News On Japan

Upcoming Tokyo Motor Show boasts cutting-edge technologies in an effort to drum up attendance

Sep 22, 2017 (Japan Times) - Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Chairman Hiroto Saikawa has called on the public to visit the Tokyo Motor Show, scheduled to be held from late October, to see the world’s latest technologies.

“We hope to make the event the world’s best technology show,” Saikawa, also president of Nissan Motor Co., told a news conference Thursday.

The 45th motor show, open to the public at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward between Oct. 28\ to Nov. 5, will bring together a total of 153 automobile and auto parts manufacturers from around the world. More than 70 world premiere prototype vehicles will be showcased at the show, putting on display cutting-edge technologies such as automated driving and electric vehicles.

The numbers of participating firms and visitors have been sluggish recently, standing at less than half of their peak levels.

Due in part to the absence of the Big Three U.S. automakers — General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV — the event is smaller in scale than overseas auto shows, such as in China.

Saikawa stressed, however, that he hopes to emphasize the Tokyo show not in terms of scale but quality.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

Breathtaking 4K footage filmed from a helicopter offers a sweeping aerial view of Mount Fuji and its majestic surrounding landscape.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and intentionally ramming a motorcycle in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, leaving its rider seriously injured.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.