By Kenny Konno, DVN Senior consultant
The Japan Mobility Show was held at Tokyo Big Sight for 11 days from 30 October to 9 November, 2025, under the theme “Let’s go find an exciting future!”. The event showcased future mobility and related technologies, allowing visitors to experience the latest trends in the automotive industry. 1.01 million visitors attended.
Toyota Group (Century, Lexus, Toyota, Daihatsu), Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Honda, Mazda, Hino, and Sharp all unveiled upcoming vehicles and concept cars. From overseas, Kia and BYD unveiled attractive new cars that will be sold in Japan in a couple of years. A Mercedes-Benz van concept was also unveiled for the first time in Japan, with the hopes of breaking the Toyota Alphard’s stronghold.
This year 35 vehicle premiers were shown on stage, showing the dynamism of this event and Japanese automakers.
Century
Century, formerly a hyper-prestige Japan-only Toyota model range, will become an independent brand positioned above Lexus; the idea being that Toyota’s luxury car brand is Lexus, while Century is a car in a class of its own. Sedan, two-box, and coupé models will be available. The front and rear lamps have a unified design. The two-tiered design follows the Century SUV design while giving it a futuristic look.
Lexus LS concept
Here’s a premium three-row minivan with a new package, with the LS as a chauffeur car. This LS is not a luxury sedan, but a luxury space, and there are six wheels instead of four. With a spacious interior and smooth entry and exit, everybody is invited into own private space – a true sanctuary, just like at home. It is a whole new type of ultra-premium car. To enter and exit is possible at both the second and third rows at the same time. The idea for this six-wheel design came from the lunar cruiser Toyota are developing, and the idea that the LS would be made into a chauffeur-driven car that could be driven on Earth rather than on the moon.
The Lexus illuminated logo is added to the center of the front, and the front edge is boldly designed with an illuminated spindle line, the face of Lexus. The rear combination also features a large, bold L-shape designed around the edge.
Lexus LS coupé concept
This crossover-style four-door coupé combines a high-quality, formal appearance with dynamic emotion, a sporty, taut exterior, and a spacious interior. The front features the signature Lexus spindle grille, designed into the edge and integrated into the head wrap. The rear features a straight line that blends seamlessly with the Lexus L-shape.
Lexus Sport concept
The front has a new look that goes beyond the concept of a spindle grille, with LED headlamps that stand out with their sharp edges, and Lexus’ iconic L-shaped LED which has evolved to be more three-dimensional and cutting-edge, combining aerodynamic performance with visual impact. The rear features a wide rear bumper, a single-character LED taillight with two distinctive lines, and a prominent underpanel that creates a sense of unity.
Lexus LS Micro concept
Toyota Corolla concept
The hood is extremely low, and the cowl around the rear end of the hood and the bottom edge of the windshield is also low and protrudes forward. The windshield is also tilted considerably, giving the car a one-motion silhouette from nose to rear, a low center of gravity, and a wide and low design, making it a coupé-style four-door sedan with a new face that seems to be an evolution of the design based on Toyota’s current Hammerhead motif. The rear features a distinctive horizontal clearance lamp. The Corolla concept previews a future where more specialized car-making is pursued, with variations developed to suit the world’s roads, and technological innovation used to realize a flexible package.
Toyota HiAce concept
The HiAce is a commercial van model that has been loved around the world since 1967. It will be converted to a semi-cabover style. When you open the passenger door and the passenger side sliding door, the B-pillar is eliminated, revealing a large opening.
The entire car has a futuristic, seamless design, with flat front lights creating a clean, expansive look. The rear also has simple straight lines on both sides, designed so as not to interfere with opening and closing the rear doors. The passenger door has an LCD panel built in, which allows you to send messages to people outside. The rear back door also has an LED built in, allowing you to send messages to those behind.
Toyota Kayoibako (“Tote Box”)
The Kayoibako aims for a future of mobility where people can do what they want, when they want, where they want. It’s an ‘ultra-expandable’ model that responds to diverse social issues and individual needs. The goal was to create a simple structure that meets local needs, creates local jobs, continues to grow, and can be assembled and repaired by anyone.
