From Yokohama to Hiroshima: A Guide to Japanese Auto Tours Car Tours Automobile Enthusiast

 

Car plant tours in Japan offer an opportunity to witness the meticulous craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology, and efficient manufacturing processes that have made Japanese automotive manufacturers world-renowned. While availability and scheduling may vary, here are some car plant tours you can consider:

1. Toyota Factory Tours ---> still suspended from 2021, as of November 2023

   https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/facility/toyota_kaikan/index.html
   

   • Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture: Toyota offers tours of several of its production facilities, including the Toyota Motomachi Plant, Tsutsumi Plant, and Tahara Plant.
   • Lexus LFA Works: This specialized plant in Aichi Prefecture is dedicated to the production of the high-performance Lexus LFA supercar.

2. Nissan Factory Tours: -> newly re-opened as of Spring 2023! 

   https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/PLANT/OPPAMA/
   

   • Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture: Nissan's Yokohama Plant, which includes the Oppama Plant, offers guided tours of their facilities.
    
   
   • From the website: 
     

   • REQUESTS

     1) Inquiries regarding plant tours
     Oppama Plant Guest Hall, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
     +81 (0)46-867-5013
     
     2) Inquiries regarding the plant
     Oppama Plant, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
     Human Resources and Administration Department
     General Affairs Section
     +81 (0)46-867-5000

     Now we are having one cold day after another, and can't wait for warm spring.
     The spring vacation season in 2023, we are conducting Plant Tours for the general public, too and it is the first time in about 3 years.
     As we are preparing Tours both “Tours for Adult” and “Tours for Children”, Please come and take our tours with your family members and your friends.
     We are looking forwards to seeing you then!

     The reservation will be accepted from 8:00 in the morning on the same day 3 months ago.

3. Honda Factory Tours:

   • Saitama Prefecture: Honda offers tours of their Sayama Plant where they manufacture various car models.
   • Tochigi Prefecture: Visit the Honda Technical Research Institute in Tochigi to see research and development activities.

4. Subaru Factory Tours:

   • Gunma Prefecture: Subaru offers factory tours at their Gunma Main Plant and Yajima Plant.

5. Mazda Factory Tours: Japanese language only at the moment.
   

   Museum: https://www.mazda.com/en/about/museum/ 

   Booking page: https://www2.mazda.com/ja/about/museum/reservations/new/input1.html  
   

   • Hiroshima: The Mazda Museum in Hiroshima offers a guided tour that includes a visit to the Ujina Plant.

6. Mitsubishi Factory Tours:

   • Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture: The Mitsubishi Motors Okazaki Plant may offer guided tours, which can provide insights into their manufacturing processes.

7. Suzuki Factory and Museum Tours:

   Museum tour requires pre-registration: https://suzuki-rekishikan.jp/ 
   

   • Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture: Suzuki offers tours at the Suzuki Hamamatsu Plant where they produce vehicles and engines.

8. Daihatsu Factory Tours:

   • Osaka: Daihatsu's Osaka Plant may offer factory tours, providing insights into their compact car production.

9. Fuso Factory Tours:

   • Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture: Fuso, a subsidiary of Daimler AG, offers tours of their Kawasaki Plant, which produces commercial vehicles.

10. Subaru Tecnica International (STI) Factory Tours:

    • Mitaka, Tokyo: STI is the motorsports and performance division of Subaru, and they sometimes offer guided tours of their facility in Mitaka.

It's important to note that many of these tours require advance reservations, and some may have restrictions on the number of visitors or age limits. Additionally, availability and tour details may change over time, so it's advisable to check with the respective manufacturers' websites or contact them directly for the most up-to-date information and to make tour reservations.

7 Kanji Study Methods

There are many ways of studying Kanji, or anything, for that matter. Some are fun, and some are, well, less fun.  

 Some people don't bother learning Kanji by itself. Learning vocabulary will expose the learner to Kanji. However, at the beginning, you do need to study Kanji.

Each person has a different learning style - what is yours - are you a visual / auditory or kinesthetic learner? -> https://www.learningstylequiz.com/. To get the most of learning, it would be best to match this.

Here are 7 ways of learning Kanji.

