Sweet Ride

I went on another tour of a Toyota City car factory today.  (That makes a grand total of 6 visits!)  And I realized that I never did a blog dedicated to cars in Japan!  I have just a few pictures on the subject, but hopefully interesting nonetheless.

But first, here's a plant update for all of your Toyota-lovers out there! 

I wish I could take pictures in these factories... not of the parts, process, or production line, but of all of the goofy Japanese signs. 

For example, they have cartoon posters of what looks like Wii characters playing outside with their Toyotas.  There is one for every season.  In winter they are going skiing, in fall they are going camping and fishing, in summer they are doing some sightseeing on a car ferry, and in spring they are going for a drive through cherry blossom trees!  Everything is so "cute" and just as you would expect in Japan!

The plant I went to today makes luxury vehicles sold in Japan, like Estima, MarkX, and Crown, and therefore, demand for these cars is really low right now.  They have 4,500 employees making 80,000 vehicles per year!  That's less than 300 vehicles per day.  The takt time was incredibly high (and the line was moving really slowly). 

In comparison, roughly the same number of employees used to crank out the big Tundra, Sequoia, & Sienna on two different lines at over 1,500 trucks per day back when I was working on-site at Toyota Indiana!!

It might be time for this Toyota plant to think about cutting back to only 1 shift!  Of course, that would cause a major uproar with the Japanese government if layoffs were to occur, so I'm guessing the slow production line will continue instead.

I am also amazed at the vehicle colors I see on the production line.  During the tour Toyota always stresses how they can make many colors on the same line, but I only ever see 3 colors: white, silver, and black.  Tag says it's because middle-aged people prefer those colors, and that's who is buying these luxury cars.  But I'm not convinced.  It seems almost every car owner in Japan has one of these three colors. 

Surprisingly, I did see one navy blue car on the line today!

Alright, now to the photos!!

The only "real" pick up truck I've ever seen in Japan!  It's an imported (driver on the left) Tundra (and black), and way too big to park pretty much any where in Nagoya!

No need for parking lots.  These cars (black and silver) can just park right in front of the door!

Go ahead and park that (white car) any where!

This is supposed to be a (silver) minivan, but it's more like the size of a shoebox.  You can use the bicycle as a size reference, but I really should have been standing next to it, so you could have real perspective...

A mini (black) pick-up truck in Japan.  Again, this thing is so tiny, but hard to tell in the pic. It's like seeing a matchbox car rolling around the streets.

Toyota has Plug-in Prius stations all around Toyota City, and I think this car might be light blue, rather than the ubiquitous silver!!

This Toyota is actual mini-van sized, and I love that it's called "NOAH". 

And it's the dark blue color I see very rarely!

Getting sick of Tokyo yet?

I'm not!  I love this place :)

Sunday morning kicks off with a visit to Zojo-ji Temple.  There was a ceremony going on inside commemorating the death of a loved one.  (Maybe 1 year anniversary, etc.)  I'm told this is a common practice for Buddhism.

A bunch of cats wearing colorful bonnets and aprons in front of the temple. 

I see this all over the place, so I asked Tag what the deal was, but he had no clue!

Tokyo Tower. 

Did you know this one is actually taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which it is replicated from?!  Nutty...  

And Fred (from France) pointed out plenty of other differences, like no option of taking the stairs to the top!

Interesting store: Condomania.

What's even more interesting is that the name of the store next door is "Happy Factory".

The famous shopping street of Omote-sando.  We are looking for a 7-story toy store called "Kiddy Land".

I loved all of their Toy Story 3 paraphernalia, like this "Barbie loves Woody!".

How about the Japanese version of "The Game of Life"?  I can tell just by the iconic spinner!

We also took a trip to the man-made entertainment island just off the Tokyo mainland called Odaiba.

They had a pretty cool free Toyota museum there. 

Here's a ride where you could get in a tiny Electric car and drive down the track!!

How would I look rolling in this Toyota car named "Angelic Pretty"?

Futuristic side-door car!

KG driving a mini car, and an Asian kid attempting to go for a ride with her!!

(Have you noticed how someone seriously sucks at taking pics?  They are cutting off all of the cars...)

Everyone needs a giant bow on the rear end of their car ;)

Future mobility device that could replace wheelchairs (for a cost, I'm sure).  It can go over bumpy surfaces, take stairs, and even lower to the ground for easy entry and exit.

Fred tests out the new "folding safety helmet" technology worn by Kerri! 

(I survived even if it does look a little goofy!)

The Goddess of Liberty, which is about 1/40th the size of the Statue of Liberty in NYC.

Rainbow Bridge that connects Tokyo to Odaiba.

Kerri finally found a nice beach!  This one has imported white sand :)

Indian curry for dinner.  Check out the size of that giant nan!!  Yummy!

The waiter mixes the Indian after dinner tea.  It gets poured back and forth between several cups and mixes to a nice, frothy consistency.  Also yummy!

Final pour.  Drink up!!

Now we're locked in a prison... er, training center, for one week. 

The food is very Asian, and I am popular, partly because I packed Oreo cookies!  There is nothing around the center besides a prison (no joke this time) and other training facilities. 

