Jalopnik: Japan

You Say Toyoda, We Say Toyota: How The Automaker Got Its Name

Sam Smith — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:30:00 EST

Sakichi Toyoda was born in Japan 145 years ago today on February 14th, 1867. By all accounts a hard-working entrepreneur, Toyoda's greatest success was building a small business manufacturing textile looms. That business ended up growing into a company that, for two years beginning in 2008, became the world's largest automaker. That company is named Toyota. We've always wondered: Why the change from "d" to "t"? More »

Tokyo’s New 'Dinosaur' Bridge To Nowhere

Raphael Orlove — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST

You're looking at Tokyo's newest landmark, the 'Dinosaur' Bridge. Officially known as the Tokyo Gate Bridge — providing a link from the capital to a landfill — it shows what actually happens when a government succeeds in spending $1.4 billion on a bridge to nowhere. More »

This Is The Aftermath Of The World's Most Expensive Car Crash

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

We dubbed December's Ferrari-on-Ferrari-on-many-more-Ferraris accident the "World's Most Expensive Car Crash" because it not only makes for a great headline but is probably true. Want more proof? How about this video of the aftermath. Oh those poor, poor Ferraris. More »

Japanese Lambo Tuner Still Cherishes His $1K Nissan

Patrick Frawley — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST

Liberty Walk's Wataru Kato runs a tuning shop that specializes in Lamborghinis. He owns a Ferrari F40 LM. He wants to bring the sensations of maximum automotive culture to a distracted youth. What's his favorite car? A four-door that cost around $1000. More »

The cars of the Fukushima Nuclear Exclusion Zone

Wes Siler — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST

These images, snapped inside the exclusion zone surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant nine months after the earthquake, are as close as we're likely to get to the end of the world. At least until December next year. Destroyed vehicles litter the landscape, proving obstacles for the few remaining holdouts and cleanup workers. More »

Watch the Toyota GT 86 hitting the track in Japan

Tom Joslin — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST

Yesterday we told you that the highly anticipated Toyota FT-86 concept will be called the GT 86 when it debuts at the Tokyo Motor Show next week. Today we can tell you something else about the GT 86—it looks fantastic on the track. More »

Japanese youth overcome camber limitations

Patrick Frawley — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST

Engineers spent countless hours properly setting up a car's suspension. Ambitious kids spend even more time fucking that careful work up as much as possible. Hence this staggering effort to probe the theoretical outer limits of camber adjustment. More »

Watch real Mario Kart hit the streets of Tokyo

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:15:00 EDT

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The dudes from Japanese car site Cliccar get out of their boring civvies and got dressed up as Mario and Luigi. Then, they hopped in two street legal X-Karts and took to the avenues and boulevards of Tokyo. More »

Behold a fleet of cars owned by video game nerds

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EDT

This past weekend, a parking lot in Tokyo's Odaiba glimmered with geek pride. This weekend saw the Ita G Festa expo. Gear-heads gathered and showed off more than their appreciation for automobiles. They showed off their appreciation of covering their cars in otaku decals. More »

Danica Patrick preps for NASCAR by spreading fear of foreigners

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Darn them Brazilians, always crashing into things with their reckless driving! And those pesky Japanese, what with their radioactive food. Don't blame Danica Patrick for fearing the world, blame the world for being so scary. More »

Toyota Japan employees donate funds to American storm victims

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Returning the outpouring of support for Japan following their dual disasters, Toyota employees in the company's Japanese home are donating $330K to tornado relief efforts in Alabama and Mississippi. Pay it forward. More »

Toyota "Backseat Driver" app lets preschoolers steer a bubbly car

Justin Hyde — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EDT

We're all in favor of getting children interested in cars at an early age, but leave it to Toyota to take the idea and run with it through an iPhone game that lets preschoolers steer along with their parents. More »

Watch RAUH-Welt Porsches in motion

Tom Joslin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EDT

RAUH-Welt is a Japanese tuner shop best known for creating some of the most insane and awesome Porsches the world has ever seen. This film, shot at the Tsukuba Circuit, showcases some of these amazing creations doing what they do best—terrorizing the track. More »

