(C) Nissan Motor Co.

Factory tours aren't just for kids. Recently vacation packages with factory tours in their itinerary have grown popular with adults. The world famous carmaker Nissan Motor Co., for example, offers tours at six of its factories in Japan. One of these factories, located in the city of Yokohama, was the first in Japan to mass-produce cars. Here visitors can watch skilled craftsmen as they carefully assemble each individual engine and parts for the latest Nissan supercar.

Famous soy sauce producer Kikkoman Corporation is another company that offers tours of its factories. The company's brewery in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture offers a tour for elementary school students as part of its food education activities. On the tour, kids get the chance to experience making soy sauce for real. First they learn about the ingredients used, and then they are allowed to try their hand at various stages of the production process, including adding koji (a mix of soybeans, flour, and kojikin, a special type of mold that breaks down starch from soybeans).