Showing posts with label 2005. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2005. Show all posts
Winter Trip: Day 5 of 5 Nagoya, Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology and Toyota Automotive Museum and “Linimo” Maglev Train
Dec. 28, 05.
On this day first I headed to Toyota’s Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. I have to say it’s the best science/engineering museum that I have ever visited.
The museum shows how Toyota started out as a maker of automatic looms of fabrics into the No. 2 (and soon to be No. 1) automaker in the world. When I went there at the opening time of 9 am, I was probably the 4th or 5th person to go there.
The museum is split into 2 sections, one section is all about automatic looms and fabrics, and the other part is all about automobiles.
The section on the looms was pretty amazing because not only did they have lots of historical automatic looms that were used before, but they all still work and they had people who would demonstrate them. It was so amazing seeing all that “ancient” machinery still working with all those gears and belts.
On this day first I headed to Toyota’s Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. I have to say it’s the best science/engineering museum that I have ever visited.
The museum shows how Toyota started out as a maker of automatic looms of fabrics into the No. 2 (and soon to be No. 1) automaker in the world. When I went there at the opening time of 9 am, I was probably the 4th or 5th person to go there.
The museum is split into 2 sections, one section is all about automatic looms and fabrics, and the other part is all about automobiles.
The section on the looms was pretty amazing because not only did they have lots of historical automatic looms that were used before, but they all still work and they had people who would demonstrate them. It was so amazing seeing all that “ancient” machinery still working with all those gears and belts.
Kyoto - Nintendo, Kiyomizu Temple, Gion
(Updated: October 7, 2007 with Google Map; June 4, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)
On December 27, 2005, I went to Kyoto from Nagoya. Going to Kyoto took about 2 hours by local train, it involved going up a mountain pass. When it was going up the mountain pass, it was snowing hard so it looked really nice. I had to transfer trains at some station in the mountainous area. At the station there was a lot of snow and fresh snow too.
I arrived at Kyoto at around 9 am or 10 am, and I only had 2 places that I wanted to visit, the Nijo Castle (二条城) and the Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). I wanted to visit these 2 places because the first time I came here in 2004 I had already seen to other stuff. Once again, the Nijo Castle was closed, last year when my family and I came to Kyoto, we went to Nijo Castle late and it was closed and we came back on another day after doing sightseeing elsewhere and we were late and it was closed so this is the 3rd time I came and it was closed. The Kiyomizu Temple was open but since I had all day I wanted to “visit” Nintendo headquarters. I asked the tourist information where it was and it was only 2 subway stops away from the train station.
The following map shows the places that I visited on this day in Kyoto.
On December 27, 2005, I went to Kyoto from Nagoya. Going to Kyoto took about 2 hours by local train, it involved going up a mountain pass. When it was going up the mountain pass, it was snowing hard so it looked really nice. I had to transfer trains at some station in the mountainous area. At the station there was a lot of snow and fresh snow too.
I arrived at Kyoto at around 9 am or 10 am, and I only had 2 places that I wanted to visit, the Nijo Castle (二条城) and the Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). I wanted to visit these 2 places because the first time I came here in 2004 I had already seen to other stuff. Once again, the Nijo Castle was closed, last year when my family and I came to Kyoto, we went to Nijo Castle late and it was closed and we came back on another day after doing sightseeing elsewhere and we were late and it was closed so this is the 3rd time I came and it was closed. The Kiyomizu Temple was open but since I had all day I wanted to “visit” Nintendo headquarters. I asked the tourist information where it was and it was only 2 subway stops away from the train station.
The following map shows the places that I visited on this day in Kyoto.
Winter Trip: Day 3 of 5 The Famous and Revered Shines of Ise (伊勢)
Dec. 26, 05
Winter Trip: Day 3 of 5 The Famous and Revered Shines of Ise (伊勢)
The Outer Shrine, thats all you get to see for a 1 hour 34 min train ride! (I was not allowed to take this picture, did not see the no photography sign...)
The fastest train to go from Nagoya to Ise was the “Mie” rapid train. The first train only leaves Nagoya at around 9 am so that was the train I took. It took 1 hour and 34 minutes to get there. It was not even an electrified train, it ran on diesel I think so the ride felt like a bus on rails. Because the train partially uses the tracks of another railway, I had to pay an extra fee of 430 yen.
Winter Trip: Day 3 of 5 The Famous and Revered Shines of Ise (伊勢)
The Outer Shrine, thats all you get to see for a 1 hour 34 min train ride! (I was not allowed to take this picture, did not see the no photography sign...)
