Ad Art AD-S50
Originally popularized in the mid-1980s for being a “simple car that didn’t require a regular driver’s...
Kei Cars and Japanese Small Cars: A–Z List
Japan gave the world the kei car: a legally defined class of tiny, tax-advantaged cars with strict limits on size and engine capacity. This page gathers kei cars and other small Japanese cars, from 1950s pioneers to modern JDM microcars and electric city runabouts.
Browse the list alphabetically and open a model page for photos, history and specifications. To explore by maker instead, use the catalog A–Z.
35BRANDS
126MODELS
A
Aichi Cony Guppy
The Cony Guppy is a compact pickup truck built by Aichi. It featured suicide doors, small circular brake...
AIM EVM
Japanese engineering company AIM, best known for its EV Sport 01, has unveiled a new compact electric vehicle...
Alpha Z103 / Z104 (アルファ Z103 / Z104)
A Japan company アルファ (or Alpha) produced a pair of microcars: the 3-wheel Z103 and 4-wheel Z104....
Asaka Puchi
This was one of many very small plastic-bodied moped-powered three-wheelers offered in Japan in the 1980s....
ASF 2.0
Autobacs Seven, a Japanese auto parts sales and manufacturing company, announced that it is investing in ASF,...
Auto Sandal FN
During 1953, an FN model was launched. The second model of Auto Sandal brand (オートサンダル) was...
Auto Sandal FN-L
In 1954, a full model change was planned, and a model with a front engine and front wheel drive was planned,...
Auto Sandal FS
After World War II, and in the midst of the postwar period, the Japanese government had to rebuild the...
B
Blaze EV Classic
The electric Blaze EV Classic does not shock you with speed, but in Japan where it was born it offers a...
Blow Funny Rider
The Funny Rider is a custom front-end conversion kit for Japanese kei trucks, designed with the...
BYD Racco
BYD is set to enter one of Japan’s most competitive and highly regulated vehicle segments with the Racco...
C
CQ Motors Modern Times / QQ Prototype
Have you ever heard of Choro-Q Motors, a small EV manufacturer that was born in Japan about 20 years ago,...
CQ Motors QVOLT
Known for his diverse talents in drawing and art, Akira Toriyama also has a passion for cars. This passion...
D
Daihatsu BC-7
This electric three-wheeled microcar debuted at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show as a compact vision of future urban...
Daihatsu BCX
The BCX was an early electric concept car and the first in a planned series of BCX prototypes, although the...
Daihatsu BCX-5
The 1985 Daihatsu BCX-5 Concept was an early vision of an electric urban commuter, conceived long before...
Daihatsu BCX-II
The 1972 Daihatsu BCX-II concept was powered by a small electric motor mounted at the rear. The vehicle’s...
Daihatsu EV1
At the 1973 Tokyo Motor Show five Japanese manufacturers joined forces to create a full lineup of electric...
Daihatsu Fellow Buggy
Daihatsu made only 100 units of the “Fellow Buggy”, which was a recreational vehicle that...
Daihatsu FX-228
The 1991 Daihatsu FX-228 Concept debuted as a convertible interpretation of the fourth-generation Daihatsu...
Daihatsu Hijet Dumbo
The 1989 Dumbo was a boxy concept van derived from the production HiJet microvan, yet despite sharing its...
Daihatsu Hijet Panel Van Extend3
At the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon Daihatsu presented the Hijet Panel Van Extend3 concept. It opts for a restrained...
Daihatsu Hijet Truck PTO Dump Daihatsuumei
Debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2026, this kei truck features an extreme power take-off conversion wrapped in...
Daihatsu Ico Ico
Daihatsu Ico Ico was created for the Japanese who want to be able to ride independently, regardless of age,...
Daihatsu K-Vision
Daihatsu also unveiled the K-Vision at the Japan Mobility Show 2025, presenting a vision of the future kei...
Daihatsu Kayoibako-K
At the Japan Mobility Show 2025, Daihatsu introduced two new kei car concept — the Kayoibako-K. The...
Daihatsu me:Mo Concept
Daihatsu me:Mo is an urban EV designed with sustainability and adaptability in mind for different stages of...
