japanese cars part one - body styles

It is far overdue that I speak of Japanese cars. I have had a fair share of different cars due to my mishaps and what not. My current car is considered a kei car but it is a Pajero mini by Mitsubishi. It looks like a little jeep and I digg it but there are many cars out there that I simply shake my head at.

My area is incredibly rural with many farms so it is not surprising that farm trucks abound. Back in Canada a farm truck is at least a 1/4 ton often with four wheel drive. Japan's version is a little different. With a width of 174.5cm they can zip around the small roads encircling the rice fields.

Every farmer has one and I swear they do not go above 40km/h. With the box being so small, you wouldn't think they could haul much but they manage to haphazardly pile massive amounts of stuff in it.

Then there is the cube shaped vehicle (because cubes are aerodynamic didn't you know). The cubey vehicle seems to be the automobile of choice among women and they often coming in pale pinks, blues, and greens.

Another girly car is the bubble car though many pretty men are seen in them as well! They often come in pastelly colours akin to the cube.
Everyone else and their dog drives some form of hatchback that can range from cubish to a spaceship looking vehicle. The overwhelming prevalence of hatchbacks did not dawn on me until a few months ago when I was checking out the cars in my parking lot and then I noticed it everywhere else. My parking lot....

Now the yankees you might call the white trash (or the chavs as the British would say) of Japan. They are often seen out with tracksuits and gaudy clothing with the biggest hair and worst die jobs imaginable. For some obscure reason both the men and women tend to wear hello kitty slippers as part of their every day fashion?They don't stop the tackiness with their person however but extend it to their automobiles and in comes the yankee van.

Please don't get the impression that these are extreme or uncommon because I have a few cruising the streets of my town.

The kings of the road however, hate to be outdone and so custom semis are a frequent sight as well. With elaborate airbrushing, tricked out lights and random slabs of chrome these vehicle are hard to miss.