Even though there are only four manufacturers of new kei vans in Japan right now (if you count a Mitsubishi-Nissan partnership as a single manufacturer), vehicle shoppers over there still have an amazing variety of tiny trucks to choose from.
We've seen the Honda N-VAN E, the Subaru Sambar Dias, the Suzuki Wagon R Smile, and the Daihatsu Move Canbus for 2025 so far in this series, and today we're going back to Daihatsu for the Toyota-0wned manufacturer's utilitarian Hijet Cargo.
Daihatsu has been building Hijet trucks since 1960, when the first L35/L36 pickups and vans hit Japanese streets with 365 furious cubic centimeters of two-cylinder/two-stroke power. You'll see hard-working Hijet Cargo vans everywhere on Japanese streets to this day.
Daihatsu shoppers looking for new commuter or family-hauler vans generally get some variation of the Move or Tanto, or maybe even the non-kei Thor (formerly sold as the Toyota Tank). The Hijet Cargo is marketed primarily as a work truck.
Still, you can get the Hijet Cargo in a variety of fun colors (though you'll need to pay extra if you don't want the not-quite-so-fun silver or white).
It's just the thing for, say, a nursery that does plant delivery.
The cheapest possible '25 Hijet Cargo is the silver or white base model with rear-wheel drive, a five-speed manual transmission, and no frills. That's the ¥1,215,500 version ($8,258 at the yen-dollar exchange rate as of the time of this writing).
All-wheel drive, automatic transmission, turbocharged engine, thumping sound system and so forth will push the price up. But even the most loaded possible new Hijet Cargo will be much cheaper than any new van available in the United States.
If you want power sliding doors on both sides, they're available!
I daily-drive a 1996 Subaru Sambar kei van, and it's the greatest city vehicle I've ever owned. It gets 60 miles per gallon in town and is capable (though not very happy about) sustained 60 mph highway cruising. If I could buy and register a brand-new JDM-grade kei van in the United States right now, I'd do it immediately.
If you prefer a small pickup with sliding doors, the Hijet Cargo Deck is for you.
Business in the front, (very small) party in the back. If I owned one of these, I'd call it a Hijet-amino.
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