2021 Toyota Sienna Minivan Earns Iihs Tsp+ Award With Big Improvements

2021 Toyota Sienna minivan earns IIHS TSP+ award with big improvements

The new and redesigned 2021 Toyota Sienna takes big strides forward when it comes to crash safety, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It earns the highest possible Top Safety Pick+ award for 2021, whereas the previous Sienna received no accolades.

Most tests saw the 2020 Sienna earn applaudable scores, but it didn't do so well with both small overlap front crash tests. Toyota appears to have addressed the previous model's shortcomings, as it scored a "Good" rating in both overlap tests this year. The IIHS says the outgoing Sienna fell short because "the occupant's survival space was not maintained well" in either small overlap front crash test. Those structural issues didn't present themselves in the 2021 Sienna, and IIHS testing found no evidence of a heightened risk of injury to the driver or passenger.

2021 Nissan Sentra Gets Top Safety Pick Award From Iihs

2021 Nissan Sentra gets Top Safety Pick award from IIHS

Redesigned headlights earned the 2021 Nissan Sentra a coveted Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Some 2020 models built after the last round of updates get the distinction, too.

Nissan's eighth-generation Sentra made its debut for the 2020 model year with a new platform, a much more muscular design inspired by the bigger Maxima, and better technology inside. We drove it and called it an appealing small car, but the IIHS gave its snazzy headlights an inferior rating. Nissan took the criticism to heart.

2021 Toyota C-hr Gets Top Safety Pick Award From Iihs

2021 Toyota C-HR gets Top Safety Pick award from IIHS

Newly-available electronic driving aids earned the 2021 Toyota C-HR a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Japanese firm's smallest crossover missed out on a Plus rating, however.

Toyota made its Safety Sense 2.5 suite of electronic driving aids standard across the full C-HR range for 2021. It bundles a long list of features including a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, road sign assist, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping technology, and automatic high beams. It's the first feature (called PCS w/PD in alphabet-soupese) that made a difference from the Institute's standpoint. It allowed the C-HR to avoid collisions at 12 and 25 mph, and it either avoided or at least slowed down for a dummy in three separate tests.

Yu Miri Wins Us National Book Award

Yu Miri wins US National Book Award

Japan-based Korean writer Yu Miri has won the National Book Award, the most prestigious literary prize in the US.

Yu's "Tokyo Ueno Station," written originally in Japanese, was announced as the winner for best translated work in an online event Thursday morning, Japan time.

Darvish, Maeda Finalists For Cy Young Award

Darvish, Maeda finalists for Cy Young Award

Two Japanese baseball stars are in the running for the highest pitching honor in the US Major Leagues. Darvish Yu of the Chicago Cubs and Maeda Kenta of the Minnesota Twins are finalists for the Cy Young Award.

The award is given annually to the best pitcher in each league. It is named after the late pitcher Cy Young, who earned 511 wins in his career--the most in MLB history.

2021 Toyota Venza Earns Iihs Top Safety Pick Award

2021 Toyota Venza earns IIHS Top Safety Pick award

In addition to a stylish design and hybrid fuel economy, the 2021 Toyota Venza can now brag about its safety ratings. The IIHS has awarded the crossover its second-highest Top Safety Pick rating for its all-around superb safety scores. The only thing holding it back from the highest Top Safety Pick + rating is slightly subpar standard headlights.

In the Venza's favor are crash test ratings that earn the top "Good" rating across the board. Also impressive are its collision prevention ratings. Tested for car-to-car and car-to-pedestrian crash prevention, the Venza's suite of automatic braking and warning systems earned the highest "Superior" score for both. Those systems are all standard on all Venza's, too. Finally, the child seat LATCH anchor access is rated "Good +."

2021 Honda Odyssey Minivan Nabs Top Safety Pick+ Award

2021 Honda Odyssey minivan nabs Top Safety Pick+ award

The 2021 Honda Odyssey has achieved the highest award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Top Safety Pick+. Although the Odyssey is not a new generation for 2021, it does benefit from several changes, including newly standard active-safety features and new LED headlamps that appear across the lineup.

Previously, the 2020 Odyssey performed well in all six crash tests, achieving the highest, Good, score in all six. It's halogen headlamps, however, were rated Marginal and Poor (depending on the version). And its collision-avoidance system had not been tested. The 2021 Odyssey has LED headlamps as standard, and they earned an Acceptable score. Additionally, the Odyssey's collision-avoidance system is now included on all trims, and it earned a Superior rating in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. The Odyssey also received a Good+ score for LATCH ease of use — the best among minivans — although that is not part of the criteria for a TSP+ award.

Kurosawa Hopes Award Leads To New Challenges

Kurosawa hopes award leads to new challenges

Japanese film director Kurosawa Kiyoshi says he hopes winning the best director award at the Venice International Film Festival for "Wife of a Spy" will give him a chance to take on new challenges.

Kurosawa spoke to NHK online after becoming the first Japanese person to win the award in 17 years.

Kurosawa Wins Best Director Award In Venice

Kurosawa wins best director award in Venice

Japanese director Kurosawa Kiyoshi has won the Silver Lion for best director at the 77th Venice Film Festival.

Kurosawa's movie "Wife of a Spy" is set in 1940, before the outbreak of the Pacific War. It's about the wife of a man who discovers a state secret and is accused of being a traitor.

Xperia 1 Ii Wins Eisa 2020 Award For Multimedia Smartphone Of The Year

Xperia 1 II wins EISA 2020 award for multimedia smartphone of the year

Sony has picked up an EISA 2020-21 Multimedia Smartphone award for the Xperia 1 II (Mark 2), a well-deserved win given the phones' all round performance. The handset boasts a number of features that helped it to win including its 4K OLED display, Dolby Atmos sound, support for PlayStation DUALSHOCK4 controllers, and of course the return of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

2020 Toyota Highlander Gets Iihs Top Safety Pick Award

2020 Toyota Highlander gets IIHS Top Safety Pick award

Toyota's redesigned 2020 Highlander midsize SUV has earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with the familiar caveat that the rating applies only to certain headlight packages available in certain trim levels.

The fourth-generation Highlander comes with three headlight options. IIHS rates the static LED reflectors, the base version that comes on the L, LE and XLE models, as poor, which is why the crossover missed out on being named a Top Safety Pick+. The static LED projector headlights on the Limited and Hybrid Limited trims rated acceptable, while the curve-adapted LED projectors on the Platinum versions earned good ratings.