An in-depth tour of Nikon’s Hikari Glass factory www.imaging-resource.com

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 years ago in Science & Technology

The Hikari factory is in northern Japan, in Akita Prefecture, just a little south and east of the capital city of Akita itself. Akita is on the western coast of Japan, so the prevailing winds blow for hundreds of miles across the Sea of Japan before hitting the coast, picking up a load of moisture along the way. These winds drop a lot of snow even in Akita proper, but when they hit the mountains, they really cut loose. There was a LOT of snow around the factory, and even more as we wound our way further up into the mountains, to spend the night at the very traditional Motoyu Ryokan, built over a free-flowing natural hot spring.