The RX-8 is Mazda's proud rotary-engined successor to the third-generation RX-7. The RX-8 is notable for the fact that, despite being a full-fledged sports car with a rotary engine and FR drive, it is a family car with seating for four adults. This was at the request of Ford, Mazda's parent company at the time of its launch, as it was considered an absolutely essential condition for the development of a new rotary engine-powered car in terms of marketing strategy, as it was a four-seater that could be sold in large numbers. In order to meet the conflicting requirements of a family car while delivering full-fledged sports car performance, Mazda adopted a unique mechanism called the 'Freestyle Door', which allows the front and rear doors to open in a double-swinging motion. Within these difficult constraints, Mazda's engineering team succeeded in giving the RX-8 the very best qualities of a sports car. The 13B engine used in the RX-7 had been replaced by a turbocharger, and the RX-8's NA design and numerous improvements resulted in higher revs and lower fuel consumption, while at the same time making the engine lighter and more compact, which greatly benefited the car's turning ability and lower centre of gravity. Mazda named the next-generation rotary engine with these improvements the 13B-RENESISE. Although the 13B-RENESISE engine had less power than the turbocharged 13B engine in the RX-7, it successfully improved environmental performance and fuel economy, which had long been regarded as the weak points of the rotary engine. This complete improvement of the engine was also an essential measure to make vehicles with rotary engines compliant with the increasingly strict emission regulations of countries all over the world. In 2003, the RX-8 made its debut. In 2004, the year after its debut, the RX-8 achieved annual sales of approximately 60,000 units, an unprecedented sales record for a sports car. However, it was not only in terms of sales and marketing that the RX-8 excelled. The RX-8's braking and cornering performance were regarded as the best of any Japanese car, and Mazda's engineers succeeded in achieving the seemingly impossible goal of creating a car that was both a family car and a serious sports car. In 2008 and 2010, the racing version introduced by Mazda USA won its class at the Daytona 24 Hours in the USA, beating racing machines developed by Ferrari, Porsche and others.

Technology developed by Yamaha to model the human voice and perform the human voice as an electronic musical instrument. Vocaloid technology was made public by Yamaha and a variety of Vocaloid software was sold by various companies. In Japan, Vocaloid songs, illustrations and videos of secondary creation became so popular that they could be described as a social phenomenon, and the technology has come to be fully recognised as a part of Japanese culture.

A very popular vocaloid that reproduces the human voice on a computer, marketed by Clapton Future Media. She is characterised by her green hair and twin-tail hairstyle. Her voice is modelled by voice actress Saki Fujita. The songs sung by Hatsune Miku have become very popular and many derivative works such as videos and illustrations continue to be created.