21 Feb 07
Japanese culture has made huge strides in the UK over the past decade: manga, anime, Evos, WRXs and GT-Rs, sushi at Sainsburys. Wagamama (which isn't real Japanese food, actually) is the new Pizza Express.
But what about Japanese car design and, in particular, Japan's peculiar fascination with the car as a box? Could you fall in love with a basic, rectangular-shaped car with all the styling nuances of a breeze block?
Millions of Japanese have done just that and, while it's not yet become cool in the UK, this car-as-a-box idea could yet be one of The Next Big Things say some car design gurus.
However, cars that are Big in Japan in this way - the Nissan Cube and Suzuki Wagon R are two that immediately spring to mind - are some way beyond what passes for normal in other parts of the globe. Deliberately so. With sheer sides and flat roofs, they look cheerfully, intriguingly, if not scarily, wacky and, on the face of it, look about as compatible with UK life as eating poison blowfish (another Japanese delicacy).
Space, utility and all the simple logic of a packing crate were some of the defining factors behind their creation. That and the ability to carry family and/or friends around in a roomy, comfy, five/seven seat cabin. Driver appeal hardly figures - although the irony is that our box duo do make the grade, albeit in their own idiosyncratic ways.
