Japanese books about the Prius and how to buy them
By knowing how to type Prius in Japanese I was able to find several books about the Prius from Japan. You can do it too! Go to www.amazon.co.jp. It is organized the same way as the US site, so type Prius in Japanese into the search box and you should get results with several books.

I've been attempting to learn a bit of Japanese, and somehow I managed to setup an account with Amazon.jp. Even though one should never judge a book by its cover, I did just that and ordered the book you see to the right (it was also the only one with user reviews listed).  It is pretty pricey to order from Amazon.jp, so ordering these books is probably only for the learner of Japanese or the die-hard Prius fanatic.

The book I got is split into two sections. I can't say for sure, but one section appears to be more about the design process and the other appears to be more about the technological aspects of the Prius. There are several black and white photos of people and Prius prototypes. As with the MTECH Prius model, this book is about the original 1997 Prius.

One of my favorite bits is a drawing of the outline of a Prius superimposed over the outline of a Camry complete with differences in dimensions. It shows very clearly why at 6'6" I fit in the Prius well but not the Camry!

Update 1/15/04:

Amazon.co.jp now has books on the 2004 Prius! I purchased a full-length book about the new model as well as an inexpensive magazine/advertisement for the new car.  Here are photos of them both:


Book about the 2004 Prius


Magazine/advertisement about the 2004 Prius
I purchased the book with the hopes of being able to read it someday and learn all about the development of such an innovative car. The magazine was only 400 yen (about $4), so I went ahead and added it to my order. Boy am I glad I did! 

Even if you don't speak Japanese, the magazine has tons of cool pictures and diagrams that make it worth owning. It even has concept drawings of both the interior and exterior of the new redesign, as well as a page about the Japan-only self-parking feature. Shipping to the US is roughly $15 for a single book or magazine, so altogether ordering just the magazine would cost about $20, which is pretty steep to say the least. It's a pretty neat item for Prius enthusiasts though!  :-)

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