TOKYO — Japan's Toyota Motor Corp put its revamped Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, with 30% greater range, on sale Wednesday in a fresh push to promote the zero-emission technology amid rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles, including its own.
Toyota has failed until now to win drivers over to fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which remain a niche technology despite Japanese government backing, amid concerns about a lack of fueling stations, resale values and the risk of hydrogen explosions.
Japanese junior high school students are improving their scores in mathematics while elementary school students' scores in science are declining.
An international survey called "Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study," or TIMSS, is released every four years by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement based in the Netherlands.
An opinion poll conducted in both Japan and China has shown a gap in the way people in each place think about their neighboring country.
Japanese non-profit group Genron NPO and the China International Publishing Group conducted the joint survey in September and October. About 2,600 people in the two countries responded.
An aquarium in western Japan has appointed an 11-year-old boy the director of its popular dolphin show. The boy impressed the staff with his deep love for marine animals.
Goto Takuto is in the sixth grade of an elementary school in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. He has been regularly visiting the city's New Yashima Aquarium since he was two.
TOKYO — Nissan says it has developed a new way to produce high-tech auto parts that highlights the Japanese automaker's engineering finesse, even as it faces a criminal trial in an ongoing scandal involving former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Nissan Motor Co. said it has achieved a "breakthrough" in molding carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or CFRP, components, now used in racing cars and jets because of their light weight and strength.
Data from mobile phones show that fewer people went out at night on Monday when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government started asking establishments that serve alcohol to close early to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
IT firm Agoop estimated the number of people at specific locations across Japan based on mobile phone data gathered with users' consent. Privacy was protected.
The new-generation Nissan Pathfinder (it will be marketed as either a 2022MY or 2021MY in North America, depending on when it launches) has been spied testing under heavy camouflage. While much of the vehicle's exterior design is hidden, our spy photographers were able to snap some revealing images of the interior.
Mobile phone data shows that long-distance travel from Tokyo rose sharply during the first weekend since restrictions between prefectures were relaxed last week.
NHK analyzed anonymous network data tallied by mobile carrier NTT Docomo. It shows that arrivals from Tokyo last Saturday and Sunday rose in all other prefectures compared to the final weekend of May.
If we were playing alt-powertrain Bingo, a recent Mazda patent application filed in Japan would be one or two letters from victory. What's exciting about the patent, discovered by Japanese outlet T's Media via Motor Trend, is that while it makes a case for an internal combustion engine of any configuration, one of the drawings showing a rotary engine. The wild bit is that the whole powertrain comprises the ICE, a transaxle, two tiny in-wheel electric motors turning the front wheels, a third electric motor in the driveline, a capacitor, a lithium-ion battery, and three inverters. Motor Trend parsed the mechanics, and the way it reads, Doc Brown couldn't have done a better job.
The rotary engine at the front turns the rear wheels, but not directly. Instead of a flywheel on back of the engine, the drawing shows a 25-kW electric motor and an inverter, then a driveshaft running to the transaxle. Along the axis of the transmission tunnel in a normal car, between the inverter and the transaxle, lies a 3.5-kWh battery running at 48 volts. MT writes that the electric motor can add its output to the ICE output to drive the rear wheels, or the e-motor can turn the rear axle on its own.
The PV for Ariyasu Momoka's new song "Sakura Tone" has been uploaded onto YouTube.
"Sakura Tone" was released digitally on March 4 as Ariyasu's first single after resuming her activities. The PV is comprised of scenes of the singer in the recording studio, so you can see her contemplating over the lyrics and also happily singing.