International Plant Trek 5

JAPAN! My first time in Japan! And our arrival was unforgettable. We flew into Nagoya, got through immigration, picked up our bags, flew threw customs and arrived at the following sight...

I guess this one takes some explaining. When we flew into Shanghai, there were seemingly hundreds of people hold signs in Chinese that I presume had the names of people they were receiving. A few of the signs were in english, and one of these English signs really stood out... not only because it was pink, but because it said "Hot Gravy". We laughed at that for several days. Thus when landing in Japan, classmate Steve Smith quickly made a Hot Gravy and handed it to our tour Guide to receive us! Hilarious!

We headed to the Toyota Plant the next day. On the bus on our way to the plan, I quickly discovered a very stark contrast between Chinese and Japanese... organization. There was a tour guide who told us to the minute how long our trip would be, what we would be seeing on either side of the bus, where to go for dinner, what her son likes to do for fun in, etc!!! In China, we jumped on a bus hoping it took us to the right place and who knows when we would get there!

Toyato was very cool to see. Despite the 3 auto manufacturers that I've seen who claim to be using the "Toyota Production System", there was a distinct difference. While it's hard to describe, I was surprised. Additionally, I couldn't believe how fast the Japanese people worked! Every motion was deliberate, planned, precise, and FAST! It makes all other automakers look like turtles!

After a plant tour we headed to their museum for lunch, a question/answer session, and some free time!

We even got to see their "Trumpet Playing Robot". For a company that is famous for eliminating business/manufacturing waste, I was very surprised to see how a trumpet playing robot is not considered wasteful... but it was so cool!

After the museum we headed to the train station to get on the famous Bullet Trains! I couldn't believe how frequent the were. Trains that were 14 large cars long came gliding by every 10 minutes! It was incredible to see and ride. While not as fast as the Maglev in Shanghai, this was very cool.

About an hour and half later, we made it to Tokyo! The New York City of Asia! Lights, people, and subways galore! I was amazed to see how far you could walk underground! Each subway station extended for several blocks connecting buildings, shopping centers, and other subway stations underneath the streets!

Here's Karla and I above ground (for once!) in Tokyo!