Daihatsu Midget III
The 1995 Daihatsu Midget III looks like a deliberate nod to 1950s bubble cars such as the Messerschmitt,...
Daihatsu Midget X Concept
Daihatsu at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show reveals the Midget X — a fully electric concept that revives one...
Daihatsu Mira Milano
Daihatsu Mira Milano made its debut at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. It is a uniquely styled vehicle built to...
Daihatsu Move #ootd
At the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon Daihatsu showcased two concepts built around the latest seventh-generation Move....
Daihatsu Move Kuromeki
At the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon Daihatsu presented two concept based on the current seven-generation of Move....
Daihatsu Osanpo Concept
The Daihatsu Osanpo is an electric crossover convertible concept that combines an appealing design with...
Daihatsu Sneaker
Daihatsu Sneaker was a quirky concept microcar notable for its unusual fifth wheel mounted at the rear,...
Daihatsu Taft
Daihatsu has released new information about Taft, which will enter the Japanese market in June. This model...
Daihatsu Tanto Custom Kuromeki
Rounding out the lineup—quite literally—is another Kuromeki concept presented at the 2026 Tokyo Auto...
Daihatsu Town Cube
The 1995 Daihatsu Town Cube concept was intended as a humorous take on the Kei Car’s limits. It was a...
Daihatsu Trek
The Tokyo Motor Show has always been a magnet for ideas that would look wildly out of place at most European...
Daihatsu Tsumu Tsumu
The miniature truck Daihatsu Tsumu Tsumu features a removable body and a quadrocopter platform. The highlight...
Daihatsu Ultramini
Daihatsu Ultramini Concept was unveiled at the 30th Tokyo Motor Show. This kei car prototype maximized...
Daihatsu Uniform Cargo Concept
Daihatsu Uniform Cargo is another concept van of the kei-class. It has an overall length of 3395 mm,width of...
Daihatsu Uniform Truck Concept
Daihatsu Uniform Truck represents the innovative future of compact light commercial vehicles (LCVs). Boasting...
Daihatsu Urban Buggy
The Daihatsu Urban Buggy was a concept car presented at the 27th Tokyo Motor Show in 1987 as part of...
Daihatsu Waku Waku Concept
Japanese car shows regularly become the arena to showcase the most unexpected and extravagant concepts....
Datsun Baby
Most of us got our first taste of driving in a theme park — behind the wheel of a go-kart, a pedal car,...
E
Emta #01
Chery has enjoyed rapid global growth in recent years, and its next target is one of the most challenging...
F
FOMM One EV
The FOMM One EV from Japan, which was presented for the first time in 2014 (as the Concept One), is...
Fuji Cabin Model 5A
Fuji Cabin was presented at the Tokyo Exhibition in 1955. The car was a tricycle with a closed body made of...
H
Honda AWV
Honda has successfully tested a prototype of an Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV). This is the second generation...
Honda CI-MEV Concept
The Honda CI-MEV is an innovative concept that combines “cooperative intelligence” and autonomous...
Honda EVX
The 1993 Honda EVX was Honda’s electric concept car shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1993. It came from a...
Honda Hondina Zagato
The Honda Hondina sports car was created in 1970 by the Italian studio Zagato, commissioned by the Japanese...
Honda Ie-Mobi Concept
The Honda Ie-Mobi Concept is an electric car that connects the home to the vehicle. The name can be...
Honda Micro EV Concept
One of the most charming debuts at Honda’s booth during the Japan Mobility Show 2025 was the Micro EV — a...
Honda NeuV Concept
Honda presented NeuV concept car at the CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. The city 2-seat...
Honda Puyo
The Honda Puyo was a hydrogen fuel-cell concept car presented at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show in 2007. Designed...
Honda Super-One
Forget the whisper-quiet efficiency of today’s EVs — Honda is taking a far more mischievous approach. The...
HW Electro Puzzle
A new Japanese company called HW Electro, aiming to become the country’s first lightweight electric...
I
Idemitsu Tajima EV
Japanese oil company Idemitsu Kosan has unveiled a subcompact city electric car developed in collaboration...
K
KG Motors MiBot
On 18 March 2024, Hiroshima-based startup KG Motors and ENEOS signed a memorandum of understanding to...
