JOURNEY TO NARA, JAPAN

Nara (奈良市, Nara-shi?) is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture. Eight temples, shrines and ruins in Nara, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and Heijō Palace Remains, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784, lending its name to the Nara period. The original city, Heijō-kyō, was modelled after the capital of Tang Dynasty China, Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). According to the ancient Japanese book Nihon Shoki, the name "Nara" derived from the Japanese word narashita meaning "made flat". The temples of Nara remained powerful even beyond the move of the political capital to Heian-kyō in 794, thus giving Nara a synonym of Nanto (lit. meaning "South Capital") as opposed to Heian-kyō, situated in the North.

The city of Nara lies in the north end of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering itself to Kyoto Prefecture in its north side. The city is 22.22 km from North to South, and 33.51 km from East to West. As a result of the latest merger, effective April 1st 2005, that combined the villages of Tsuge and Tsukigase into the city of Nara, the city now borders directly to Mie Prefecture in its east as well. The total area is 276.84 km².
The downtown of Nara is on the east side of the ancient Heijō Palace site, occupying the northern part of what was called the Gekyō (外京), literally the outer capital area. Many of the public offices (eg. the Municipal office, the Nara Prefectural government, the Nara Police headquarter, etc.) are located on Nijō-ōji (二条大路), while Nara branch offices of major nationwide banks are on Sanjō-ōji (三条大路), both avenues running east-west.

As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 373,189 and the density of 1,348 persons per km². There were 147,966 households residing in Nara.

VISIT TOYOTA TAHARA PLANT, JAPAN

Tahara plant is an automobile plant in Tahara, Aichi, Japan owned by Toyota Motor Corporation. It is a highly computerized and robotized plant and produces the Lexus brand of vehicles. It has the distinct recognition as the world's most advanced plant and has won awards for both the quality of production and attention to detail. This was awarded by JD Power and Associates.
When employees enter the factory floor, they have to go through an air shower to remove dust. Also the employees look through 4000 details for every car produced. The plant creates a Lexus every 87 seconds or 675 Lexus models per day. Workers are required to exercise and perform other physical activities such as holding and rolling golf balls in their palms. This keeps them sharp and is believed to help retain the standards necessary to produce flawless vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corporation (トヨタ自動車株式会社, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha?), a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, is the world's largest automaker in terms of sales volume. As of 2008, Toyota employs approximately 316,000 people around the world in comparison to second ranked automaker General Motors' 266,000 employees. Toyota ranks as the World's fifth largest publicly traded company, ahead of ninth ranked competitor General Motors, according to Fortune Magazine's Global 500.
In 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product Type A engine and in 1936 its first passenger car the Toyota AA. The company was eventually founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Toyota currently owns and operates Lexus and Scion brands and has a majority shareholding stake in Daihatsu Motors, and minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries Isuzu Motors, and Yamaha Motors. The company includes 522 subsidiaries.

Toyota is headquartered in Aichi, Nagoya (both in Aichi) and in Tokyo. In addition to manufacturing automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its division Toyota Financial Services and also creates robots. Toyota Industries and Finance divisions form the bulk of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins and has been reflected in the terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In Time Production, which it was instrumental in developing. The Toyota Way has four components: 1) Long-term thinking as a basis for management decisions, 2) a process for problem-solving, 3) adding value to the organization by developing its people, and 4) recognizing that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning. The Toyota Way incorporates the Toyota Production System.