two cute

honda PUYO

the concept of cute in japan is radically different to that experienced in north america. firstly it extends well beyond the schoolgirl stage and is culturally embedded as a way of expression right through to women in their thirties. what might seem disturbing to north americans and europeans as a means of dressing or behaving is apparently commonplace among women in japan.

i could make all sorts of clever observations around the purpose of subjugating women to giggling girly shells and how that might be to make men who possibly feel somewhat inferior take on a more masculine persona relative to their coy and bubbly counterparts, but i won’t.

honda has among its many purposes, the task of selling cars and it seems that they have dug into the japanese psyche and come up with a winner. a marketing winner that is, by creating a car and a niche that tells as much about the current needs of a sector of japanese women as it does about the extraordinary technology that is available to car manufacturers.


the PUYO was released at this year’s Tokyo Car Show. the overall goal for this car was to emphasize the tactile. even the name “puyo” is a japanese onomatopoeia meant to describe the sensation of touching the car’s soft body. Watch this video to get a good idea of what it looks like as well as some of the thinking that went into it.



here is a picture of its luminescent gel body. that's right luminescent gel body!!



elastic instrument monitors. luminous fluid monitors.
wheels that allow you to do a donut right on the spot. here's a picture of the button you push to tell the car to do it's on-the-spot 360!

tires that are imprinted with a side profile image of the car so that (like those happy face boots you so wanted when you were a kid) it leaves a little images of itself squished into the snow as you drive softly down the street. who doesn’t love all of that? sure it’s not the prettiest car on the planet but can you imagine being able to pinch and cuddle your car? no? oh.

Nissan PINO

this car goes much much further than any car i have seen before in making itself an object to be decorated and adorned and adored. probably not even to be driven but more of a livingroom on wheels. a place to hang out with your friends. in this way it has much to do with the hot rods, low riders, show cars, concours d’elegance people. the vehicle becomes a means to localize a small chunk of society and give it a focal point.

the object of adoration:



the following link takes you to the (for me at least) most amazing feature of this whole piece which is the pino boutique. here you can purchase decorations for your car including cushions, purses, stuffies, decals, it's truly amazing!!! my eleven year old daughter went ape over this stuff!!! when you get to the site a lot of it is written in japanese of course but don't be afraid - there are some buttons in english and if you are truly curious you'll try everything.

have a look at what you can buy for your pino

here is a commercial from japan, “selling” both the idea and the “reality” of the pino. my favourite scene is the one in which the girl points to a pino hanging on a wall, all wrapped in plastic looking exactly like a toy.