1980s

In 1982 Honda began producing Accord sedans in Marysville, Ohio, becoming the first Japanese automaker to build cars in the United States.

Mitsubishi's Dakar Rally record, begun with a Pajero class win in 1983 and ending with its final wins in 2007, totals 12 overall wins in the cars category.

Nissan's HICAS rear-wheel steering was first fitted to the R31 Skyline (Japanese Wikipedia gives 1985; English Wikipedia cites the 1986 Skyline GTS).

Japan's asset price bubble ran from 1986 to 1991.

Honda launched the Acura brand on 27 March 1986; it is described as the first Japanese luxury car brand.

The third-generation Honda Prelude, released in Japan on 9 April 1987, offered a mechanical four-wheel steering system, described as the first of its kind in a mass-production passenger car.

The Toyota Celsior went on sale in Japan in October 1989, the same year the model was launched as the Lexus LS for the U.S.-focused Lexus brand.

The Mazda Roadster went on sale in the U.S. in May 1989 and in Japan on 1 September 1989 as the Eunos Roadster.

The GT-R name returned in 1989 on the R32 Skyline, 16 years after the previous GT-R ended production.

Honda's DOHC VTEC was introduced in Japan in the 1989 Honda Integra XSi with the B16A engine.

The R32 Skyline GT-R, launched in 1989, used the RB26DETT engine together with the ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system and Super HICAS four-wheel steering.

After Nissan held its 1989 Fairlady Z (Z32), Skyline GT-R (BNR32) and Infiniti Q45 to 280 PS under administrative guidance, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association adopted 280 PS as the voluntary upper limit for domestic cars.

From 1989 Japanese automobile tax came to be based on displacement alone, reducing the tax disadvantage of 3-number cars; many models subsequently grew beyond 5-number dimensions.

Toyota's Lexus brand was launched with the LS in 1989; Lexus did not exist as a brand in Japan until 2005.

Nissan's Infiniti brand began on 8 November 1989, initially in North America.