Japan Mobility Show Kicks Off with Focus on Future Mobility

Tokyo, Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Mobility Show opened at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in the capital's Koto Ward on Thursday, featuring future forms of mobility. The auto fair, previously known as the Tokyo Motor Show, brought together 475 businesses, a record high, including many startups and companies outside the auto industry, according to the main organizer Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. The word "move," which cognates with the word "mobility," means "not only 'to go to another place' but also 'to touch the heart,'" JAMA Chairman Akio Toyoda said at the opening ceremony. "The mobility of the future will connect with cities, connect with people, and connect with their hearts." Hailing quite a number of non-auto participants, Toyoda stressed that a future created by regulations and external pressure and a future built on trust and empathy are "totally different." One of the highlights of the event is the Tokyo Future Tour section, which showcases mobility of the future. One of the areas in the section shows how new mobility can respond to devastation of a natural disaster symbolized by Godzilla, under a tie-up with a new Godzilla movie to be released in Japan next month. Many major automakers are exhibiting concept electric vehicles, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s FT-3e SUV and Nissan Motor Co.'s Hyper Urban crossover. Honda Motor Co. is premiering the CI-MEV, a four-wheeled two-seater experimental vehicle equipped with the automaker's original "cooperative intelligence" and automated driving technology. Sony Honda Mobility Inc., set up by Honda and Sony Group Corp., is exhibiting the Afeela Prototype, which looks like a "smartphone on wheels." JAMA hopes to see one million visitors to the show. Roughly 1.3 million people visited the previous motor show in 2019. The biennial event was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On-the-day admission tickets cost 3,000 yen and preordered tickets 2,700 yen. Entry is free for high school students and younger. The event is set to run through Nov. 5. END