Day Six

Day Six was mostly a travel day for us to get from Tokyo down to Kyoto, the former Imperial capitol of Japan and now considered to be the center of Japanese culture. The city is completely dotted with temples and shrines, and we had almost 3 full days to take in as much of the city as we could.

We were up early to check out of our hotel in Tokyo and head down to Tokyo station to catch a ride on the bullet train down to Nagoya. The bullet train is a high-speed commuter rail that runs throughout the country reaching top speeds of around 300 mph. We all boarded the train with our luggage and enjoyed a very pleasant ride through the Japanese countryside. We got to see rice paddies, some Japanese rural housing, and a pretty decent view of Mt. Fuji. The ride lasted about two hours, after which we hopped on a bus in Nagoya to take us over to Toyota City where we would be treated to a tour of one of the many Toyota plants there. During the bus ride we were all treated to a traditional bento box lunch, which was quite delicious.

After arriving at the Toyota plant, we were led through one of the company's assembly plants, where they put together all of the finished parts to make a whole car. We were also brought through their spot wielding plant, where dozens of robot arms sprung to life every few minutes or so in a shower of sparks, wielding certain spots on each car frame as they moved down the line. It was really mesmerizing to see it all in action, and I really could not believe how much of the car building process was actually automated. We were reminded of Toyota Production System, used to minimize needless inventory and defects, and were given a lot of great details on what its like to work for a company like Toyota in Japan.

After the tour was completed, we had another three hour bus ride to Kyoto and finally checked into our hotel. Our hotel was actually a traditional Japanese inn, or ryokan. There were tatami matts on the floor, and we were required to take our shoes off before stepping into the inn, and if you wanted to sit on the matts, you had to sit on the floor. We slept on bed rolls that were quite comfortable, and green tea and breakfast was provided. It was almost like a Japanese bed and breakfast in that respect. The inn was run by a very nice little old Japanese woman and her family. The room was certainly something straight out of old Japanese culture, and an interesting clash when compared to the rooms we had in Tokyo.

After we settled into our rooms, we ventures out for dinner and

found this great noodle place right around the corner from the inn. They also had tatami matts there, and we had to take our shoes off and sit on the floor. While it did make for an interesting dinner, it did get uncomfortable quickly! (Haha) I had some hot soba noodles and shrimp tempora that was excellent. After dinner we all headed back to the inn to get some sleep after a long day of traveling.

Tomorrow we would be taking part in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony first thing in the morning!