The Boxiness Of Japanese Cars
 

The Boxiness Of Japanese Cars
The Boxiness Of Japanese Cars | Tofugu
http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/upl...onda-japan.jpg
Interesting, and I bet true.

Japan also offers lower licensing and insurance rates for smaller vehicles, Kei cars have a length and weight limit along with limits on engine size and half of the cars in that photo are Kei cars.

That's mostly because cars in Japan are taxed based on their size, so it's basically the only way to save some space...

If you have to maximize space and maintain a small footprint, there's very little you can do about the overall shape of the car. The Kei hatchbacks have some aerodynamic work done on them, but there's little you can do with Kei vans without compromising their carrying capacity.

Keis could be more aerodynamic if the Japanese government allowed for more length for aerodynamic addenda... but that's not happening any time soon.