The fastest train to go from Nagoya to Ise was the “Mie” rapid train. The first train only leaves Nagoya at around 9 am so that was the train I took. It took 1 hour and 34 minutes to get there. It was not even an electrified train, it ran on diesel I think so the ride felt like a bus on rails. Because the train partially uses the tracks of another railway, I had to pay an extra fee of 430 yen.
Edo-Tokyo Museum
(Updated: June 9, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)
On Nov. 25, 2005:
Today I went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum that I signed up for in October with the TUFS Foreign Students Association. This trip was organized by the Fuchu English Club because I think they wanted to practice their English with us. We only paid 300 yen and it included admission fee, lunch and bus ride. The club consisted mostly of retired men and housewives. I was “partnered” up with Watanabe-san who during lunch asked us to guess how old he was, and he said he was 72. I thought he was around 60 because he looked so young. He said he could speak English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and was learning French and Italian! The bus ride to the museum was interesting because it was the first time I had been in a vehicle in Tokyo, and going on the elevated expressways right through the city and seeing all those tall buildings was so amazing. The museum itself was very interesting, it talks about the history of Tokyo and how it was when it was still called Edo. It was lots of really nice and detailed dioramas. I bought a map book that showed how Tokyo was like in the 50s compared to now for 2590 yen.
First we had to meet up with them at the TUFS campus. This meant going west cross-town from our dormitory and then heading back east to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It would have been much faster if we just met them at the museum as our dormitory as close to where the museum was located.
On the expressway heading east past Shinjuku.
On Nov. 25, 2005:
Today I went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum that I signed up for in October with the TUFS Foreign Students Association. This trip was organized by the Fuchu English Club because I think they wanted to practice their English with us. We only paid 300 yen and it included admission fee, lunch and bus ride. The club consisted mostly of retired men and housewives. I was “partnered” up with Watanabe-san who during lunch asked us to guess how old he was, and he said he was 72. I thought he was around 60 because he looked so young. He said he could speak English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and was learning French and Italian! The bus ride to the museum was interesting because it was the first time I had been in a vehicle in Tokyo, and going on the elevated expressways right through the city and seeing all those tall buildings was so amazing. The museum itself was very interesting, it talks about the history of Tokyo and how it was when it was still called Edo. It was lots of really nice and detailed dioramas. I bought a map book that showed how Tokyo was like in the 50s compared to now for 2590 yen.
First we had to meet up with them at the TUFS campus. This meant going west cross-town from our dormitory and then heading back east to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It would have been much faster if we just met them at the museum as our dormitory as close to where the museum was located.
On the expressway heading east past Shinjuku.
Pictures of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Right now I only have 3 pictures of the campus, I will take more soon.
Lecture building:
Student Building, bascially consists of cafeteria, top floor, western food, bottom floor Japanese food. All run by the "Co-Op", there are no outside brand foods in university such as Starbucks for example. Only one store, the "Co-Op" store. Its about the size of a large convinience store, it functions as the schools "bookstore". This is a really small school.
Lecture building:
Student Building, bascially consists of cafeteria, top floor, western food, bottom floor Japanese food. All run by the "Co-Op", there are no outside brand foods in university such as Starbucks for example. Only one store, the "Co-Op" store. Its about the size of a large convinience store, it functions as the schools "bookstore". This is a really small school.
Things I Learned from Japanese Business Culture Class
Today was a really interesting class. Our teacher talked about the Japanese employment system and how it works, Basically today, students start job hunting in their 3rd year of university and aren’t expected to have any experience. He said that Japan when compared to other countries may be the easiest place to find an entry level job when graduating from college. He said that before it was even easier, that companies come recruiting students for jobs and now it is a little harder because students have to visit companies. Also he said in the past and still now for some companies, graduating from a prestigious university such as University of Tokyo or Keio University and being an average student is better than being a hard working and good student from lesser schools when finding a job. This is because companies still think that if you pass the high school exam and get into a good university, this student will have better potential in the future to be a loyal and good worker while the student who did not get into the good school has lesser potential in the future. Also here, university is seen as a time of relaxing and socializing compared to the hard times of high school.
Also for humanities and social science graduates, he said it doesn’t matter what degree you get because when you get hired they will train you and keep rotating you around the company so that you get a better feel of the workings of the company. For example, once you have learned the accounting department, you may be rotated to the finance department where you would have to learn all new things again. Before and still now, this way of training employees creates a “company man”, like a “Sony man” or “Toyota man”, someone who has no specialties but knows the company which hired and train them very well. The downside of this is if they get laid off at middle age, they have not much skills to market themselves because they only know that one company and know it very well. Also in Japan, when people talk about what they’re job is, they usually don’t say their position first, but rather say which company they work for first.
