(Page 14) Tag: cars | SoraNews24 -Japan News-

Featured

cars (Page 14)

Ham sandwich! Japanese netizens are loling at these nonsense car decals

Meg Murphy
Nov 19, 2015
Tweet

If you live in Asia, you’re probably used to seeing Engrish phrases everywhere. When you’ve grown up reading and writing in kanji, hiragana, etc., the “foreign-ness” of English writing and phrases adds an air of mystery and style. But it’s exactly the same in the west too—people will buy all kinds of products with kanji characters written on them whether or not they know what they mean.

Here are some examples of decked-out cars with random, nonsensical Japanese phrases on them that have Japanese netizens laughing their socks off over.

Patlabor AV-98 Ingram anime mecha arrives in Niigata, residents welcome their giant robo-cop

KK Miller
Oct 28, 2015

For anyone who lives in Niigata or is planning on heading there in the next couple of days, please be sure to obey all the laws and regulations of the prefecture. It’s not that they have odd rules that are going to catch you off guard, it’s the fact that there is a gigantic, police labor robot, or Patlabor, that has arrived in the prefecture. Its appearance has caused a bit of a commotion and the robot is, potentially, fully prepared to take out any criminals while it’s stationed there.

Oh, and if you think you might be able to commit some sort of crime out of sight of a robotic police presence, the human officers have a very speedy patrol car in the area as well.

Cosplaying taxis with monster drivers to offer free rides to cosplayers in Shibuya this Halloween

Oona McGee
Oct 25, 2015

Halloween in Japan keeps getting bigger and better every year, with cosplayers coming out in droves to celebrate the world of costumes and make-believe. This time around, Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is joining the fun with a fleet of taxis dressed up in Halloween costumes, complete with “monster drivers” behind the wheel.

The monsters and their vehicles will be helping fellow ogres and ghouls by offering free rides to people in costume in the Shibuya area on October 29 and 31. What’s more, the unusual vans promise to be so spacious, they’ll accommodate any type of outfit you’re wearing!

Crazy-looking car is basically one giant airbag, will appear at Tokyo Motor Show next week

Mike
Oct 24, 2015

If you saw this car on the street, you’d half expect a comically large number of clowns to come piling out of it. But it turns out despite its Looney Tunes-esque look, there’s a noble—if somewhat bizarre—concept behind this new car from Toyoda Gosei.

This is the “Flesby,” a new concept car that Toyoda Gosei will display at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show next week, with the “concept” being essentially that the entire outer body of the car is one gigantic airbag. Let’s take a look.

Live your childhood dreams with this life-size mini four-wheel drive car【Video】

KK Miller
Oct 24, 2015

As a child, playing with mini remote-control cars definitely made you the coolest kid on the block. You could drive over almost any surface, reach top speeds in a matter of seconds, and send your animals chasing after them (or perhaps the cars chased the pets?) much to the irritation of adults

Now, as “responsible” adults, we don’t get much of a chance to play with toy cars anymore, unless that toy car has been turned into a real, drivable, 1:1 scale car. This road machine modeled after the Aero Avante won’t be seen running around any toy tracks, as it drives on real roads at speeds over 100 miles per hour!

Rolling like a samurai – Japanese coachbuilder’s car features centuries-old woodcarving technique

Casey Baseel
Oct 21, 2015

Does Japan’s Mitsuoka Motors count as a carmaker? It’s debatable. Yes, the company does have its own dealers that sell Mitsuoka-branded cars. Almost all of them, though, are Nissans or Mazdas with extensive cosmetic modifications. Even the company’s Orochi coupe, which has its own dedicated body, uses an engine built by Toyota.

So let’s ask an easier question: Are Mitsuoka’s cars visually unique? Unquestionably. The company has always made aesthetics the number-one priority in all of its vehicles, and that tradition continues with woodcarving so exquisite it wouldn’t look at all out of place in a Japanese castle, but which instead graces this Mitsuoka sedan.

