Dylan's Office & Sogo

This afternoon we set off on the JR train so that we could see the Nissan Headquarters, where Dylan has been spending his time for the past week.  The JR train runs the same way as the subway, just above ground and with fewer stops, so it is faster.  We got off at Yokohama Station, and I looked around in disbelief at the number of people milling around.  Dylan informed me that it was nothing compared to morning commute time.  It is crazy how busy and large these train stations in Japan are, and how much shopping there is inside.  Yokohama Station has a Porta Mall similar to the massive underground one in Kyoto, and also Sogo, which according to Yahoo Travel is the largest department store in the world.

A walk through the station led us outside to a pedestrian bridge and the ultra modern Nissan building with a car showroom just inside the entrance.  We wandered through looking at the different car models and looking at displays (all in Japanese) about the history of car design.  Dylan pointed out the way up to his office, but we couldn't visit the upstairs because Dylan's work colleague who signs him in was not in the building anymore.

We ventured next door to Sogo, and once again had our minds completely blown away by a Japanese department store.  There is really no way to convey the concept or scale of the Japanese department store to someone who has not experienced it first hand.  It is like a mini-city with enormous floors and everything that you could possibly think of purchasing and many things you would never have imagined could exist (like colorful animal character slippers with mop material sewn into the bottom that the label explains are meant to clean your floors while you relax in your home).  The food floor alone in Sogo could take a week to check out.  There is a grocery store with food from countries all over the world, plus any prepared food items you could possibly desire - all just impeccably packaged and presented.  The child/baby floor is a never-ending sea of toys, plus a small pet section with live puppies and kittens frolicking and right next door to that a little grooming salon with glass walls.  I guess the idea is that you would go to buy some toys and a puppy for your kid and the get the puppy's hair done on the way out.  It is enough to make your head spin.  I didn't even try to capture the awesomeness that is Sogo with my camera, I will just leave it to your imagination.