Nissan rescues dead electric cars with gas-guzzling diesel trucks

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:30:00 EDT

The Nissan Leaf electric car's advertised purpose is protecting the environment. But with an advertised range of 100 miles-per-charge and a propensity for running out of juice early and with little warning, the company's solution in Japan involves chucking that "save the earth" nonsense out the window in favor of a big ol' diesel-engined five-ton truck. More »

Sebastien Buemi accidentally hits crazy fan with F1 car in Japan

Tom Joslin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EDT

Formula One driver Sebastien Buemi was in Japan at a Red Bull F1 Exhibition when a fan attempted to jump over his moving race car with predictably disastrous results. Luckily for both parties involved, the young racing driver was traveling less than 20 MPH when the unidentified man decided to jump. More »

Japanese automakers have awful May, put Chrysler back in "Big Three"

Justin Hyde — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EDT

If you're trying to live life rather than monitor U.S. auto sales data, we applaud your priorities. But it is worth pausing to note just how badly Japan's earthquake damaged Japanese automakers in the United States in May. More »

This is how they greet a new bullet train in Japan

Peter Orosz — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT

How? With a great screaming happy wall of people dressed up in superhero costumes who line the entire track, that’s how. Even if you take into account the Japanese love for Shinkansen and the fact that this is a company video by JR West, it’s a remarkable show. Homework assignment: spot the Power Rangers—then imagine the same in Europe or the US. (H/T to Marci–X) More »

Saab's chairman calls shutdown a "small Fukushima"

Justin Hyde — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:45:00 EDT

Saab chairman Victor Muller says the company's plant shutdown was a "small Fukushima," where several tiny problems snowballed into trouble, but hopes to have a new government-backed loan Tuesday. The melting block of ice seems superflous, no? More »

Toyota to run U.S. plants at half-speed due to Japan quake

Justin Hyde — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EDT

Through June 3, Toyota's U.S. plants will take Mondays and Fridays off, while running at half speed the rest of the work week. Japan's earthquake was the temblor that keeps shaking things up. More »

Guess what car's under this Kaido racer

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Here's a little exercise we picked up from JDM car-culture site Bosozoku Style. Examine this likely denizen of the famous Bosozoku gathering place at Shibaura, under Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge. What car gave its life so this Kaido racer would live? More »

Toyota to temporarily halt most U.S. production in wake of Japan quake

Justin Hyde — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:45:00 EDT

Toyota will shut down most of its U.S. factories for five days (between April 15 and April 25) due to parts shortages from Japan. Workers can either show up and get paid for busying themselves or take unpaid days off. More »

Watch this car drive into Japan's eerily quiet nuclear evacuation zone

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:30:00 EDT

This reporter films his journey into the evacuation zone around Japan's troubled Fukushima nuclear plant. Normally crowded streets are empty but for a pack of dogs and a few flat-bed trucks carrying unknown cargo. A Geiger counter measures extremely high radiation. More »

This is the scariest tsunami video yet

Ray Wert — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:15:00 EDT

We've seen a lot of scary videos of this month's deadly Japanese earthquake and tsunami — but nothing like this. Watch as the waves ravage the port of Kesennuma, destroying everything in it's path. More »

Japan fixed this quake-damaged road in just six days

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EDT

Japan's world-class transportation infrastructure couldn't withstand this month's 9.0-magnitutde quake, but their construction teams are still amazing. This stretch of highway was repaired in just six days by a Herculean road crew. This is the triumph of Japanese engineering. More »

Toyota tells U.S. plants "prepare to shut down"

Ray Wert — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EDT

Toyota's U.S. manufacturing arm is preparing for a possible shutdown because of parts shortages from Japan, a Toyota spokesman told CNN/Money today. More »