The beds are much too short, the pillows are filled with beans again, and supposedly the rooms are the size of my walk-in closet in Kentucky.  Oddly enough, I got assigned a room at the end of the hallway, which happens to be very large and is, therefore, seriously lacking furniture to fill it.  All of the guys are jealous of my extra space and call it the "Barbie Palace". 

They also work us very late each night, which is why these posts have been at such crazy times!

Something fun in Toyota City

If you have ever been to a town in North America that has a Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in it (like Princeton, IN or Georgetown, KY), then you won't be surprised that Toyota City in Japan is rather small and lame as well.  The only thing going on in these towns is automobile production... seriously.

There is one cool place to visit while you're waiting for the train to take you away from Toyota City to some where awesome.  That place is Kevin's!

"Kevin's" is a bar owned by this really cool Japanese guy that used to live in America and loves the UK Wildcats.

The place is tiny--2 booths and a 6-seat counter, but it's easy to make friends because everyone has at least one thing in common... they're here in support of Toyota.  (Face it, there is simply no other reason to be in Toyota City.)

I went one night after dinner in Toyota City with Shin Shimada, Satoru Muto, and Yosuke Kawakami.  We quickly made friends with some guys from Poland, who work for a Toyota supplier, and filled up their nearly empty booth for them!

The really neat part is that you take a look around the place, and it's simply covered in Polaroid pictures of people having a great time at Kevin's.  There are layers upon layers of photos, each one with a witty saying at the bottom, and organized by month and year. 

I'm sure with enough searching I could have found a photo of someone I knew from TMMI, TEMA, or Transfreight, but instead I focused on coming up with a really sweet comment for our obligatory Polaroid pic. Next time, I will be sure to hunt down the picture of me!

There is also a lot of swag hanging in the bar that people have donated throughout the years... mostly baseball caps that say TMMC, Denso, Toyota Tsusho, or Safety First! on them, but there are plenty of other cool things, too.

We were having such a great time, we decided not to catch the last train out of town, and close down the bar instead.  I even got 1-on-1 origami lessons from Kevin's wife, Masami!!

I'm not too hot at origami as it is, but throw a bunch of drinks in the mix, and my folding coordination skills really went out the window...

The only disappointing part of the evening came at closing time when we had a long (not to mention expensive) taxi ride back to Nagoya! 

If you're ever in Toyota City with a few minutes to spare, now you know were to spend them!!

Strawberry Picking

On Saturday I was invited to go strawberry picking with some friends from work, and since I knew this experience would be unlike anything I've done in Michigan, I decided I better join!
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!

Toyota Trivia

Since Toyota has been in the news so much lately in the USA, ever wonder why the president, Akio Toyoda, spells his name differently than the company? He is the grandson to the founder of Toyota, and his grandfather also spelled his name Toyoda. Since I went on my tour of Toyota City in December, I have the answers for you:
1. Toyoda is 10 strokes when written in Japanese characters, and Toyota is only 8 strokes. (pictured below)
2. Eight is a lucky number in Japan because it's character resembles a mountain, and the Japanese believe mountains are lucky (like Mt. Fuji).
3. Toyota sounds more clear when pronounced than Toyoda.
4. The founder, Mr. Toyoda, wanted to separate his family from the company. He said the company was for the community of Japan, and did not want to think of it as a "family business".

I find the last one a little ironic because Akio Toyoda has been quoted many times as saying "My name is on every car..." and technically it's not!!

Life in Nagoya

Have I mentioned yet that trash is kind of a big deal here? You have to buy special bags (which took me about 6 weeks to find but now I see them every where) and then you have to sort it yourself. The clear bags are colored coded, and you can see inside clearly if someone isn't following directions.

Green = non-burnable trash (basically landfill material)

Red = burnable. This is the majority of my waste because really how many things can you throw in a fire and watch melt?! Almost everything!!

Blue = recyclable cans and bottles, but oddly enough they won't recycle my plastic containers from the US because it doesn't have the proper label on the bottom.

At work, we take it a step farther and recycle paper in 4 different categories: office paper, magazines, newspapers, and others.

You won't find any dumpsters in Japan. Just bags of trash in designated areas. I guess they don't have any issues with raccoons or stray animals!!

Trash sorting area #1

Trash sorting area #2. Who doesn't love a close-up pic of bags of trash?

The highways are often over head when I am walking around Nagoya. Just a tiny bit noisy.

Two bullet trains in the station at one time. One is eastbound and the other is westbound. Considering they come and go every 10-15 minutes this probably isn't such a rare sight, but they only stop for 20-30 seconds each, so I had to snap this picture quick!

Bicycle for young families. One kid sits in front, and the other in the back. My questions is: where do all of the purchases go?! I am happy to see this family has helmets though. They aren't very common here, and neither are car seats or even children buckled up in cars.

It's funny to me to see live flowers outside in February, but they love plants here, and there is always something in bloom.

For the busy mother on the go who's gotta go... here's a seat in the bathroom stall to put your kid in. We use strollers in America, but they are a rare sight here because there are so many stairs and so few elevators. I do see a lot of young sleeping babies wrapped to their mother's chest with fancy contraptions, but many of them are just held in their arms.

Even the gas stations are "5S". For you non-Toyota people, that's when there is a place for everything, including a box designated on the pavement where the cars should park when they are filling up with gasoline.

One foggy morning on my walk to work. The tallest building in Nagoya "Toyota Century" just disappeared into the mist!