Another interesting point that was mentioned in class was promotions. In a typical Japanese company, one may get their first promotion 7 years after first getting hired in the company. Also when you get hired by the company, no matter what your degree is, you may be sent to the company’s shops to work in the front lines there. For example if you were hired by McDonalds and have a business degree, you might spend a couple of months working at the actual “restaurant” with the other part time and contract employees before you get rotated to a desk job. This is because companies in Japan like their employees to get a feel of how the entire company operates. My teacher said during the months starting from April, it isn’t unusual to see maybe people with Masters degrees working at McDonalds.
For students in the hard sciences and engineering, the process of getting hired is a little different. In Japan, many laboratories and departments have close ties to industry, so once you graduate, your professors may recommend you to jobs, so in other words, it seems that you don’t really have to look for work, because the companies can just recruit you easily from connections with the teaching staff.
Also for humanities and social science graduates, he said it doesn’t matter what degree you get because when you get hired they will train you and keep rotating you around the company so that you get a better feel of the workings of the company. For example, once you have learned the accounting department, you may be rotated to the finance department where you would have to learn all new things again. Before and still now, this way of training employees creates a “company man”, like a “Sony man” or “Toyota man”, someone who has no specialties but knows the company which hired and train them very well. The downside of this is if they get laid off at middle age, they have not much skills to market themselves because they only know that one company and know it very well. Also in Japan, when people talk about what they’re job is, they usually don’t say their position first, but rather say which company they work for first.
Another interesting point that was mentioned in class was promotions. In a typical Japanese company, one may get their first promotion 7 years after first getting hired in the company. Also when you get hired by the company, no matter what your degree is, you may be sent to the company’s shops to work in the front lines there. For example if you were hired by McDonalds and have a business degree, you might spend a couple of months working at the actual “restaurant” with the other part time and contract employees before you get rotated to a desk job. This is because companies in Japan like their employees to get a feel of how the entire company operates. My teacher said during the months starting from April, it isn’t unusual to see maybe people with Masters degrees working at McDonalds.
For students in the hard sciences and engineering, the process of getting hired is a little different. In Japan, many laboratories and departments have close ties to industry, so once you graduate, your professors may recommend you to jobs, so in other words, it seems that you don’t really have to look for work, because the companies can just recruit you easily from connections with the teaching staff.
Going to Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in Yokohama
(Updated: June 8, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)
Yesterday Teresa, Lucy, John and Ian and I went to Yokohama to see the Ramen Museum. The Ramen Museum has famous ramen shops from all over Japan located under one roof each serving the local style ramen. The admission price was 300 yen, I checked out the website of the Ramen Museum in before I came and I got the Hakata, Kyushu style ramen from a shop whose main store is base in Fukuoka in Kyushu “ふくちゃん” Fuku-chan with Japanized Char-siu (yes it has the same name as that *other* BBQ pork but tastes totally different) and “Wonton”. I choose this because I liked 日清出前―丁九州豬骨麵 (Tonkotsu Flavor) and I wanted to try the real thing. It was pretty good but I still prefer real Wonton Noodles better, the Wonton Noodles in my opinion tastes better than the Ramen Noodles (I am talking about the actual noodles here, not the entire thing).
I also like the theme setting of the museum which was based on 1950s Japan, it has so much atmosphere, unlike the grey sterile neighbourhoods of today’s Tokyo. There was also a make your own “Cup Noodle” event there, for 300 yen, you can see the manufacturing process of a “Cup Noodle” and can even select your own ingredients to put in the cup. I got a ceramic cup of the with “Cup Noodle” packaging which cost 1029 yen, kind of expensive, but you only go to this place once.
The exterior of the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.
Yesterday Teresa, Lucy, John and Ian and I went to Yokohama to see the Ramen Museum. The Ramen Museum has famous ramen shops from all over Japan located under one roof each serving the local style ramen. The admission price was 300 yen, I checked out the website of the Ramen Museum in before I came and I got the Hakata, Kyushu style ramen from a shop whose main store is base in Fukuoka in Kyushu “ふくちゃん” Fuku-chan with Japanized Char-siu (yes it has the same name as that *other* BBQ pork but tastes totally different) and “Wonton”. I choose this because I liked 日清出前―丁九州豬骨麵 (Tonkotsu Flavor) and I wanted to try the real thing. It was pretty good but I still prefer real Wonton Noodles better, the Wonton Noodles in my opinion tastes better than the Ramen Noodles (I am talking about the actual noodles here, not the entire thing).
