Tokyo Motor Show

Hybrids don't have to sacrifice looks to be environmentally friendly, they can be muscular and stylish, too. That's the message Honda hopes to send with its CR-Z hybrid sports car Photograph: Junji Kurokawa/AP

The Mazda Taiki, a clean-fuel two-seater "inspired by natural waves and rhythms" Photograph: Yuri Kageyama/AP

The Taiki, which is Mazda's fourth concept car in its Nagare series - following the Nagare, Ryuga and Hakaze Photograph: Yuri Kageyama/AP

A model drives Nissan's new Pivo at the company headquarters showroom. The Pivo 2 is an advanced electric concept car that features a 360 degree rotating cabin and 90 degree turning wheels Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

An artist's rendering of Toyota's I-Real. It looks like a roofless plush armchair that scoots about on wheels, with buttons and controls on the arms. Photograph: Toyota Motor Corp./AP

Toyota's I-Real can change positions, straightening up for moving slowly to mingle with pedestrians, while shifting to lay back to travel faster at up to 30 kph (18.6 mph) Photograph: Toyota Motor Corp./AP

Honda's new concept car , the Puyo. Cute, communicative and cubic seem to be the fashion statement as far as offerings from Japan's "Big Three" automakers - Toyota, Honda and Nissan Photograph: Junji Kurokawa/AP

Nissan's concept vehicle, the Intima, takes the company's modern living concept into a new dimension with an interior that invites passengers into an extraordinary world of artistic forms, materials and illumination Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP

Another Nissan concept vehicle, the Round Box, represents a new take on open-air motoring, providing exhilaration for all passengers through its uniquely shared experience of fresh air stimulation Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP

The Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid, a new kind of hybrid vehicle. The car, powered by energy produced when hydrogen combines with oxygen in the air to emit only clean water, operates on a rotary engine, which has a reputation for being quiet because it doesn't have pistons like standard engines Photograph: Yuri Kageyama/AP