JNC In Japan: Day 5

Today we headed out to the Chainan 21, the official museum of Hino.

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Check out this sign. The station name is Toyoda, and if you notice, the previous stop was Hino. Coincidence? Probably. The Hino museum is at neither of these.

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Instead, it’s in Hachiouji, about a 40 minute train ride west of Shinjuku, but from the train station you also have to take a taxi or bus.

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As a result, the place was deserted. Unlike the rest of Japan, there were no greeters, no people sitting behind a desk in the lobby, not even anyone at the gift shop counter. Just this Star Trek-esque elevator with pictures of dolphins in it.

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It was a small museum. Nothing on the scale of the Honda Collection Hall, Toyota Museum, or Nissan Zama warehouse. A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that most of Hino’s products are enormous trucks. There were plenty of pictures though. Unfortunately, all the placards were in Japanese with very few English translations.

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Hino made airplane engines long before their current lineup of trucks and buses.

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Somewhere in between there was a car or two.

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On the way back we stopped by the Subaru showroom in Shinjuku.

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No nostalgics inside, but there was a new Forester and a dark brown “Bitter Edition” R2. The Japanese can never have too many limited editions.

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Shinjuku by night.

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This post is filed under: japan, museum, road trip, subaru.

4 Responses to JNC In Japan: Day 5

  1. Koich says:

    Interesting observation point about the Toyoda station, but there is no association with Toyota in Aichi prefecture. (Though they are spelled the same in Kanji). Looks like you guys are getting around places though! Make sure you to go Mr. Craft in Ebisu. Lots of goodies there.

  2. Toyotageek says:

    Mr. Craft is good! I’d also recommend Nakano Broadway and while there swing by the Book Garage!

  3. 88TSI_Rob says:

    Have you guys ever considered organizing a group tour? This sounds like a dream trip and it would be awesome to go along with some knowledgeable enthusiasts.

  4. Jnostalgics says:

    Sadly, we didn’t have time to visit Mr. Craft or Nakano. Probably for the better, since last time they weren’t so kind on our wallet…

    Rob, that’s a great idea. It’ll have to wait until after things with the magazine stabilize though. There’s many more museums and showrooms we didn’t have time to visit, and we’d love to go with a big posse of nostalgic car fans next time!

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