KG Motors T-BOX Proto
At the Tokyo Motor Show 2022, a tiny T-BOX Proto offroader was shown, created by a Youtube blogger from the...
L
Lexus LS Micro Concept
At the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, Lexus showed off a lineup of fascinating concept cars. Among the trio of...
M
Mazda 360 Carol
The Carol is the second mini car that Mazda introduced during the Toyo Kogyo era. It was based on a 700 cc...
Mazda 700 Prototype
The Mazda 700 Prototype, unveiled at the 8th Tokyo Motor Show in 1961, represented one of Mazda’s earliest...
Mazda EV3
The Mazda EV3, introduced in 1973, was one of Japan’s earliest forays into electric mobility. It emerged...
Mazda Pair
The Mazda Pair Concept debuted at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show as an unusual micro-van and trailer prototype...
Mitsubishi 500
In 1955, the Japanese government decided to create its own car. Several companies responded to the government...
Mitsubishi Lynx
The experimental all-terrain vehicle known as Mitsubishi Link was conceived as a lightweight recreational...
Mitsubishi Maus
The 1995 Mitsubishi Maus was a concept car bearing the acronym “Mini Active Urban System.” It was...
Mitsubishi Minica Jeep Concept
Very little information has been published about the 1969 Mitsubishi Minica Jeep Concept. What is known...
Mitsubishi mR.1000
Presented at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show, the Mitsubishi mR.1000 was a 2-seat mid-engine coupe powered by a...
Mitsubishi MUM 500
Mitsubishi MUM 500 is one of those little‑known Japanese concepts from the early 1990s that actually...
Mitsubishi SE-RO
The Mitsubishi SE-RO was a 2003 concept car created by Mitsubishi Motors in collaboration with Turin...
N
Nakano Yoshimishiro prototype
In 1947, Nakano Yoshimishiro founded the “Nakano Automobile Kogyo Company Limited” in the...
Nissan 315X
Nissan may have brought electric cars to the mainstream with the Leaf back in 2010, but its EV heritage...
Nissan Be-1
Nissan Be-1 made its debut as a reference model at the 26th Tokyo Motor Show in 1985, built around the idea...
Nissan Hypermini
The Hypermini is a two-seater electric microcar by Nissan Motors, which produced 219 of the cars in...
Norimono-ya Cydes Car
Electric kick scooters, which have recently become common in the city, are quickly becoming popular as a...
S
Subaru 450 Sports
The Subaru 450 Sports was a compact, rear-engined sports car prototype unveiled at the 8th Tokyo Motor Show...
Subaru CM1
Subaru CM1 is the futuristic kei-car concept. It was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show 1991 and featured a...
Subaru Elcapa
The 1995 Subaru Elcapa was a concept car with a hybrid powertrain system. It was developed as Subaru’s...
Subaru Elten
The Subaru Elten was a hybrid 4WD hatchback concept introduced by Subaru at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. It was...
Subaru Elten Custom
The Subaru Elten Custom was a 1999 Tokyo Motor Show concept that presented Subaru’s idea of a compact city...
Subaru Hanako
The 1991 Subaru Hanako Concept was a Kei-car coupé prototype presented at the 29th Tokyo Motor Show in...
Subaru Jusmin
Unveiled at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show, the Subaru Jusmin was a compact three-door hatchback concept featuring...
Suminoe Flying Feather FF-2
Yutaka Katayama worked for Nissan, but in 1954 decided to establish his own brand Suminoe to compete with the...
Suminoe Flying Feather II-I
In 1960, one Flying Feather was rebuilt for competition. Entirely made of aluminum, its body was very...
Suzuki CT-1
The 1997 Suzuki CT-1 Concept was an electric city transporter that combined the loading capacity of a small...
Suzuki CUE
The Suzuki CUE Concept debuted in 1991 as a kei car prototype at the 30th Tokyo Motor Show. It featured a 657...
Suzuki e Sky
In 2026, Suzuki has released the e Sky, the production version of the Vision e-Sky concept, and remarkably...
Suzuki e-Sky Concept
Suzuki Vision e-Sky concept — a fully electric kei car previewing a model that will soon go into...
Suzuki e-Survivor
Suzuki has presented a fun electric concept car e-Survivor. It is a small, robust open top SUV to be...