The front is simply designed with a single horizontal LCD grilleboard display flanked by headlamps, with an illuminated Toyota logotype below. The rear features simple vertical combination lamps.
Toyota Land Cruiser FJ
The Land Cruiser FJ was developed as a compact and agile model. Two types of headlamps are available: C-shaped ones, and round ones.
Daihatsu K-Vision
This model has a square, boxy design – plain, yet not too simple. There’s a central illuminated Daihatsu logo. The front face features a black garnish that wraps around to the sides, and square headlamps with striking signature lamps that feature an upper and lower C-shape. The tail is consistent with the front, with a straight-line design that also features an upper and lower C-shape.
Daihatsu K-Open
This kei car’s styling combines the feeling of the breeze in a light, open-air car with the familiarity and powerful driving feel of a FR layout. The headlamps are round and cute, like the eyes of a small animal, and the rear has a similar shape, creating a unified overall design.
Daihatsu Kayoibako-K
Toyota have developed their Kayoibako family, including the Toyota Kayoibako described above, which is small enough to be used as a taxi, and the Daihatsu Kayoibako-K, a light commercial van. As commercial vehicles are generally produced in small quantities and with a wide variety of models, Toyota say they want to present a broad range of variations, which is why they exhibited multiple concept cars.
The headlamps have a C-shaped design, with the Daihatsu illuminated logo in the center. The top of the rear sliding door is fitted with an LCD screen that can display messages such as charging status and when a delivery is in progress.
Daihatsu Midget X concept
This distinctive 1+2 layout creates a new kind of vehicle. It’s designed as a battery electric light vehicle, developed with the aim of being a child-carrying bicycle for carrying a child on the back. The eye level when sitting in the central driver’s seat and the eye level of the two rear seats, which are positioned slightly further back and shaped like child seats, both are designed to be the same height as when sitting on a city bike.
Hino Poncho Dot
This is a concept car for multi-purpose mobility, conceived to make local mobility more free and flexible. It’s based on the small Hino Dutro Z EV electric truck, a compact vehicle that can transport people and goods together and contribute to solving local mobility issues. The exterior design aims to be familiar and reassuring to local residents, and features a rounded shape that expresses softness, affection, and kindness. The headlamps are round.
Mazda Vision X Coupé
Here’s a four-door sports coupé with a plug-in hybrid system that combines a two-rotor turbo rotary engine, electric motor, and battery, and is also equipped with carbon-neutral fuel and CO₂ recovery technology.
The front features a prominent central Mazda emblem, twin-eye LED headlamps, and a light signature below them that resembles the lower half of a V. This signature appears to be connected to the diagonal design inside the twin-eye headlamps. The rear combination lamps have a boomerang or swirl design, with a Mazda callout in the centre which appears when the lights are on.
Mazda Vision X Compact
The aim is said to be a compact car for a new era. At the front, anyone can tell it’s a Mazda with its characteristic round LED projector headlamps, which arch downwards.
The rear combination lamps are shaped upside down from the front design.
Subaru Performance – E STI concept
This concept model is a short BEV wagon and 4WD sports car that predicts the future of the next-generation performance scene. The exterior features a dynamic design that evolves STI’s heritage. The taillights swoop inward to connect with the Subaru illuminated logo.
Subaru Trail Seeker
This is Subaru’s second BEV. The front features a six-star illuminated logo and an EV lighting signature. The taillights have a straight line, and the Illuminated Subaru logo is eye-catching.
Suzuki Visio e-Sky
This BEV kei car has a boxy, angular body with a sleek, no-grille front. Its design is typical of Suzuki. There’s an animated lamp at the front that can display messages by connecting the headlamps. The front and rear lamp design is shaped like three U-forms combined with a bar. The headlamps are located in the center of the flat lights at the front.
Suzuki Victoris
The front and rear lights share a commonality – this is the design of Suzuki’s future premium vehicles. The exterior features sharply shaped, cutting-edge, eye-catching LED headlamps, while the rear features a design with a row of small rectangular LED dots that drop down on both sides.
