I might be taking a trip to Japan in March. Any recommendations? Does anyone know if Mazda Japan offers tours of plants, design centers, etc?

 

ooh...i'm sure they do. just remember to take plenty of pictures. :D have a safe trip.

 

TALK TO YOUR DEALERSHIP...if they are really into the cars they sell (my dealer for instance) they will arrange the whole tour for you!

The dealer near my house arranged a trip with our local Miata club in Japan, they got to take a tour AND do some track runs...they had a blast!

 

Take a fire extinguisher also

 

good one

 

i don't get it...

 

factory fire where 8 is made

 

has that happened?? i still don't get it. sorry, i'm slow???

 

http://rotarynews.com/node/view/509

 

wow...craziness. thanks Nemesis8 :D

 

I go to Japan quite often myself. Depends what part of Japan you will be visiting. Mazda is located in Hiroshima which is quite far from Tokyo, but it's a historic and interesting place to visit due to the A-Bomb blast of WWII.

Not sure about tours etc. at the Mazda factory, and with the fire that occured who knows. However even if they have tours, it's probably done in Japanese. Japan caters very little to foreigners in the non-touristy areas.

I have visited the Mazda showroom in Tokyo. Nothing special at all. Got myself some JDM RX-8 and Mazdaspeed brochures though. (They don't speak English there either, or at least not well, but luckily I do speak Japanese.)

 

Mazda's headquarters and main assembly plants are in Hiroshima, a one hour flight or 5 hour bullet train ride from Tokyo (I suggest the bullet train, because the airports are very inconveniently located, making travel time more like three hours).

As said above, Hiroshima is where the atom bomb was dropped, so going to the Peace Park museum and checking out how little we have learned in the past 60 years (we are still killing eachother) is a must. Be prepared to get emotional, there are some pretty gruesome photos....

The Mazda Museum offers tours, but you have to book in advance. They speak English on the phone, just speak slowly and be patient. Mazda Museum is attached to Ujina1 from memory, and there is a walkway that takes you from the museum through a small part of the assembly line (I.E if you go to the museum you have automatic access to the assembly plant). Ujina1 is the assembly line that RX-8 is assembled on, among many others (Japan market Mazda2, MPV, Mazda3 I think). You walk along an elevated walk way over the line, it is quite interesting.

I have never been involved in a tour of the Museum, but according to the HP it takes 1 - 1.5 hours. The highlight there would have to be the 787 4-rotor Le Mans car, awesome!

Here is the Mazda Museum web page:

Mazda Museum

Most commonly used hotel is the Granvia, right at the bullet train station:

Hotel Granvia Hiroshima

There are cheaper hotels, but the Granvia is right by the station so easiest to find. It is a ten minute tram ride to the town center though, 20 minutes by foot if you are game.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Have fun!!

 

I found the museum site but could not read it, but this is exactly what i was looking for... thanks for the info

 

Zaku-8---- Here you go tours are also in English http://www.mazda.com/museum/info/infoframe.html

 

Go to the RE-Ameniya shop. I want to go to Japan just to check that out.

 

Very informative, thanks! I'll be back in Tokyo in March myself for business, I might just swing over to Hiroshima to check out the Museum on the weekend.

For someone who states you've never been involved with the tour, you seem to know quite a bit about it. Thanks for sharing.

 

Hey, to all those who go, if you are permitted, we fully expect pictures! :D

 

I always went with business associates I have from Mazda itself, so we didn't need the tour.

Make sure you get a pack of Mazda playing cards at the museum reception before you leave... :D

 

Oh, I forgot. There is a souvineer shop on the other side of the car-park at Mazda HQ. Not really huge or fancy, but you can probably buy some things that are not available in the US.

 

buy them and sell them on the forum! :D

 

Mazda Museum has been renovated!!!!!!

There is more on the rotary engine, a souvineer shop, and a special display until March on the founder, Mr Matsuda.

More information HERE.

 

when i went to Japan, the first thing i did was go to a mazda dealership. I sat down with my broken japanese and told them i had a rx8 and wanted mazdaspeed shops and needed them in a week. I ordered the shiftknob the b-pillar and the drop in air intake. nothing big or significant but saved a good amount of money. and the b-pillar in japan looks alot better then the usdm version

 

Hiroshima is far and there isn't much to do there. The Atomic bomb victims museum was so so from what Japan professors told me. As I said it's far, so I haven't made the trip. Outside of this and visiting the Mazda HQ, there isn't much else to do there... for a 5 hour bullet train ride costing $100-200 each way, plus hotels at roughly $100 per night per person. If you have the money and time... why not. If you know more about history and the places to go, then there's more value. For those with a limited time and budget... probably not worth the trip...

People who want to see historic stuff and just some nice scenery... Nikko, Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura are recommended. Any English language guide book should have plenty on the sites to see at those places.

Mazda does have an R&D office in Yokohama. Nismo is near Oomori station in either Shinagawa-ku or Ota-ku Tokyo (it's on the border). Nice showroom, but not so much else to see there. Nissan also has a nice showroom in Ginza right by the station. There is the huge Sony Plaza in Ginza as well. RE Amemiya's shop is probably VERY disappointing... just like going to your local tuner's shop... just much smaller and much messier. I haven't been to theirs, but I have been to others for both bikes and cars.

Odaiba is recommended. There is the Toyota MotorWeb or something that it's called... it's by Venus Fort (mall). They have all kinds of Toyota's on display... racecars, show cars, etc. You can test drive any one of their current production cars on a smallish track.

The Honda museum at their Twin Ring Motegi track was great. I've been to the track for several races and during the "Enjoy Honda" event I checked out the museums. I recommended it... it's a whole complex. The only thing is it's far, no where near the station and no much in the ay of hotels close by. It's in Tochigi Prefecture (not far from Tokyo). They have webpages in English as well.

 

Don't knock a place unless you've been there....
I lived in Hiroshima for two years and have escorted many friends/business associates to Peace Park (which IS good, if you are a person who cares), Miyajima (World Heritage temple, it is on an island full of wild deer, day trip), Saijo (Sake producing area). the local temple, and even a baseball game (Hiroshima's team is pretty strong).

There are quite a few foreigner pubs, and the highlight has to be the Bosozoku, kids on noisey motorbikes that go screaming around at 5 mph, revving their engines.

Hiroshima also happens to be a major mafia center, so there is a very well developed red-light district too...if that is what you are into.

I loved Hiroshima, I admit it is a long way to go, but there are things to do other than just the Mazda Museum.

I didn't know about the Toyota thing in Odaiba, looks pretty vast (Toyota are obviously making too much money...). I was surprised to see they still have the AMLUX facility in Ikebukuro, which has been the Toyota crown jewel for years. That would be interesting for a car lover too.

We should start a 'Tourist attractions for car lovers in Japan' page!

 

I didn't knock it. I said my prof. had that opinion about the Peace Park. This was a number of years ago now so my memory of her exact wording is fuzzy, but the impression was that she wasn't impressed by the Peace Park. She is a professor of history at top university, and her views on WWII were that the atomic bombings were not necessary and Hirohito should have been tried as a War Criminal or at least made to abdicate the throne to his son Akihito (the current Emperor). That is just to give you an idea of where she was coming from... Not having seen it myself... I can't say either way. If it at all compares to the Holocost Museum in Washington D.C. then I'd have to say it's definitely worth a visit.

Me... I would love to go see Miyajima Temple. I have this thing for temples... my two favorites are Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto (famous for its rock garden) and Hasedera in Kamakura. I'd do the Peace Park just to have seen it. As for the rest... I lived in Yamagata before Tokyo. During my time I had to see local sights as part of a local cable tv show I did... so I've done Kimono making, Sake making, and Full Tea Ceremony to name just a few. I hate baseball, so no interest in the Carps for me. If I did watch baseball I'd probably be a Seibu Lions or Yomiuri Giants fan anyway. Sorry... Well anyway this is just me I'm talking about. For other people... IF you have the time and interest, all that other stuff is interesting and fun. Arranging it on a limited schedule on a vacation may be difficult though, unless it's part of a tour package...

Anyway... Bosozoku... I hate those a$$holes. They cut the mufflers off their 400cc bikes to make them louder (and slower) and just ride around reving their engines at low speeds. Just as bad as the Yanki... (think Bosozoku with cars).

Red light district... if you are into that stuff... it's probably cheaper than Tokyo for the same or maybe even better service. Point for Hiroshima.

AMLUX... damn I forgot that one and I live pretty close to it. Yeah... that showroom is pretty nice. I'd recommend going to see it too.

I've lived in rural Kanagawa Prefecture (Hiratsuka/Hadano), Yamagata Prefecture (Yonezawa) and Tokyo (Nerima).

How can someone go to Japan and not see Toshogu in Nikko, Meiji Jingu in Tokyo or Nijo Castle and Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto... or the big Buddha in Nara (or big Buddha in Kamakura). Just talking bang for the buck really... that's all.