one would bother to go strawberry picking!
That big blue building in the middle is the Tahara Toyota plant, which is the largest Toyota plant in Japan. They are an award-winning plant, especially with all of the windmill power right on their own property. The rows of buildings in front of the plant are (you guessed it) housing for the Toyota workers!! I'm shocked that a manufacturing plant has ocean front property (this would never fly in America), but I guess that's what happens when your entire country is an island! 
FYI - I did a little research on Tahara City, and surprisingly their "sister city" is Georgetown, Kentucky! In addition, the Tahara plant is the "mother plant" to TMMI (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana), so Princeton, Indiana is a special "friendship city" to Tahara as well!!
Directly to the right of the plant is the Tahara Port, where they ship out Lexus and Toyota vehicles to all over the world. Pretty convenient that they don't have to transport them to the port!! Maybe I should ask at work if I can go for a tour at this place :)
Kerri and Hari enjoy the windy view. 
Next stop was the ocean. I always laugh at their palm trees in central Japan because this weather is so not tropical, but they are imported to make it feel more beachy for visitors!! We didn't stay long because it was windy and cold, the ladies in skirts couldn't handle it. 
Lastly, here is sign for the restaurant we ate dinner at. I have no idea why the frightening sign says "It dies."!! It was a ramen joint, with the key word being "joint". Oddly, all of the posters inside were related to Bob Marley, Cheech & Chong, and marijuana! Thankfully, I didn't see any more skulls and crossbones. 
I finally arrived home just after 10pm. All I could think about was that if I were living in Kentucky, I could have driven to Michigan, had dinner with the parents, and driven home in the time it took us to go strawberry picking. I'm pretty sure if this was the case in America, no one would bother to go strawberry picking! 
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