After the awesome castle, I headed to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. I wasn't really expecting much, but my Fodor's guide said it would be a good experience. Plus I like old cars and it wasn't like I had anything better to do! It turned out to be the best idea of the day! The inside was cavernous and filled with textile machinery of all sorts. Yeah, I said textile machinery as in cloth and yarn and cotton. Before Toyota was a huge automobile tycoon, it was Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Co. Sakichi Toyoda invented the automatic weaving machine and established his first weaving factory at the site of the museum in 1911. Eventually, Kiichero Toyoda convinced the weaving company to support his endeavor into the world of automobiles. He didn't want foreign companies like Ford and GM to establish a hold on Japan, so he formed a group of bright engineers to help him create an affordable domestic passenger vehicle. The first thing he did was to dismantle a 1933 Chevy piece by piece to truly understand how an automobile worked. When I reached the Automobile Pavilion, I thoroughly enjoyed watching a documentary on his journey. One especially interesting fact was the reason behind the name change from Toyoda to Toyota. The change was suggested because the use of "T" was a crisper, more professional sound. In addition, writing Toyoda in Japanese took ten strokes while writing Toyota only took 8. 8 is a lucky number and thought to bring good fortune, so the company embraced the new name. Here are some awesome pics of the textile machinery pavilion.
Circular Loom
This is at the entrance of the museum. It symbolizes the "spirit of being studious and creative" that the museum tries to epitomize. It is the original loom invented in 1906 by Sakichi Toyoda.
I'm not exactly sure what this guy is... but I do know he somehow did weaving things. He was actually helpful in some way at some point.
The point of the museum is to communicate the importance of monozukuri (making things) to the children of Japan. Through exhibits of actual equipment in motion and many live demonstrations, the museum succeeds in upholding a spirit of being studious and creative. I had so much fun wandering around all of the old equipment! Each employee was exceedingly friendly and helpful, always offering to show me how a piece of machinery worked. One woman asked me what I was doing in Nagoya. I think she was a bit confused because when I told her I was a model chaperone, she got really excited. She kept nodding and saying I was tall and pretty and it makes sense. She then said it was an honor to meet me! Well I was definitely flattered, so I just left her with her delusions.
The first successful model!
I'd like one of these please.
I got to press the start button and see how all of these machines actually work.
It's really unclear why this robot is playing the trumpet. Apparently he is some sort of Toyota mascot. I dig it.
After the museum, I headed back to the hotel to wait for Liz. We decided to try Shooters Sports Bar for dinner. She loved it! Of course she loved it because it was an American place serving American food, but still. I'm glad she was happy and it was a great atmosphere to wind down after a busy day. We stopped for a photo op on the way home. Say cheese!
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