Just got words from Nissan to confirm my request of a tour in July for the Tochigi plant to see how they make the Zs. The tour is 2 hours long. And they said we "will be able to see Fairlady Z". I am soooo excited.

One short fall, they do not have a English speaking tour for this plant, and my Japanese is very limited. Also not sure if they let me take pictures during the tour, I'll bring a camera anyway. Will keep you guys posted.

 

Thats GREAT ! I would love to be able to go on that tour. But theres no way they'll let you take pictures. Not many if any production facilities will let you take a camera anywhere near (or in) a plant. Have a good time while you're there. I hope it's interesting and fun for you.

 

they dont want proof that there is frickin 6 year old putting together our cars........

 

It's unlikely they'd let you take pictures once inside the plant. I've taken tours of a Mazda plant in Hiroshima, one of Nissan's Oppama plants (when they were building Zs at one of them, but I didn't get to see that one), a Toyota plant in Toyota City, and the NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA. None allowed pics in the plant, outside is fine though.

For your tour, I really suggest that you try to get someone to help translate for you. You will get a LOT more out of it. Trust me. Maybe try calling/emailing an English school or tourist info office in the area before you go to Japan. I was willing to pay them up to $150 for their trouble.

I took the Oppama tour when Nissan no longer did English tours and they just so happened to hire a translator for the group. It was total luck and seemed to be a last minute thing (contacted me the night before before my flight) as originally they had no spots and stopped doing English tours years ago. I suspect it was for some big shot/VIP that happened to no show (the other 2 people were non-Nissan owner American tourists whereas I OWNED 2 Nissans). Since I don't know Japanese and could hear the guide and translator, I know I'd only have gotten very little out of the tour w/o translator (maybe only 1/2 as much).

 

I was just at a Japanese bookstore reading one of those cool books specifically about our Z's. It had pictures with a step-by-step pictorial of how the Z is built at the Tochigi plant. Pretty damn cool if you ask me =)

 

Did you buy that book? What does the cover look like? I would like to get a copy if I can find it. Thank you.

 

Do you have the title of it or maybe the ISBN (if it has one)? I'd be curious to look at the pictures even if I can't read any Japanese.

 

Sorry fellas... I'm trying hard to remember what the title is but my memory is absent....

I can read Japanese but I recall the title being in English and it had a picture of a SS Z with a black background on the cover.

 

I bought 3 other books specifically about the Z so you can check into the ones I list. I can read Japanese, but if you can't, it's cool to just look through the pictures.

The titles I have are 'I Love Z33' / 'HyperRev' (which almost everyone in the States know of) / 'Dress Up Guide Fairlady Z'..... The only downside is that I paid more than $80 for the 3 books....