Went on an amazing trip Snowboarding in Japan. The snow is incredible there powder heaven and they have boarding/skiing under lights till 9.30 everynight. The people are super friendly and funny and organised. Umm you can get coffee in a can out of a vending machine everywhere. Didn't get to the Toyota Museum or buy a pimped out Carib with Lazerdisk player or even see any cars like ours.
Did see heaps of later model Corrola type 4wd models up to modern day versions.
Indeed most cars in Japan (very few imports) have a 4wd model for the domestic market. The conditions are pretty extreme in the mountains similar to Canada I guess (almost half of Japan seems to be fairly inaccessable mountain with plenty of snow and ice in winter) So everything from your little Honda buzz box to your Minibus and delivery van all have various 4wd systems and studded tyres.
Some of the roads are heated near intersections A lot of the toilet seats are also heated (but I digress)
Anyway apart from lots of these standard Toyota type wagons with 4wd
There was a few of these cool little Nissan Rasheens
They have a 1.5lt engine, full time 4wd and look like they were designed from a mixture of Hummer and Russian ex Fiat factory parts, indeed someone said that they look like a european version of a 1950's car for Africa
They have a weird split rear hatch that goes right into the roof
Anyway Here's a few shots
Notice the exterior wheel holder in the first shot is tiny... probably only holds a space saver tyre?
This one shows how small this little boxy car is compared to a Prado and a galant size cars
The last image I got off the net but had to include, the cover for the wheel says
"4wd with the feeling of nature and the sense of urban, having a wide range of activities as daily space"
umm couldn't have put it better myself