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We're used to seeing hundreds of hatchbacks on the roads every day, but some Japanese models still manage to catch us off guard.

Japan is known for many things – from its traditional samurai culture and the beautiful Mount Fuji to its incredible anime industry and knack for producing some of the best technology on the planet. Another sector the country is excellent in is the auto industry.

Japan consistently boasts the largest automaker on the planet – Toyota – and even has an entire city named after the company. The other companies – Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, etc. – have just as much influence within the market, with each company depending on the other for competition. As such, there have been some weird vehicles over the years from these automakers. Whether it was due to demand or simply because they wanted to try something new, some cars were quite strange – and not just in their design. They had interesting names and features – some still in existence today. One segment the Japanese car industry is particularly good in is hatchbacks – particularly Kei car hatches.

So, Japan is a country filled with rich history, strange interests, and weird cars, of which we enthusiasts still cannot get enough of it. With that, here are ten of the weirdest JDMhatchbacks ever made.

The Mitsubishi RVR – also called the Space Runner and Expo LRV in North America – was a pretty mundane and slow compact people carrier sold between 1991 and 2002. The RVR was revived in 2010 as the Mitsubishi ASX.

To spice up the range a bit, Mitsubishi decided to turn the RVR into a Targa-top, making the part of the roof above the driver and front passenger removable. They called it the ‘Open Gear’ and it was available with front-wheel or all-wheel drive. The weirdest thing about it? It had a Targa roof but retained the conventional upwards-opening tailgate.

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The Suzuki Twin was a tiny Kei car sold between 2003 and 2004. It was only available in the single 3-door body style and had a tiny 3-cylinder in the front. It was available with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic – the latter of which could also be specced as a hybrid.

The Twin showcased exceptional fuel economy and headroom and had a brilliantly small turning circle, but other aspects such as the acceleration, power delivery, storage, and interior finishes were all heavily criticized. Plus, it looked weird.

Speaking of a weird-looking car, enter the Toyota WiLL Cypha – a 'hipper' division of Toyota focused on producing vehicles for a younger demographic. The Cypha was one of these more futuristic-looking hatchbacks and was based on the popular Yaris compact.

The Cypha was available with either a 1.3 or 1.5-liter inline-4, mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission as the only choice. The styling of the Cypha is what garners attention; however, the rest of the car is pretty boring.

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The Mitsubishi Minica Toppo – mostly just referred to as the Toppo – is an interesting Kei car. While the car looks like a pretty basic Japanese van/MPV below the window line, it looks like the car is wearing a top hat when looking at the whole vehicle. Because of the restrictions on the Kei car, Mitsubishi decided to use all the available height, meaning this little family car is nearly 69-inches tall.

The engine is the normal 0.66-liter – as per the Kei car rules – but came in naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms, with the top-spec producing the same 64 hp as all the other high-end Kei cars. This car is the opposite of the Ford GT40 – short, thin, and tall as opposed to the Ford’s low, sleek and wide. It would be interesting to see them together.

The Subaru Vivio is a pretty uninteresting Kei car that was available as either a 3-door hatchback or a 2-door coupe. The Vivio name comes from the 660cc engine displacement written in Roman numerals – VI, VI, O – which is where the cool stuff begins and ends.

Luckily, Subaru created the Vivio Bistro – that doesn’t make coffee – which was inspired by the original Mini Cooper from the 1960s. The Vivio Bistro got a retro body kit, some fancier lettering on the exterior, and a supercharged engine under the hood, producing 64 hp.

Related: 10 Underrated Japanese Cars From The '90s We'd Love To Own

The Daihatsu Naked not only has a weird name but has some interesting styling. From a distance, the vehicle looks like a normal 5-door hatchback. However, get closer, and it starts to resemble a Jeep.

Daihatsu wanted to emulate ruggedness, so they placed the hinges for the doors on the outside – like Jeep still does with their Wrangler. The car also comes with optional (fake) rivets on the fenders and some off-road-inspired steel wheels, and it can even be optioned with all-wheel drive in case you’d like to test the vehicle’s capabilities.

The 1990s Mitsubishi MUM 500 Shall We Join Us? – no, that’s not a typo – was a tiny Kei car of the era. It was just a concept car but was fully functional. It followed the standard Kei car formula of a small inline-3 and fitted well inside the required dimensions.

The most puzzling part of the car is the question mark on the rear tailgate. Do we have trouble joining ourselves? Regardless, it is a profoundly confusing name. Many called the car a computer mouse on wheels – quite fitting due to the styling.

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From a distance, the vehicle may be mistaken for a Jeep Cherokee XJ, but it is a Nissan Rasheen. Originally introduced in 1994 and in production until 2000, the Rasheen was the SUV version of the popular Nissan Sunny – also called the Almera in some markets.

The Rasheen was powered by a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated inline-4, which was subsequently upgraded to a 1.8 and finally a 2.0-liter. At its most powerful, the Rasheen produced around 145 hp and was available with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. Interestingly, the Rasheen was only ever an all-wheel-drive vehicle.

The Nissan Cube is among the weirdest of series production vehicles. Introduced in 1998, it was a pretty generic Japanese MPV. It wasn’t until the second generation in 2002 that the styling took a different turn. Gone were the sharp corners, instead replaced with rounded edges, but overall, the car was still essentially a cube – except for the engine compartment.

The third generation, introduced in 2009, kept most of the styling and was little more than a facelift and interior redesign. The engines included a series of sub-2.0-liter inline-4s, with the third-gen getting a turbodiesel option. The Cube was luckily discontinued in 2019, with the North American versions disappearing in 2014.

When looking at the Nissan Pao, it seems like a cheap ‘people’s car’ from the 1950s or 1960s, but it was introduced in 1989. The Pao was specifically retro-styled and designed for the Japanese Domestic Market. It was only ever available in a 3-door hatchback body style and a tiny 1.0-liter inline-4.

The New York Times called it “the height of postmodernism” and noted that it was “unabashedly retro, promiscuously combining elements from the Citroën 2CV, Renault 4, Austin Mini, and Fiat 500”. It is one of the weirdest Japanese hatchbacks ever made.

Michael De Kock is passionate about cars and everything from avocados to particle accelerators. He has studied psychology and knows a little bit about fixing cars (old Land Rovers mostly). He also blogs and has a book, 125 Creative Writing Prompts for Petrolheads, available on Amazon. His philosophy in life: Stop the hate - Adopt a V8.