- Honda and Acura exporting US models to Japan.
- Cars remain left-hand drive in right-hand market.
- Move helps ease trade tensions and trade deficit.
If you always thought navigating Tokyo traffic was probably tricky in a chunky SUV, imagine trying it from the wrong side of the car. Honda and Acura are now shipping US-built models to Japan, and they’re not bothering with anything as complicated as flipping the steering wheel before they load them onto the boat.
The two exports are the Acura Integra Type S, the Civic Type R’s business-suited sedan cousin, and the Honda Passport SUV. They roll off American production lines in Ohio and Alabama, but a small number are now heading straight across the Pacific.
Related: America’s Best-Selling Car Is Coming To Japan To Appease Trump
They arrive in Japan in full US spec. The front-wheel drive Type S features a 320 hp (324 PS) 2.0-liter turbo K20, six-speed manual and limited-slip differential. The all-wheel drive Passport comes only in tough Trailsport Elite trim and is powered by the same 285 hp (289 PS) 3.5-liter V6 and 10-speed auto combo found in every US model.
Where’s The Wheel Gone?
But that US spec also includes the left-hand drive layout, despite Japan, like the UK, Australia and South Africa, all being a right-hand drive market. Toll booths, parking garages and drive-thru coffee shops are all designed with that in mind.
There is, though, a long-running enthusiast subculture in Japan that loves something a little different. For years, enthusiasts have prized desirable left-hand drive German performance cars in the same way that US enthusiasts dig RHD JDM stuff and are happy to sit on the wrong side of the car. Even Donald Trump said last year that he’d like to see Japanese kei microcars on US roads.
The Integra and Passport are going to have niche appeal then, like the first American-built Honda cars exported to Japan in the 1988, a selection of Accord coupes, again made with the wheel on the left. Honda had already been shipping US-made Goldwing motorcycles overseas, including to Japan, for eight years at this point.
Appeasing Trump
But this move is as much about geopolitics as it is about gearheads. Shipping US built cars to Japan helps address long standing trade imbalances, if only fractionally, and cools political tensions that have flared repeatedly over the past year.
And Honda isn’t the only company pulling this kind of move. Toyota recently confirmed it will begin importing three American made models into Japan from 2026, including the Camry sedan, Highlander SUV and Tundra pickup. Yes, a Texas built Tundra prowling Tokyo streets is now a very real possibility.
