Tokyo show: green's the primary colour

From Chas Hallett in Tokyo

Sustainability; we're hearing that word a lot at the Tokyo show, especially on the stands of the Japanese car-makers.Yes, once again the theme of a major motor show is the enviroment. Although being in Japan some of it was all done in a more eccentric way. As well as clean diesels, hybrids and fuel cells there was more talk than ever about using organic materials in cars. Mitsubishi's new big saloon concept (pictured) even had an entire dash made out of plants. They called it green plastic...You got the impression that sustainability of profits is also on the minds of the Japanese makers. Things aren't going swimmingly over here at the moment. Sales are down and even Toyota is having to answer questions over reliability. But if they keep on dominating the green argument the way they have up until now, the future looks rosy for all of Japan's car brands, despite what's happening right now.