The 36th Tokyo Motor Show, which gets into gear at Chiba's Makuhari Messe complex this week, will be showcasing some 105 commercial-vehicle companies from seven countries including, for the first time, South Korea.

Following the 1999 separation of the exhibition, passenger car/motorcycle and commercial vehicle extravaganzas are staged in alternate years. This year's is the first to be organized by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), which is hoping to better the public attendance figures for the corresponding event two years ago. That show, the first of its kind in Asia, attracted 178,000 visitors over the five days.

Trucks play a vital distribution role in the Japanese economy, but the show comes at a time when many manufacturers are in the red financially, overloaded with problems arising from a sluggish domestic market.

Nonetheless, manufacturing innovations aren't at a standstill, and the show promises to provide an insight into the latest trends in the market. The key word, it seems, is reduction -- of production and operating costs, exhaust emissions, fuel consumption, noise levels and driver fatigue.

Mazda last week took reduction to the extreme by announcing its decision to outsource its entire truck assembly operation from next year (to Hiroshima-based Press Kogyo).

Providing one much-needed towline for makers is the ongoing sales boom in China, where industry juggernauts from Europe are also vying to gain more of a tire hold. And the domestic "Big Four" -- industry-leader Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso (in which DaimlerChrysler has a 34 percent stake), Isuzu and Nissan Diesel -- are also showing welcome signs of increased cooperation and an emphasis on after-sales service.

Set to grab its share of the limelight at the show is an experimental fuel-cell bus, developed by market-leader Hino and its parent company Toyota, which started open-road testing this month for a planned service entry in around 2010.

Hino will also be promoting a bus boasting the world's first boarding/exiting system using cellular-phone technology, while Mitsubishi's Fuso stand will feature an Aero King Motorway Coach, the only double-decker made in Japan. Also, among its range of 21 special show and market models, will be examples of its truck range in the light (1-3.5 ton payload), medium (4-5 ton) and heavy (over 5 ton) categories, in celebration of the brand's 70th anniversary.

Of necessity jumping on the low-emission bandwagon, Isuzu will be exhibiting its next-generation Elf KR diesel truck, the first to comply with the Japanese government's new short-term regulations, set to come into force in 2003/2004. The company will also unveil its FL-4 truck technology demonstrator, which incorporates safety features such as large skirt-shaped fenders and a forward-raked windshield in a conical cab designed for optimum visibility as well as enhanced aerodynamic performance.

Among the behemoths at the exhibition will be trucks with V-10 power units up to 30,000 cc, able to haul the equivalent number of kilos. At the other end of the scale, Toyota-owned Daihatsu will display a Hijet Cargo van combining a 660 cc gasoline engine with an electric motor, the first practical application of such hybrid technology that is also at the public road-test phase of development. First-hand comparison of hybrid truck designs from both Isuzu and Nissan Diesel will also be possible.

A great success at the first event, a test track alongside the exhibition area, will enable visitors to experience what it's like to ride or drive a wide variety of vehicles from heavy trucks to vehicles adapted for drivers with special needs.

Also helping the casual visitor to "Sense the Evolution" -- the motto of this year's show -- will be a nostalgic display of classic commercial vehicles dating back to the 1920s, just one of many displays aimed at making the show an ideal venue for a fun family day out.