ASTEMO Is Back—And Japan Just Remembered How to Be Japan Again
Why the quietest stand at EICMA just stole the entire show.
If you wandered through EICMA expecting fireworks, half-naked influencers, and electric scooters pretending to be interesting, you might’ve walked straight past the ASTEMO stand without even noticing. And that would’ve been a tragic mistake, because tucked away in that quiet corner was something far more powerful than all the noise around it:
The return of old-school Japanese engineering.
The kind that doesn’t shout, doesn’t boast, and doesn’t rush — it simply perfects.
ASTEMO, for the uninitiated, is the mega-beast made from Showa, Keihin, Nissin, and Mitsubishi’s automotive component arm. Basically, if motorcycles were religions, these folks would be the monks doing 12-hour meditation sessions surrounded by suspension diagrams.
And at EICMA this year, Japan remembered how to be Japan again.
The Japanese Philosophy: Why Rush When You Can Take 10 Years?
Take their ARAS system—rider assistance based not on radar like everyone else, but on stereo cameras. A prototype appeared in 2022. Then 2023. Then again last year. So naturally we asked:
“When will this actually be on a production bike?”
Their answer?
“2030.”
And they said it with the serenity of someone announcing the weather.
Eight years. Ten years. Doesn’t matter. For the Japanese, this isn’t slow — it’s normal. It’s kaizen, the sacred art of improving everything forever and never calling anything finished until it’s so perfect it makes angels weep.
Meanwhile, the Chinese launch a new motorcycle every 45 minutes, and the Italians announce products before they’ve even invented them.
Small Improvements, Big Impact
ASTEMO rolled into Milan with a mountain of upgrades:
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Showa suspension is refined again and again until the molecules are probably smoother
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Nissin breaks lighter by 50 grams because they shaved metal with samurai precision
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Keihin electronic throttles for engines of all shapes, sizes, and emotional stability
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Brake levers and thumb brakes in recycled carbon because, apparently, Japan discovered the circular economy and decided to win that too
Front and centre was a naked Honda chassis dressed top-to-toe in Showa, Keihin, and Nissin glory. It looked like the mechanical equivalent of a Japanese tea ceremony: simple, perfect, and terrifyingly serious.
Suspension Witchcraft: Now With Height Magic
Showa’s Heightflex system — the one that lowers the bike at a stop — has evolved through so many generations it should have its own family tree.
First, it used passive mechanics.
Then the ABS pump.
Then its own pump.
Now the pump is inside the fork leg.
And get this: they showed it on a Ducati.
If that doesn’t scream “times are changing”, nothing will.
The newest version:
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costs less
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works faster
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and adjusts the bike while moving
Scooters are next. Yes, Japan is about to give scooters an adaptive ride height system because apparently nobody deserves to suffer.
ARAS and AI: See You in Another Decade
Back to the stereo-camera ARAS. Eventually, they want to move to a single camera with AI analysing everything.
We asked if AI was part of the plan from the beginning.
“No,” the engineer said. “We will integrate it. But we must redesign the model.”
Translation:
Don’t wait up.
This will take ten more years.
And when does it arrive?
It’ll be annoyingly perfect.
Conclusion: Japan Is Quietly Winning Again
While everyone else tries to grab attention with flashy screens and pointless gadgets, ASTEMO is out there polishing, refining, miniaturising, and perfecting.
No drama.
No hype.
No rushing.
Just pure, old-school Japanese engineering at its finest.
And thank God they’re back.
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