The Van That Ate the World

From the muddy rice paddies of postwar Japan to Instagram feeds of off-road adventurers and camper van enthusiasts, kei trucks and microvans have traveled a remarkable journey. Originally born from government regulations that demanded small, frugal, and practical vehicles, these miniature workhorses became indispensable to Japanese farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. Their compact size, ingenious engineering, and low operating costs made them the backbone of Japan’s economic recovery, while their adaptability turned them into delivery vans, municipal fleet vehicles, and even rural taxis.But their story did not stop at the nation’s borders. By the late twentieth century, kei trucks began appearing in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America-first as surplus exports, then as cult imports for enthusiasts willing to navigate regulations and legal loopholes. Online communities and social media elevated them to icons of creativity, as people transformed them into camper vans, mobile coffee carts, overlanding rigs, and canvases for customization. Today, electric kei vans represent the cutting edge of Japan’s sustainable transport strategy, while classic models are cherished by collectors worldwide.This book charts the full history of kei trucks and microvans, from their unlikely birth as policy experiments to their twenty-first century reinvention as symbols of efficiency, individuality, and cultural cool. It is the definitive account of how small, practical machines became a global movement, teaching lessons about mobility, design, and the power of doing more with less.