Suzuki EE-10
The Suzuki EE-10 Concept, unveiled in 1993 at the 30th Tokyo Motor Show. It was a futuristic hybrid kei car....
Suzuki Elia
The Suzuki Elia concept debuted at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, immediately standing out thanks to its compact...
Suzuki Every Combi
Suzuki Every Combi concept is based on the Every key car with a length of 3395 mm, a width of 1475 mm, a...
Suzuki Hustler Concept ‘2020
Suzuki has announced the Hustler key car of the second generation at the Tokyo Motor Show. The predecessor...
Suzuki LC
The Suzuki LC was a 2005 kei-car concept that used retro styling to reinterpret Suzuki’s early small-car...
Suzuki Twin
The Suzuki Twin is a supermini produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki. Due to its small size and...
Suzuki UT-1
The 1995 Suzuki UT-1—short for Utility Transport Type 1—was a compact one-liter vehicle designed with a...
Suzuki Waku SPO
Suzuki has built an unusual concept car Waku SPO, which has a transformable body. At the same time, this car...
T
Takayama Micro Freedom
At the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, Takayama Cars introduced the “kitchen on wheels” called the Micro Freedom,...
Takeoka Abbey 3
Takeoka Abbey 3 was a very unusual and rare 4-wheel single-place which was introduced in Japan in 1986. It...
Takeoka Abbey Box
Another rare version of Takeoka microcar was this Abbey Box (originally, アビーボックス). This was a...
Takeoka Abbey Carrot
Abbey Carrot single-place microcar is produced by Japan company Takeoka Motors from Toyama Prefecture. It...
Takeoka Abbey Type I
The popularity of the Abbey model started with this rare 3-wheeler Takeoka Abbey Type I. It was equipped with...
Takeoka Friendly
This is a very special car in a range of Takeoka Motors company. Takeoka Friendly is a compact electric...
Takeoka Milieu R
Enviromentaly frendly version of Takeoka Abbey Carrot is this Takeoka Milieu R equipped with a 2.5 kW...
Takeoka T10 / T10G
Takeoka T10 is a tiny city electric car from Japan. It has only one place, but according to the official...
TNB E-Van
In the 1990s, Malaysia’s national utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) experimented with its first...
Toyota Camatte Petta
Remember the joys of having your dad taking you through some of the features of a car when you were a child,...
Toyota Commuter
Toyota unveiled its prototype electronic town car, the Toyota Commuter, at the 17th Tokyo Motor Show in 1970....
Toyota Coms-X
Toyota stole the spotlight at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show with a wide range of premieres across its lineup....
Toyota Concept-i Ride
With the Concept-i series, Toyota is looking at the future of mobility, when cars and people become partners...
Toyota eCom
The 1997 Toyota eCom was a compact electric city car first shown at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota...
Toyota EV-30
The Toyota EV-30 was a two-seat electric concept car powered by zinc-bromine batteries and first unveiled at...
Toyota EV2
At the 1973 Tokyo Motor Show, five Japanese manufacturers united to showcase a complete range of electric...
Toyota FT-Me Concept
The European division of Toyota has presented the FT-Me concept car. It is a prototype of an ultra-compact...
Toyota IMV Origin
Toyota unveiled a new compact truck at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in Tokyo. Modular by design and shipped...
Toyota Kids Mobi
Toyota took center stage at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show with a diverse lineup of premieres spanning its...
Toyota Micro Box Concept
A month before the start of the Tokyo Auto Show 2022, Toyota unveiled 15 new electric cars at once. These are...
Toyota Ultra-Compact BEV Concept Model for Business
Microcar Toyota Ultra-compact BEV Concept Model for Business is a mobile office for one person who makes...
V
Valeo 48V Electric Truck
Valeo, a French automotive component manufacturer, and Gumma University of Japan have developed a compact...
Y
Yamaha Ami
We live in an era when almost every car feels too serious. Nissan and Mazda want to be a BMW, and city...
Yamaha Concept 160
Yamaha Motor Company participated on the Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 for the first time. Their main exhibit were...
Yamaha MWC-4
The mobility future becomes electric. Yamaha showcased a very special prototype MWC-4 at the 2017 Tokyo Motor...