1) Calligraphy - By drawing the Kanji  while learning

     It is rare that you will have to write Kanji. The most you will do is to read Kanji / type on a computer. 

If you just want to get a handle of the stroke order and the feel of the Kanji, or if it helps you to remember, 

or you just like writing Kanji with a pen,

or even a brush,      

you you can try one of the Kanji paper worksheets that takes you back to pre-school days. 

http://Renshuu.org has a worksheet maker of Kanji you want to print out (where you can write the Kanji again and again.. and again.. and again.. OK.. and again.. )

     If doing the JLPT, use the unofficial JLPT lists to know what to study:

https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/basic_kanji_120.html    

    

2) Heisig's Remembering the Kanji or Kondansha method

     The author, James Heisig essentially assigned a meaning per "piece" of each Kanji and he made stories about them which you will have to stick to since the stories just build and build as the characters become more dense.  There are pros and cons to using his method.

     https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/en/files/2012/12/RK-1-6th-edition-sample.pdf

    Kodansha method has a similar approach and is highly rated due to the focus on building blocks, important Kanji, and the focus on distinguishing similar Kanji - learn 2300 Kanji:

      https://amzn.to/3CppqO1   

 

3) Kanji stories (your own stories method)

     Similar to Heisig but using your own "stories" to remember stuff:

     https://kanjiclinic.com/kanjibreakthrough.pdf

   

4) Spaced Repetition System / SRS

    These are "optimized" flashcards - the system shows more of the stuff you get wrong, but stuff you get right gets shown at the right time (just right before you begin forgetting). You can use your smartphone anywhere while waiting in line, etc.

    Tools:

    http://www.renshuu.org is a good drilling tool -> for everything Japanese - Kanji, vocabulary, listening, grammar, etc.

    Anki - there's a computer-based app and Android app -> then load the lists from the free content repository.  https://apps.ankiweb.net/

 

5) Typing up lists of similar Kanji.

     Many Kanji look alike. OK, a lot of Kanji look alike. Or maybe everything looks alike in the beginning.

     Examples:

日 - day / sun

白い – white 

百 - hundred

目 - eye

自 - self

貝 - shell

     In my case, if I'm still confused after all the spaced repetition and stories, I make lists of the confusing similar Kanji and their meanings. Seeing the similar Kanji side by side makes their differences more evident and memorable.

     I make typewritten cheat sheets / memory aids and post them on the wall where I can see them everyday. In the bedroom you can see them at night and in the bathroom you can see the Kanji again in the morning. There's no end to Kanji nightmares. It's easy to setup Japanese typing on a computer, there are many guides online for Windows.

   

6) Study while relaxing

     No downtime here, we're still studying even when relaxing. 

     Games that are about learning Kanji:

     https://anime-manga.jp/en/ -> web game

     https://lrnj.com/ -> old school RPG game where you type the Kanji

     Or any Japanese game that lets you read Japanese.

 

7) Reading

     Read actual text / news / Japanese Wikipedia - NHK has a Japanese news for beginners.

     Yomichan Firefox or Chrome plugin makes reading Japanese much easier like a dictionary pop-up for any word on the page. It also integrates with Anki SRS, so you can save words you want to remember.

     https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/yomichan/

     After installing Yomichan, import the Japanese-English dictionary you'll download from the Yomichan dictionary page https://foosoft.net/projects/yomichan/#dictionaries    

Conclusion:

Each person will have different ways of studying that works for them, because, well as the yojijukugo* goes: 

"十人十色 jūnintoiro (jū ten + nin person + to ten + iro color)", 

which means "to each their own; So many people, so many (colors / styles) minds, or also, in this case, learning styles."

And also, studying language is (usually) not a sprint (unless you're trying to cram for the JLPT in a month), it's (usually) a marathon. But aren't marathons also difficult? 

Maybe I should say studying a language is a walk (in the park), if we take it 

"一日一歩 ichinichiippo (ichi one + nichi day + ichi one + po step) -

one step each day, which would also be too slow in real life, but figuratively, it could be the way to go.

 

**Yojijukugo are 4-character phrases or proverbs or simply words.. see more of them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojijukugo