makes 80% of the masu (little wooden box from which you might drink sake). The tour is free, forty minutes long, and the dress code is 'Business attire'
Oh wow, I guess they have relaxed in recent years. When I visited as a youth, it was a white tie affair, with a tail coat and steel reinforced top hat required for men.
As far as jokes about unusually stringent Japanese formalisms in workplace environments goes… it was a pretty good one. I certainly got a good chuckle once I realised it was a joke.
Are there comprehensive websites dedicated to industrial tourism? I've been on a lot of excellent factory tours but rarely think to look for more when I'm in an area.
I remember photographing inside a potato processing plant that had a multimillion dollar automated grading line that was quite amazing to see in action. Workers there seemed shocked when I said that there'd be people who would pay decent money to go behind the scenes. Even the non-automated lines were interesting enough!
The Martin Guitar factory tour in Nazareth, PA is awesome. They really get into every detail of how they make them & you can see pretty much every step of the process. All the gear, all the manual inlays, etc. If you ever find yourself in nearby Bethlehem or Allentown, it's worth the drive.
Yes I'd love if there were a site to help find these. There's a show called How It's Made that I really enjoy and such tours would be like in-person versions of the show.
There's a TV show that airs once a week that explores mostly smaller-scale factories all around Japan, Tanken Factory / 探検ファクトリー. I doubt there are English subtitles for it, but if you understand Japanese, I highly recommend it!
I was recently searching the internet for similar resources for the UK. I didn't find what I was looking for. There seem to be quite a few car factories one can visit, but they are geared towards car enthusiasts, which I am not.
I did the Sizewell B tour a few years and it was _awesome_.
Also fascinated by large areas of heavy industry. I.e. Port Talbot, Avonmouth etc. Portsmouth dockyard was good too.
Our very own JGC wrote this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003WUYEN4/The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive It's not only UK, but also some places in Europe and the US, but has many UK places.
Not sure if it will help you in the very short run but I have found this book in a bookstore in Prague last year: "Industrial archaeology in Britain", and it might just do the trick for you.
Granted, it was written in the late 1960s by the looks of it, but the annexes contain some very interesting maps of industrial-related points of interest from England (mostly), such as canals and all kinds of factories and water- and wind- mills. It also contains some 40+ photos of some industrial thingies themselves. Pretty good value for the money I've spent on it.
This looks interesting too, thanks. Not exactly what I was after but still worthwhile. Can't help but wonder if there ids something on my doorstep worth visiting!
just to set expectations. it's small museum. just 2 rooms. it is amazing and you probably will not be comfortable eating sushi, sashimi, basashi for a fews days after :p
Seeing this reminded me of playing the sewer level in Stray. If you want to explore areas like this, but don't feel like traveling, then Stray is the game for you.
"The environmental equipment "METHASAURUS" was installed at the East Nagasaki Sewage Treatment Plant (the total amount of influent sewage water : 10,000㎥/day) in January 2013"
I don't know what I expected but I'm surprised that besides the apartment that sounds a little more expensive ($2700?) it's pretty much western europe prices, say Amsterdam or something like that
Tokyo always has a whole range of prices for everything. I recently stayed in a brand new serviced apartment in Tokyo for one month for $1700. And that was for 50m^2 for 2 people. Smaller, or longer stays, is cheaper. Renting a similar unfurnished apartment with a normal 2 year contract could be less than half of that price.
A quick check looks like $80/night is about the minimum for renting a serviced apartment in Amsterdam. I recently moved from Japan to Europe and everything except groceries feels 1.5 to 2x more expensive.
> I recently moved from Japan to Europe and everything except groceries feels 1.5 to 2x more expensive.
Ah groceries are on the rise here too; in part due to rising prices of e.g. meat due to factors like avian flu and more awareness of living conditions after "exploding chicken" (broiler chicken) tanked the prices as low as €3 per kilo (with liquid injections etc). Dairy products are up as well, cheese has gone up by 2-3 euros per kilo, butter by another euro, etc. I think milk is subsidized though, it's been fairly consistent.
It is definitely a little high, and I have no doubt you could live way cheaper. You could probably rent an APA hotel for less than $50/night, eat more local for $5/meal.
Nah $700 per week for an apartment, I'm assuming it's in a good area of Tokyo, sounds about right. You can get that high in other western countries without the service part.
Unsure about a week stay, but if anyone is staying for 2 months or more, consider a furnished apartment by a company focusing on foreigners with long stays.
My 2BR furnished apartment was $1,500/month with 3 different subways nearby, 2 train stops away from Shinjuku. The company I used is Fontana and I can highly recommend.
When I visited three years back you could grab ready-to-eat food (by item or a pre-made lunch) from a supermarket for under $5. Japan can be very inexpensive.
If you're budget focused, you can stay at a decent business hotel for about USD $30-40 per night, so $280 for the week. Add a modest dine-out budget of USD $20 per day (sans alcohol) and you'll be pretty comfortable.
https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/eccj/ind_tourism/ohashi_ryoki.htm...
makes 80% of the masu (little wooden box from which you might drink sake). The tour is free, forty minutes long, and the dress code is 'Business attire'