Many say that the quality of Japanese workmanship is among some of the best there is, even for mass produced products that even Japanese factories are somehow different.

許多人說，日本的工藝品質是世界上最好的，甚至連量產的產品、日本工廠也與眾不同。

So, when BBS, one of the world's top ranked producers of aftermarket car wheels reach out to me,

所以，當世界頂尖的汽車後市場輪胎廠BBS找上門來，

I asked them if I could spend a day in their factory and they said yes.

我問他們能不能在他們的工廠參觀一天，他們答應了。

The first thing that stood out to me is what Japan calls "rajio taiso," a set of morning exercises that are such a big part of Japan's lifestyle that they're performed by everyone, from students to office workers, all the way up to factory workers and beyond.

第一件讓我印象深刻的事情是日本所謂的「廣播體操」，一種晨間運動，是日本生活重要的一部分，無論是學生、上班族或工廠工人，每個人都會進行晨練。

With smiles on everyone's faces, the day was afoot and I was introduced to Murakami San, who would show me around for the day.

大家用笑容開啟新的一天，而我也認識了 Murakami 先生，他負責帶我參觀。

A bit of a plot twist. He had just broken his ribs about two days before and hadn't quite adjusted to his new limited range of movement, although he had a pretty good sense of humor about it.

這裡有個小插曲。他兩天前肋骨斷掉了，還沒有完全適應新的有限活動範圍，但對此他展現了幽默感。

After a bit of chat and joking around, I came clean with him and told him that although I am a car guy, I know nothing about wheels, he had a laugh and give me a walk through the factory.

經過短暫地閒聊和開玩笑，我向他坦白，雖然我很喜歡車，但我對車輪一無所知，他笑了笑後開始介紹工廠。

He showed me that at BBS, rather than pouring into molds, they forge and press the wheel into its final form to increase quality and structural integrity while decreasing the weight. Basically starting with a single billet and going through step-by-step forging process.

他展現了在BBS，他們不是把胚料倒進模具內，而是把它鍛壓成形，以提高質量和結構的完整性，同時減少重量。基本上，從小鋼胚開始，並經過一系列鍛造程序。

That was honestly visually quite impressive to see this single piece of aluminum is heated and pressed with incredible pressure 3-4 times in order to make the shape of the final wheel before going through the heat treatment and washing.

這個畫面帶來了視覺上的衝擊，鋁片經過加熱後以強大壓力壓制3-4次，以便在熱處理和清洗前，形成最後的形狀。

And while, for obvious reasons, the majority, the heavy lifting is done by the big machines.

基於顯而易見的原因，大部分繁重的工作都是由大型機器完成的。

Impressively, every single piece is hand-checked repeatedly throughout the process by humans before moving on to the next stage.

令人印象深刻的是，每個零件在進入下一階段之前，都需經過反覆的人工檢查。

We're learning stuff here.

我們真的學到了很多。

I had... I had no idea it was this involved.

我沒想到有這麼多人工作業。

I spent nearly an entire day wandering around the factory and getting a feel for it, the scale of things was truly impressive to see.

我花了將近一天的時間在工廠四處參觀，感受整體的氛圍，真的令我印象深刻。

And of course, I asked Murakami San what his favorite part of the process was as well.

當然，我也問了 Murakami 先生，在整個過程中他最喜歡哪個環節。

The force and scale of the forges was definitely impressive to look at.

鍛造的威力和規模確實讓人印象深刻。

I was personally interested in the amount of work going into the detailing process.

我個人對細節處理的工作量最感興趣。

Before jumping into a car to see if I could tell the difference with BBS wheels,

在跳進車裡，看看我能不能分辨BBS輪轂的差異之前，

I wanted to ask Murakami San what pulled him into this career path.

我想問問 Murakami 先生為什麼選擇了這條職業道路。

They set me up with a Mini Crossover there.

他們幫我安排了一輛 Mini Crossover。

They actually borrowed it from BMW so that I'd be able to tell, try and tell the difference between the original wheels or rims and then they're gonna change it over to theirs and see if I can tell the difference between the normal ones and the BBS rims.

這是他們跟寶馬借來的，這樣我就能分辨… 試著分辨原來的輪子或輪輞，然後他們再換成他們的輪輞，看看我是否能分辨普通輪輞和BBS輪輞的區別。

I'm... I'm skeptical.

我… 我有點懷疑。

I don't know what to expect but I'm gonna give it a drive, and get a feel for it.

我不知道結果會如何，但我會先試開看看，感受一下。

That is a nice looking car. Murakami san told me I'm gonna be able to feel the most in the acceleration and in turning, so, you know what, let's... let's give it a shot.

這輛車真漂亮。Murakami 先生說，加速和轉彎時差異最明顯，所以你知道嗎，讓我們… 我們來試試看吧。

Safety.

安全第一。

Okay, now let's give it a shot.

好，我們現在就來試試看。

I feel this weird pressure to be able to tell the difference because he was so, so confident that I'll be able to feel the difference, so I really want to get a good feel for the car.

我有一種奇怪的壓力，因為他自信十足地認為我一定能感受到差異，所以我真的想好好地感受一下這輛車。

The car just got back, and they changed out the rims or wheels to BBS ones, let's give it a shot.

車剛開回來，他們已經把輪輞或輪胎換成了BBS的，我們來試試看。

I'll be honest.

我老實告訴你們。

After a speech like that I was incredibly nervous.

聽完這樣的言論，我感到緊張無比。

I had no idea whether I'd be able to tell the difference at all, but the pressure was on, so, I hit the road to give it a shot.

我不知道我是否能分辨出差異，壓力很大，我決定上路試一下。

I'm driving for about 45 minutes now.

我已經開了大約45分鐘。

But actually, I kind of got it right away.

但其實我馬上就感受到不同之處了。

There's... I can't... I wish I could put it into words.

有一種…我無法…真希望能用文字表達出來。

There's no resistance when I hit the accelerator now.

當我踩下油門時，沒有任何阻力。

When you press the accelerator, usually, there's... there's a little feedback and there's some... some resistance as you take off.

當你踩下油門時，通常它會有點反應，也會有一些阻力。

It feels like a... like that. This just feels like... that's it.

那種感覺就像這樣。但這個感覺是這樣。

It's just, it's one of those things you can definitely tell, but it's kind of hard to put into words.

這是其中一個肯定會發現的事情，但難以用語言表達。

Like, for example, I had sushi for lunch today and I actually eat sushi fairly often, but I usually get like the cheap 100 yen sushi. Today was a really nice place and it was different.

例如，我今天中午吃了壽司，其實我常吃壽司，但我通常會買100日元的便宜壽司。今天的日料餐廳很棒，跟一般的不同。

It was much better and it's not just the taste and everything, it's one of those things that you can tell it's better, but it's kind of hard to put into words.

它真的好多了，不只是味道，就像那種你一眼就能看出它更好，卻難以用語言形容的東西。

Realistically, I could just be imagining the entire thing, especially after getting to see the whole process of the rims being made and getting to see everybody's passion and excitement.

實際上，可能這都是我想象出來的，尤其是看到輪輞的完整製作流程以及每個人的熱忱後。

But... I get it.

但…我懂。

I think I get it.

我想我懂。

Either way,

無論如何，

I'm just really glad I had this experience.

真的很高興我有機會能夠體驗。