Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Mazda Museum & Factor Tour

It was so nice to be able to stay at my sister's place for three nights.

Japan 114
We had our own room (this was actually bigger than our room in Kyoto, if you can believe it). The built in storage (which they have in all of the rooms) was nice.

Internet access...yes!
Japan 115
We were able to skype with my parents and the kids.

Even a hot breakfast...yum!
Japan 117

I think my nephew wanted some too.
Japan 116

We had reservations for the English language tour at 10:00 a.m. D was able to visit some co-workers with my BIL while my sister, her son, and I waited in the lobby.

Slick.
Japan 121

I actually didn't notice that j had cars on his shirt until just now. How appropriate.
Japan 120

The Mazdas in Japan go by different names. For example, the Mazda6 is called the "Atenza".
Japan 123

Our tour guide was very informative. I was impressed with the long spiels she had memorized. The (unintentionally) funniest part was when we were riding on a bus, and she noted that the bridge we were passing was "...one of the longest in the world...(dramatic pause)...owned by a company." (No pictures were allowed on the bus).

Japan 126

The old logo.
Japan 129

Funky interior.
Japan 130

This car won the Le Mans 24 hour race.
Japan 132

New employees were taking a tour, too.
Japan 134

Crash test.
Japan 136

Cars of the future.
Japan 137

Japan 138

Future driver.
Japan 142

The best part was at the end, when were able to see the actual production line. I was surprised at how close we were able to be to the action. The combination of robotics and human skill was amazing to watch. It really made you think about how much work goes into making a car.

As a side note, I got a good chuckle out of this sign.
Japan 141

1 comment:

scruffylooking said...

Oh man. I LOVE the green 3 wheeler, the B360, and the plaid interior.