Attack on Titan car navigation system stars Survey Corps, a walled city and checkpoint giants

Oona McGee
Oct 20, 2015

The live-action Attack on Titan movies may have been a bit of a disappointment, but we’ll always have the glorious anime. And now the animated protagonists from the acclaimed series are bringing their world into ours and guiding us around it with an amazing new tablet and car navigation system.

Filled with special extras including the opportunity to “rank up” according to distances travelled, a choice between “return to the wall” or “Survey Corps outer expedition” route views, and an appearance from a Titan when we pass through convenience store checkpoints, it’s bound to make trips to the grocery store much more exciting!

Love anime and driving? Carmaker Subaru now selling official itasha

Casey Baseel
Oct 20, 2015

Different people have different concepts of Japanese automaker Subaru. For motorsports enthusiasts, the first image that comes to mind is the company’s all-wheel drive cars doing sick jumps on rally gravel stages. Technology buffs, meanwhile, may think of their EyeSight automatic braking safety system.

Japanese animation fans, though, may best know Subaru as the major sponsor of animation studio Gainax’s celestial-themed magical girl anime Wish Upon the Pleiades (known in Japanese as Hokago no Pleiades). And while the series’ TV run is over, that doesn’t mean Subaru’s love for the anime has expired, as the car manufacturer has created, and is selling, an official Wish Upon the Pleiades itasha covered with graphics of the show’s cast.

Nissan has created a wacky concept car for people who aren’t interested in cars

BUSINESS INSIDER
Oct 14, 2015

Nissan has created a concept car for a segment of the population who care very little about cars.

It’s called the “Teatro for Dayz.” The oddly-named concept will make its world debut later this month at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show.

Tokyo Motor Show set to reveal the new concept Toyota SF-R, which looks surprisingly like Pikachu

Oona McGee
Oct 12, 2015

Since Toyota revealed details of its concept S-FR, set to make its first appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, people in Japan have been picking their jaws up off the floor—but it’s got nothing to do with the car’s impressive specs or surprisingly low price point.

You see, the compact sports car looks astonishingly like Pikachu, the bright yellow electric rodent from the popular anime franchise Pokémon. And what’s even more surprising is that few people in the mainstream media are daring to comment on the astounding likeness.

Lexus pays homage to its Japanese workers by building a driveable origami car out of cardboard

Oona McGee
Oct 7, 2015

Lexus has always admired the skills of the craftsmen and women who work on their production lines in Japan. Known as takumi, these highly trained Japanese production workers hone their dexterity skills by learning to fold an origami cat in 90 seconds—using only their non-dominant hand.

Now, Lexus UK has unveiled a stunning tribute to these skilled workers by creating a life-sized replica of the Lexus IS, using 1,700 pieces of laser-cut cardboard in what they’re calling the “Origami Car”. Complete with an electric motor, the cardboard vehicle can actually be driven. With the cardboard seats and interior, it won’t be an entirely practical, or legal, ride, but it would certainly be a memorable one!

Amazing anime-themed flatbed truck is the biggest itasha we’ve ever seen 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Oct 6, 2015

Many fans choose to wear T-shirts plastered with pictures of their favorite anime or video game characters, therein letting them broadcast their love for the fictional figures to everyone they pass by. Of course, if want to get that message of devotion to even more people, you can always turn your car into an itasha, a vehicle covered with anime stickers.

But even a coupe or sedan only gives you so much sheet metal to work with. That’s why one fan decided he needed an even bigger canvas, and created an itasha like we’ve never seen before: an ita-flatbed truck with some gigantic artwork of his 2-D muses.

“My son didn’t look back when I waved.” Toyota ad will leave you choked up, wanting to call home

Casey Baseel
Oct 3, 2015

You might think that Japanese advertisements are all Hollywood celebrity endorsements or surreal tales of busty schoolgirls with nose rings, but when it wants to, Japan can make commercials that yank on the heartstrings as strongly as anywhere else in Asia. Getting the waterworks flowing today is Toyota, asking the question, “Do you care about your parents as much as they love you?”, and while the video is short on cars, it makes up for that with plenty of tears.

