Life in the Land of the Rising Sun: Dreaming about some new wheels...

Toyota Factory

Sunday I spent the day trying to get caught up. I took advantage of the Presidents’ Day sales at the NEX and bought myself a jacket. (I am glad that my baggage restrictions limit what I can buy, because I would have spent a lot more money.) Monday I spent my Federal Holiday visiting the Toyota Motor Kyushu Factory. Here they make a few of their luxury cars, and a majority of them seem to be special order, if I understood correctly (oh the joys of things lots in translation).

On the way to the factory, which was out near Fukuoka, we stopped to enjoy lunch at a rest stop along the way. I am starting to recognize the rest stops along the major roads and what they are known for food wise.

My yummy lunch of ramen

Ice Cream for dessert in a pretty cone!

Once we got to the factory we explored the showroom, which included sitting in the cars and trying them on for size. We were among some BEAUTIFUL rides! We also watched a video of factory from the view of someone sitting in a car that was being built.

Shiny Cars

In a Lexus

Getting ready to watch the film.

The cool seats for the film.

The tour of the factory itself was VERY cool; too bad I could not take pictures. It was a very state of the art facility (I think, since I do not have any other car factories to compare it to), and watching the cars being hoisted overhead was surreal. We watched a frame become a drivable car, and my favorite part of the day was seeing a car be driven for the first time ever off the line. Knowing that car in front of me had been just pieces a few hours before helped me to really appreciate modern technology.

Here's a model of the last step in a car's production - quality testing.

After the tour we went back to the showroom where we learned more about Toyota’s green initiatives and spent some time in the cars. I picked out my new ride…