I also like the theme setting of the museum which was based on 1950s Japan, it has so much atmosphere, unlike the grey sterile neighbourhoods of today’s Tokyo. There was also a make your own “Cup Noodle” event there, for 300 yen, you can see the manufacturing process of a “Cup Noodle” and can even select your own ingredients to put in the cup. I got a ceramic cup of the with “Cup Noodle” packaging which cost 1029 yen, kind of expensive, but you only go to this place once.
The exterior of the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.
Night Festival at Shinjuku
(Updated: June 8, 2013 with high resolution photos)
We went to a festival at Shinjuku at 10pm today with the dorm tutors, and its supposed to happen every 16 years according to what the tutors posted on the door of the lobby of the dorm. It was very cold and it was some kind of Shinto festival because it was located on the grounds of a Shinto shrine. The bad thing about it was that the shrine was located in Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku, also known as the red light district of Tokyo, so on the way there, the streets were very filthy, tons of questionable people just standing and walking around and Africans asking people if they wanted to go into their “club”. At the festival, there were lot of food stands, lots selling yakisoba, octopus and others. I don’t really like Shinjuku, its dirty, filthy, and just a really crappy area when compared to other places in the greater Tokyo area.
We went to a festival at Shinjuku at 10pm today with the dorm tutors, and its supposed to happen every 16 years according to what the tutors posted on the door of the lobby of the dorm. It was very cold and it was some kind of Shinto festival because it was located on the grounds of a Shinto shrine. The bad thing about it was that the shrine was located in Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku, also known as the red light district of Tokyo, so on the way there, the streets were very filthy, tons of questionable people just standing and walking around and Africans asking people if they wanted to go into their “club”. At the festival, there were lot of food stands, lots selling yakisoba, octopus and others. I don’t really like Shinjuku, its dirty, filthy, and just a really crappy area when compared to other places in the greater Tokyo area.
School Festival
Today was the start of the school festival, that’s why we get 1 week off of school! The students who are studying the different languages put up food stands for the country that they are studying for. The food was pretty expensive, 350 yen for a kebab stick (and it didn’t taste that good either) 150 yen for 小龍包, 3 of them and the other thing I tried was a Portuguese sausage for 200 yen. Also there were performances by students in the languages which they were studying.
Pictures from School Festival
Pictures from School Festival
The Canadian Embassy and the Honda Robot Asimo
(Updated: June 4, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)
Today me and this American guy John wanted to go to embassy to register (you are supposed to do this if you are staying for more than 3 months) so we went to the Canadian embassy. It is a pretty nice building with light security, once I got there, the person there told us to do it online.
In my opinion, the embassy is very Japanese in design is shown in the minimalist design.
Today me and this American guy John wanted to go to embassy to register (you are supposed to do this if you are staying for more than 3 months) so we went to the Canadian embassy. It is a pretty nice building with light security, once I got there, the person there told us to do it online.
In my opinion, the embassy is very Japanese in design is shown in the minimalist design.
Going to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo and Buying a Game Boy micro
(Updated: June 4, 2013 with high resolution photos)
Note: As of 2013, the Pokemon Center in Tokyo is located near Hamamatsu station on the JR Yamanote Line, not near Tokyo station which this store was located near
After school today we went to the Pokemon Center to pick up the reserved “Pokemon Edition” Game Boy micro. As you can see from the pictures the store is a disappointment, its full of overpriced merchandise. Afterwards I went to Akihabara to try to get an electronic dictionary (電子辞書) the Canon Wordtank V80 for 24,000 yen normal price was 56,000 yen when it was released 1 year ago but the store did not have it in stock. After walking around I found “F-Zero GP Legend” for only 680 yen so I bought that because its so cheap.
Note: As of 2013, the Pokemon Center in Tokyo is located near Hamamatsu station on the JR Yamanote Line, not near Tokyo station which this store was located near
After school today we went to the Pokemon Center to pick up the reserved “Pokemon Edition” Game Boy micro. As you can see from the pictures the store is a disappointment, its full of overpriced merchandise. Afterwards I went to Akihabara to try to get an electronic dictionary (電子辞書) the Canon Wordtank V80 for 24,000 yen normal price was 56,000 yen when it was released 1 year ago but the store did not have it in stock. After walking around I found “F-Zero GP Legend” for only 680 yen so I bought that because its so cheap.
Going to Tokyo Motor Show 2005
Today we went to Tokyo Motor Show in the afternoon. We went to buy tickets for the event at the train station thinking that we could avoid lines, but it ended up being that we spent more time looking for the counter to sell the ticket at the station than at the event, which set up booths at the train station at the convention centre. The ticket cost 1200 yen but the train fare to go there was expensive, 620 yen one way.