How to load 17 tons of boric acid to save Japan's nuclear reactors

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EDT

Boric acid works as a "neutron poison"and is used to prevent fission in nuclear reactors, which means Japan needs some. So how do you move 17 tons of boric acid into a C-17 cargo plane? Very carefully. More »

How I landed a 767 in Tokyo after Japan's deadly earthquake

Justin Hyde — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EDT

A Delta Airlines pilot on his first flight over the Pacific had to declare an emergency to land a 767 following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan ten days ago. Here is his first-hand account. UPDATE More »

Scary video from inside car hit by Japanese tsunami

Justin Hyde — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:45:00 EDT

One survivor of Japan's tsunami was able to capture the moment the wave hit his car and knocked it off the road. Afraid but calm, he followed the same advice we heard, staying put until the waters receded. More »

Dear American idiots: Your Japanese cars are not radioactive

Justin Hyde — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:45:00 EDT

If you are calling the U.S. offices of a Japanese carmaker worried that your vehicle is somehow radioactive, please contact us, so we can update our official Who's Who of American Idiots. More »

Source: Ford hybrid production will be impacted by Japan earthquake

Justin Hyde — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:52:00 EDT

A Japanese battery supplier contact tells us that the Ford Fusion and Escape hybrids will almost certainly have production issues because of Japan's devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but Ford says it has no reports of any shortages. More »

The strange link between samurai swords and Japan's nuclear reactors

Justin Hyde — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EDT

As fears rise in Japan about nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant, the first and best line of defense are the reactor's six inch thick steel-walled chambers, made by a company that still forges samurai swords by hand. More »

Japan Earthquake: Photos of a society demolished

Ray Wert — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:01:00 EDT

A wrecked sports car sits in flood waters in Soma city, Fukushima prefecture on March 14. More »

Rescue underway for 48 elementary school students on ship in Japan tsunami

Justin Hyde — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:48:33 EST

Among those trapped by Japan's tsunami were 48 elementary-school students on board a marine research vessel off Japan's northeast coast. The boat survived the quake safely, but lost its navigation equipment, and the children have to be rescued by helicopter. More »

I survived Japan’s massive earthquake

Jason Fullington — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:45:00 EST

From his office at AFG Moto in Tokyo where he designs custom motorcycles and safety gear, vice president and chief operating officer Jason Fullington experienced the worst earthquake to hit Japan in 1,000 years. - Ed. More »

How Nissan's dealing with the earthquake in Japan

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:24:00 EST

Nissan's reporting that two employees at the company's Tochigi Plant suffered minor injuries, and that small fires broke out at the company's Tochigi and Iwaki plants, but they've been extinguished. Dealerships in the Kanto region have reported damage. More »

How Toyota's dealing with the earthquake in Japan

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:18:00 EST

We've heard from Toyota, regarding its company-wide emergency task force set up to deal with the earthquake. No injuries reported so far, but some employees have been evacuated. More »

One Honda employee killed, 30 injured in Japan earthquake

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:52:00 EST

Honda released this statement earlier today, confirming one fatality and thirty people injured among the company's employees in Japan. More »

Watch the tsunami wave hit a Japanese airport

Ray Wert — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 07:17:00 EST

Watch as an amazing four-meter-high wave of water washes over the airport in Japan's Miyagi prefecture. The water was part of the deadly tsunami that hit Japan after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck the island nation hours ago. More »

Japan's Devastating Earthquake: What We Know And How You Can Help

Ray Wert — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 05:04:49 EST

UPDATED AT 11:50 PM EST Before 3pm Japan time (1 am EST) Friday, an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale rocked the island nation 200 km north of Tokyo. Quickly thereafter, a massive, horrifying tsunami hit Japan's Northeast region. Now 1,400 people are estimated to have died, and Japan is still being hit with scores of aftershocks. More »

Feds launch new crackdown against Nissan Skyline owners

Justin Hyde — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST

The owner of one of the nation's largest forums for Nissan Skyline fans got a call three weeks ago from his wife, telling him that Homeland Security agents were on their doorstep looking to seize his Skylines. Their goal? "To get them off the road." More »