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| Toyota's first car...stylish! |
31/05/11 Today it stopped raining so we went to Nagoya. The purpose of this trip was to visit the Toyota Technology Museum. Getting onto the Meishin Expressway at Kyoto we ran smack into a 14km traffic jam. Roadworks. I am not a road engineer or expressway designer or traffic flow consultant. I am way too sensible to be employed in this field. To have these jobs one must be totally bereft of common sense. To close one lane of a 2 lane highway for 14kms when you are actually working on a couple of 50 metre stretches is an act of stunning stupidity. There were dozens of roadworker types pointlessly waving flags and busily standing around doing nothing. Every now and then we came across a yellow machine or two doing something but 99% of the closed lane had absolutely no activity. Not content with merely ruining the day of those eastbound, they have also done the same on the other side of the median barrier. At home I have often witnessed roadwork projects and thought that they progress at a snails pace or that what they are doing is totally unnecessary but at least they don't close half the road for miles while they do a bit here and a bit there. It's a ludicrous idea that serves no practical purpose which, by the looks of it, will be there for quite some time. After that it was a quick cruise up to Nagoya. Nagoya City is much easier on the eye than Osaka. The streets are wider, the traffic less manic and the buildings look like they were actually planned rather than thrown together. It's cleaner and more modern and is just an all round nicer place to move around. The Toyota Museum is a must see for car enthusiasts. It's in the original Toyoda Loom and textile factory which is a magnificent old red brick building that looks just like the quintessential English Industrial revolution era factory. The place has been restored and is absolutely immaculate. They have set up parts of the car production line from the mid nineties and you can see exactly how the cars are built. There's lots of practical demonstrations of stamping steel panels and casting engine blocks and other such things. They also have on display some great models from the past. There is a model AA which was Toyota's first car back in the 1930's. According to the helpful and attractive hostess, no original AA's have survived so Toyota initiated a project to build some replicas. They used the same methods as the originals, from the wooden frames to the hand formed steel body panels. The workmanship is incredible and video footage of the cars being built hints at the huge cost that must have been involved in building them. There were 4 cars completed and several others are in various stages of completion and which are used as part of the mockup production line. Finished in gleaming black with gorgeous mohair seats and the huge chrome bonnet ornament featuring the old Toyoda logo, these are a rare and priceless car. If I were a billionaire I would just have to own one. Also on display were some of the legendary engines that have powered Toyota's over the years. I think it's great to see a Japanese car company pay some attention to it's heritage and to actually preserve some of it's icon models. A lot of these early model Japanese cars are starting to become quite sought after and with so few survivors, the prices are steadily increasing. I know I would love to have my first car again. It was a 1978 Corolla SR coupe KE35. That car would be worth close to $10,000 now. There is a early 70's model Celica in the museum that has never been used and which I would kill to have. Anyway, we spent hours there and all agreed that for Y700 and with free parking, the Toyota technical Museum is one of Japans tourist gems...if you're a car nut at least.
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| Toyota Technology Museum |
The way back wasn't so bad with the queue nearing Kyoto not nearly as long as going the other way. The little Passo surprised us cruising happily at 130km/h. Japanese highways amuse me in the way that the speed limits are routinely ignored by everyone. Why put silly speed limit signs like 60km/h on an expressway and then let everyone drive twice as fast? Even at 100km/h tiny Kei cars rocket past you. The attitude towards speed is typically illogical here. Cars here are produced with a maximum speed of 180km/h indicated on the speedometer. Many are capable of much greater speeds and for foreign markets have different speedos with higher markings fitted. Similarly with engine power outputs, untily fairly recently the horsepower figures quoted where limited to 280hp even though they are more powerful in reality. In all the distance we travelled today we did not see one single police car. In NZ the highway is infested with traffic cops with radar and speed cameras all looking to part you from your cash. Perhaps the attitude here, while a little strange to us, is more mature and well adjusted.
Hi mate! Well, sounds like the museum made a strong impression on you :) Way stronger than the damn roadworks.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit it some day too.
And regarding speed tolerance in Japan, I would have thought that in Japan like nowhere else in the world all the roads are stuffed with speed sensors and cameras, so you wouldn't even dare to exceed the limit.))
btw, it was Sergey )
ReplyDeleteI visited Toyota City and Nagoya while researching my book, Japan's Tipping Point. There is a section on it in the book. I would be glad to send you a review copy by return email. For info on the book, see www.markpendergrast.com. Here is an overview:
ReplyDeleteJapan's Tipping Point is a small book on a huge topic. In the post-Fukushima era, Japan is the "canary in the coal mine" for the rest of the world. Can Japan radically shift its energy policy, become greener, more self-sufficient, and avoid catastrophic impacts on the climate? Mark Pendergrast arrived in Japan exactly two months after the Fukushima meltdown. This book is his eye-opening account of his trip and his alarming conclusions.
Japan is at a crucial tipping point. A developed country that must import all of its fossil fuel, it can no longer rely on nuclear power, following the massive earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011. Critically acclaimed nonfiction writer Mark Pendergrast went to Japan to investigate Japan's renewable energy, Eco-Model Cities, food policy, recycling, and energy conservation, expecting to find innovative, cutting edge programs.
He discovered that he had been naive. The Japanese boast of their eco-services for eco-products in eco-cities. Yet they rely primarily on imported fossil fuel and nuclear power, live in energy-wasteful homes, and import 60% of their food. That may be changing in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Maybe. But as Pendergrast documents, Japan lags far behind Europe, the United States, and even (in some respects) China in terms of renewable energy efforts. And Japan is mired in bureaucracy, political in-fighting, indecision, puffery, public apathy, and cultural attitudes that make rapid change difficult.
Yet Japan is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world, with friendly, resilient people who can, when motivated, pull together to accomplish incredible things.
As an island nation, Japan offers a microcosmic look at the problems facing the rest of the globe. And as Japan tips, so may the world.
Mark Pendergrast, the author of books such as For God, Country and Coca-Cola, Uncommon Grounds, and Inside the Outbreaks, entertains as he enlightens. As he wrote in Japan's Tipping Point: "The rest of this account might seem a strange combination of critical analysis, travelogue, absurdist non-fiction, and call to action. It might be called 'Mark’s Adventures in Japanland: Or, Apocalyptic Visions in a Noodle Shop.'"