Nagoya: Only worth it for Toyota

We'd rather not remember Nagoya.
We would not have stopped there if Robby wasn't intent on visiting the Toyota Commemorative Museum.

Arriving to Nagoya is like arriving to any gritty urban city - dusty, dirty, impersonal. Even the people seemed ruder. For the first time, someone cut in front of us as we waiting in line for a subway. Even in Tokyo, where hordes of people rush onto the subway train, they all pile in in an orderly fashion, careful not to cut. All those generalizations of Japanese precision & perfection don't exist in Nagoya, where the subway toilets are the dirtiest we've seen & walls & streets are coated with dust & grime. This city reminds us of Ankara, Turkey, which, in turn, reminded us of downtown Los Angeles - not the part of downtown with gleaming skyscrapers & renovated Art Deco buildings.

Our hotel, Meiryu Ryokan, is recommended by Frommer's. It's located near the Kamimaezu Station off the Tsurumai Line. It's a bit pricey (8400 yen for a double). The room is decent - two tatamis, A.C., T.V. - but the communal areas are drab. Thankfully, there's an onsen-type bathtub in the large women's restroom. We are glad to spend only one night in Nagoya.

When we arrive, we drop off our bags & head toward the Toyota Commemorative Museum. Even after all the complaints about Nagoya, the Toyota Museum & factory are worth visiting. The museum is enormous, & explanations are detailed & all in English. The first part of the museum is dedicated to the work of Sakichi Toyoda, who industrialized the methods of weaving. Many different working looms are on display, along with explanations of the various materials used. Sakichi Toyoda supported his son Kiichiro Toyoda’s fascination with motor vehicles. Eventually, Kiichiro Toyoda created the Toyota Motor Corporation in the 1930s. The second part of the museum is all about his achievements. Many early models are on display, as well as the leaf-inspired concept car & explanations of the inner workings of the cars themselves. If we had more time, we would have read everything, but we arrived an hour and half before closing & had to zip through the looms to reach the cars.

In the evening, we take the subway to Osu Kannon, a thriving shopping area similar to Harajuku. When we get there at 6:30pm, shops begin to close. By this time, Osu Kannon is dead & empty. The clothing here is incredibly cheap. T-shirts cost $10 apiece & there are sale signs everywhere. After staring at a group of girls lined up in front of a dessert shop, Robby follows suit & indulges in delectable whipped cream & chocolate syrup sandwiched between two warm pancakes. Strange, we only see women & girls line up for desserts, never men.

The following day, we board the subway at 8am for Toyota-shi, Toyota City. We have a 10:30am appointment for a factory tour. Kiichiro Toyota chose to build his factories on 200-some acres of land outside of Nagoya. The ride to Toyota-shi takes 1.5 hours by subway & bus & is fairly easy to find. Transportation will cost approximately $20 there & back, but the tour is free & definitely worth it. Robby is tickled thinking that we will see an actual Toyota vehicle assembled. We arrive early, so we hang out in the showroom, which holds the latest models of Lexuses, Priuses, & other models. The tour begins with a 20-minute bus ride, which takes us to the Tsutsumi factory, where Priuses & Scions are produced. After the museum visit & a talk from the guide, we’ve memorized the four steps of car production: stamping, welding, painting, & assembly. We start at the assembly portion of the factory. All the suppliers of Toyota parts are located near the factory, so parts are shipped to the assembly area & sorted by workers. They load & unload items from one box to another, push them onto automated wheeled carts, which hum cute tunes as they maneuver their way down a prescribed course. The assembly portion also includes the installation of parts such as windshield wipers, doors, etc. Next, we move to the welding section, where automated arms piece parts together. Robby will speak more about the factory later since he was more fascinated. Of course, he drenches the guide in a million questions & begins his conversation with “We love Toyota. Her (Jeanne’s) family really only drives Toyota.”

Although I do not have Robby’s enthusiasm for cars, the trip to Toyota City is definitely worthwhile. This is our first time witnessing an assembly line, & we are impressed by the efficiency & cleanliness of it all.

After returning to Nagoya from the Toyota factory, we pack up our belongings & take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. We accidentally board the Nozomi line, the fastest line excluded from our JR rail pass. Luckily, nobody checks our tickets & we are not kicked off...as I feared might happen.

Now we’ve settled into Annex Katsutaro in the Ueno area of Tokyo. It’s considerably quieter & more upscale than the Ikebukuro neighborhood we stayed in when we first arrived to Japan. It’s also 4,000 yen more per night, & our first impression, unlike my parents who stayed here when they came to Tokyo last month, is not favorable. We might move...

5 more days in Japan!

More later!