Sports car or fighter plane? American tuner’s Nissan GT-R looks like World War II’s Zero

Casey Baseel
Oct 1, 2015

Somewhere along the way, people started calling Nissan’s GT-R, the company’s flagship sports car, “Godzilla.” It’s a fitting nickname, since the GT-R is intimidatingly powerful, and also because with a curb weight of 1,740 kilograms (3,836 pounds), it’s not exactly svelte.

Still, one American turning shop thinks there’s an even more apt comparison to be made that to the King of the Monsters, and has created a customized GT-R with its appearance based on the Imperial Japanese military’s World War II Zero fighter plane.

Mobile Suit Toyota – Japanese automaker makes awesome anime ad for new Gundam-themed car

Casey Baseel
Sep 29, 2015

We’re sure everyone’s first choice for mode of transportation would be giant robot, but there are times when you need something more practical to get from Point A to Point B. Being behind the wheel of a four-door hatchback doesn’t mean you have to give up your mecha jock daydreams, though, thanks to the newest collaboration between Toyota and anime franchise Gundam.

The automaker has just released not only a special model inspired by charismatic anime villain Char Aznable, but also an awesome anime commercial for it that has higher production values than the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series.

The future is (kind of) here – Something not quite right with Toyota’s patent for a flying car

Scott Wilson
Sep 10, 2015

It’s 2015, so where are the flying cars? Sure, we have plenty of cool stuff like lifelike anime girl mousepads and plastic bag swimsuits, but where are the flying cars and floating cities that science fiction promised us would exist by now? I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of disappointed.

Thankfully one car company is picking up the slack: Toyota. They recently submitted a patent for their version of a flying car, complete with diagrams and detailed explanations. Is the future we were promised finally going to be a reality? Or is the only thing soaring in the sky our high hopes? Read on to find out!

50 things our Japanese reporter learned while driving in the U.S.

Casey Baseel
Jun 30, 2015

Our Japanese-language reporter Go recently returned from a trip to the U.S. While there, he hunted for aliens and sampled the local cuisine, but mostly what he did was drive.

While Japan is filled with winding mountain passes that make for enjoyable drives, the wide-open American road has an appeal all its own. After days of barreling down the highways of the southwest, Go came back to Japan with these 50 experiences he had driving in the U.S.

Ready for the Fury Road: Our customized Mad Max Yamaha Tricity motorcycle 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Jun 29, 2015

Depending on the genre, a well-made movie can have you howling with laughter, thrilled by the on-screen action, or feeling cleansed after a cathartic cry. But while those are all enjoyable enough, every now and again you run into a film that affects you on a deeper level by helping to teach you some inevitable facet of life itself.

We recently made a trip to the theater to watch Mad Max: Fury Road, and since then every time we look up at the night sky, we’ve been reminded of the certainty that one day we’ll all be living in a dystopian wasteland. In preparation, we’ve already started stockpiling water and canned goods, and now we’ll be able to tour the wastelands in style with our customized Mad Max-style Yamaha three-wheeled motorcycle.

Driving just became so much more thrilling with this katana-handle shift knob

Meg Murphy
Jun 17, 2015

A while back, we introduced a realistic ninja throwing star origami template for all of you ninjas-in-training, but if you’re more of a sword-wielding samurai-type (and you happen to drive a truck), you can now turn your shift knob into a samurai sword! Or, well, at least half of one…

Win props and Survey Corps uniform from Attack on Titan film just by test-driving a Subaru!

Mike
May 21, 2015

It looks like car manufacturer Subaru has their hands on some neat swag that was used on set for the upcoming Attack on Titan live-action film and, for some reason, they’re willing to just hand it off to one lucky Subaru test-driver.

You don’t need to own a Subaru or even like Subaru to be eligible to win an authentic Survey Corps uniform actually worn by a character in the film, plus an actual, “working” 3-Dimensional Maneuver Gear set – the piston-operated grappling hook setup that Survey Corps heroes sport in their fight against the series’ titular titans.