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Mitsuoka

automobile manufacturer based in Toyama, Toyama, Japan

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ1544189
Source-derived summary

Mitsuoka Motor (光岡自動車) is a small Japanese automobile company. It is noted for building cars with unconventional styling, some of which are modern while most others are retro-styled to imitate the look of American, European and particularly British cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Mitsuoka Motors is also the principal distributor of the retro-classic TD2000 roadster in Japan.

Mitsuoka is primarily a custom design coachbuilder, customizing production cars, e.g., the Nissan March, and replacing various aspects of the bodywork. It has also produced a sports car, the Orochi, and has a special department for hearses.

History

Mitsuoka was recognised in 1994 as the 10th Japanese auto manufacturer to be registered in Japan since Honda in 1963, basing its current cars on Nissans and other Japanese car manufacturers.

Mitsuoka Motor launched in the UK in 2015 under sole distribution of T W White & Sons and launched the Mitsuoka Roadster (Himiko) at the London Motor Show in 2016.

The M55 is a Showa retro concept car created for Mitsuoka's 55th anniversary. The appearance of the car is intended to resemble that of cars from 1970s Japan. The car has been said to resemble 1970s models of the Datsun B110, the Mitsubishi Galant GTO, the Nissan Skyline and the Toyota Celica.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Mitsuoka” is automobile manufacturer based in Toyama, Toyama, Japan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mitsuoka, automobile and manufacturer, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1994, 1963, 2015, 2016—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1968-01-01. For this dossier, Mitsuoka, automobile and manufacturer is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “automobile manufacturer based in Toyama, Toyama, Japan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1544189. VIAF identifies the subject as 253577459. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1994, 1963, 2015 and 2016.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Mitsuoka”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Mitsuoka primary sources, Mitsuoka archive and Mitsuoka research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mitsuoka”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Mitsuoka” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.