Nissan Elgrand
The exterior is said to have been designed with a ‘linear motor car’ motif. The front grille is based on the traditional Japanese craft of Kumiko, a technique of assembling wooden pieces without the use of nails or other fasteners. This L-class minivan features a flowing design with sharp edges in various parts. The headlamps, integrated into the front grille, are of eye-catching design.
Nissan Ariya
The facelifted new Ariya and the Leaf have headlamps that incorporate the design of the N7.
Nissan Micra
The design is like an SUV; it is a simple homage to Nissan. The headlamps protrude slightly from the clean surface that slopes from the licence plate to the hood. The front and rear lamps have a unified circular design.
Nissan Roox
A rounded-square design motif is incorporated throughout the car, including in the front and rear lamps. The square symbolizes spaciousness and size. By rounding the corners and adopting a rounded finish, the new Roox expresses its warmth and playfulness.
Mitsubishi Elevance concept
This electric crossover SUV is designed to enhance the quality of the driving experience. Its S-AWC 4WD system delivers comfortable and powerful driving, from urban areas to nature. The exterior’s front design features an advanced expression of Mitsubishi’s ‘Dynamic Shield’ design identity. The linear flow from the headlamps to the character line on the body side and the taillights creates a majestic and imposing design, and the glass area on the body side extends below the character line.
Honda 0 saloon concept
Horizontal fins project from the bottom of the grilleboard. The turn signals are in the gap between the hood and fenders and are sequential, going from bottom to top. At the rear, the turn signal lamps feature five lines across the entire rear that flash only in the direction they are pointed. The headlamps are covered by motorized panel.
Honda 0 α concept
This compact SUV aims to blend beautifully into both urban and natural environments, and to be a presence that accompanies people in all sorts of situations. The front combines the headlamps, charging lid, and illuminating emblem. The rear features a U-shaped combination light, resulting in a unique design that is both visually and functionally unique.
Honda 0 SUV concept
By applying the 0 Series concept of ‘Thin, Light, and Wise’ to an SUV, the spaciousness of the interior has been further expanded, realizing a spacious living space with an open view and a high degree of freedom. The front features a design that combines the headlamps, and the contrast between the all-black and the white of the lights and logo is eye-catching. The white square 5×3 daytime running lights are also sequential turn signals that flow from the center to the outside when the turn signals are activated.
Honda N-One e
This is Honda’s first BEV kei car. The front features round LED headlamps, and the rear features flat, trapezoidal lamps.
Honda Micro EV
The compact body proportions and short front and rear overhangs suggest a minimalist stance aimed at short-distance travel in urban areas. Two round lights positioned just below the windshield give the entire front the appearance of a cartoon face, emphasizing its familiarity in urban environments.
The only highlights are the two vertically aligned taillight clusters and the miniature trunk-like panel engraved with the brand name. This treatment maintains a clean layout for the body, suppressing unnecessary details and adhering to a minimalist direction.
Acura RSX prototype
This is the first model to adopt a next-generation EV platform, and it is equipped with Honda’s proprietary vehicle operating system, Asimo OS. Its coupé-like silhouette and deeply carved side panels create powerful proportions. The front face is an evolution of Acura’s unique diamond pentagon design, featuring sharply shaped daytime running lights and low-positioned LED headlamps, creating an impressive, vertically-split design.
Sharp LDK+
This is an improved version of the Model A EV made by Sharp’s parent company, Foxconn, and is scheduled to enter the market in fiscal 2027. The concept is ‘Part of your home’, where the car becomes part of the house or another room. The entire front of the car is illuminated, with headlamps positioned on either side.
Kia PV5
The PV5 BEV, scheduled for introduction in Japan in spring 2026, was unveiled for the first time in Japan.
The eye-catching flat front lights flow from the A-pillars. The headlamps are located in the bumper.
BYD Racco
This looks like a conventional Japanese tall kei car with combustion engine and sliding doors. But it is in fact the BEV kei car BYD will begin selling in the summer of 2026. Front and rear lights have a C-shaped design, giving it a neat and clean look. The headlamps are in the centre of a C-shaped flat light. The rear is particularly eye-catching, with a straight, illuminated BYD logo in the center.
