Nagoya: Toyota, English company and beautiful parks

---

Nagoya: I actually really like this place. Some people that I had talked to and things that I had read said that Nagoya was just a transportation hub and there isn't much to do and that it's just like all the other cities, but I have to disagree. I wasn't bored the whole time and I think the city is actually quite pretty, well the parts I saw.

Yesterday I headed out to Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. Nagoya is the birthplace of the Toyota company you see and the museum was one of the things I wanted to see (since my first car was a faithful Toyota Carolla!) so I made it my first port of call. And I really enjoyed it. Not many people know that Toyota started off as a textiles company. Oh, listen to me, saying that as if I wasn't included in that group! I had no idea either. But the company was started by a man called Sakichi Toyoda and was originally the Toyoda Spinning and Weaving company. It was the first company to invent and use the automatic loom, which is one of the machines they use, even today (although computerised!) in the textiles industry to weave. So the first part of the museum, well its more like a factory, this part, is dedicated to the textiles information. I didn't think that I would be interested in it but you have to walk through it to get to the automobiles section. Anyway, I was looking at the machines and then a staff member offered to take me on a short tour around them all and explain how they work and how they developed from the hand held ones to the computerised ones they use today. So I agreed, and it was actually very interesting! It also goes through the process of how cotton becomes clothes, and that was something I knew nothing about, and they had all the steps on display and demonstrated the process. Fascinating. Next time I buy a cotton piece of clothing I will know exactly how it got to being sold in the shop. How many of you can say that??!!

The best part was when a diffeernt man was demonstrating the big computerised machine right at the end of the textiles section, and the machine was making these small pieces of fabric with pictures on them. When he turned it off, he said he had a present for the person who could guess how may they made in one hour. I was thinking about it when one of the guys next to me came up with the right answer so he got given one of the pieces of fabric, then the staff member spotted me and started to apologise because he had asked the question in Japanese and he hadn't thought that was fair on me because I didn't understand, I started to say that I can speak Japanese and had understood fine, when he gave me one of the pieces of cloth too, saying, again, otherwise it wouldn't be fair. So I kept my mouth shut and played the non-Japanese speaking tourist!!!! Heee heee heee!

Anyway, next I went into the automobile section, where they explain that Sakichi Toyoda's son Kiichiro Toyoda took over the business and in the 1930's started to produce cars. That's when the name changed to Toyota. You all thought I had made spelling mistakes didn't you!! Don't lie, I know you did! There are a couple of reasons why they changed the name. First, and most simply, they thought that "Toyota" sounded better, fair enough I say. The second reason had to do with spelling, in a way. When you write the word "Toyoda" in kanji (Chinese) characters you can also pronounce it "Toyota" but when the company started selling in the US they needed to make a more foreign friendly name (that is, readable). When you write "Toyoda" in the other Japanese scripts (hiragana and katakana) they use a total of 10 strokes, whereas "Toyota" only uses 8, and 8 is considered a lucky number in Japan. So that's why, interesting huh?

The first part of this section is all about the first car they built and the process they went through and there is an exact model of the car on display. They actually had a lot of trouble trying to produce the first one as they didn't have sheet metal in Japan so had to import it and then they didn't have the machinery to mold it into the right shape, so, can you believe, they did it all by hand! Over big rocks and stuff, and when it was assembled, of course there were slight dents in it but they then rubbed it back till it was smooth! Wow, that would have taken a lot longer than it does now, hey!

Then they have the display area where they model some of the other Toyota cars that have been brought out over the years, they had a Corolla there and it made me miss my little car!!! Although it wasn't the same model, a bit older. They also had parts of cars scattered around and explanations on how they all worked, and you could press buttons and touch and learn, all that fun stuff. I have to say that I learnt a great deal about the workings of a car. They also had examples of how they assemble the car together too, so it was all really interesting.

I met an old English chap at the museum , and we got to talking and wandered around the last part of the museum together. And we actually ended up spending the rest of the day together too, I think he was a bit lonely and wanted to talk a bit. He is here on business, but of course it's the weekend and he had nothing to do, so he showed me around Nagoya as he comes here twice a year and knows it well. Very nice fellow!

The nice English man took me to Nagoya Castle, and it was good too. Not as big as Himeji but a bit more interesting inside. They had lots of exhibits with old samurai things and old paintings and all the rest, although I have to say that it was quite a modern building inside. It even had an elevator which didn't quite fit right. And we went and saw a 3D movie about the castle and surrounds, so it was interesting but not in the old rustic charm way. Next we made our way back to the station area and went and had a drink and Bill invited me to dinner with him at an Australian themed restaurant called Outback, and that I couldn't refuse. The restaurant really was Australiana, made me quite a bit homesick actually. The waiters were all Japanese but spoke excellent English, even Australian English, and I don't mean the typical G'day mate (although that was used!), but things like "How you guys doin'?", and "What can I gettcha?", you know how we Aussies like to keep everything casual! And the food was good ole' Aussie beef, man how I have missed that, Japanese beef just isn't the same!

So after pigging out on all that and Bill even paying for it (!!!!), we went and got ice-creams from Haagen-Dazs and walked around the city and chatted some more. He is a very interesting man, he's done so many things in his life, and he was in Thailand with his wife when the tsunami hit last year, it was really interesting to hear the story from someone who had been there! He showed me a few cool places around the city, parks, ferris wheels, shopping centres and a big place called Oasis 21, which I will explain later. So it was a good day and once again nice to be able to spend it with someone.

This morning I headed back to Oasis 21 and the area where I was last night. Oasis 21 is an area that was built, full of shops and restaurants but it also has a big oval shaped platform in the sky. On top of the platform is a big lake, which has fountains in it. It is a really cool area, not too big and completely free, but a nice place to walk and get a view of the city. And one level below that is an area called Field of Green which is sort of like a park area with lots of grass and seats and trees. Very pretty. On the bottom floor there is an area where they hold events and today they had a pool contest (as in snooker pool, not swimming!).

After lunch I went to a place called Atsuta Jingu shrine, which is the 2nd biggest in Japan, and it was a really beautiful place, not the shrine as such, just the area. It was sectioned off from the main road and huge big trees which covered all the pathways and even though it was a hot day the trees didn't really let any sunlight in so it was quite cool and peaceful too. I spent a while walking around there and then walked another 10 minutes up the road to some Japanese style gardens called Shirotori. It was quite big actually, a lot bigger than I was expecting and so took me a while to walk around it all, but it too was beautiful. Lots of water, ponds and fountains and waterfalls, and bridges and rocks and trees and flowers and koi (those big Japanese fish) etc.

I'm taking an overnight bus to Tokyo tonight where I'm meeting Glenn....see ya soon.

---

Photos

Kinshachi
Replicas of the golden dolphins that are on top of Nagoya castle

Sakae
The main shopping area in Nagoya