This Tiny Japanese Truck Camper Is A Cute Way To Go Camping, With One Small Caveat

Japan’s domestic market Kei trucks are seemingly all the rage in car communities right now. But despite how awesome these little guys are, there aren’t many of them built out as RVs. If having one of the smallest, cutest campers on the block sounds appealing to you, I found a custom-built Kei truck camper out there and it looks surprisingly usable despite the minimal footprint.

Japanese campers aren’t hard to find in America. Plenty of importers are dragging in all sorts of weird campers in all shapes. But I have noticed that most of them tend to be based on larger Japanese vans and trucks. I have not seen a ton of choices for the strong and vocal followers of kei-jidōsha, Japan’s smallest class of road-legal car.

Thankfully, there’s a Kei truck camping culture out in Japan, and every once in a while something makes it over to America. That’s what you’re looking at here. Earlier this year, I said Kei truck campers are the antidote to hilariously expensive and aggressive adventure trucks. All-in, you won’t even spend close to $20,000 on this!

Compact Cutie

This little cutie did not come from a company, but from an individual in the Air Force who used to live in Japan. The builder, Jake Hall, explains how this camper came to be:

I did all the work myself and built it completely from scratch – no shell. I know this thing inside and out and can answer any question. The build took about a year to finish. It was a lot of work and more expensive than I expected to source all the parts on a small island half way around the world. I also didn’t speak the language and it was before the exchange rate was as good as it is now.

My hard work and perseverance paid off, and I am very happy with the result! Because it took longer to build than I anticipated and I had no choice but to move back home (I’m in the Air Force), the keimper is basically brand new. I only used it a handful of times before moving home. It’s a small kawaii space so, fitting to Japanese culture, I tried to emphasize the details as best as I could.

Hall used wood for the camper’s structure and filled the voids with foam board insulation. From there, the camper got inner and outer skin and the body was finished off with metal L-channels for support and sealing. The body was then painted in a spray truck bed liner for additional protection and style. Hall says this camper has survived a typhoon in Japan and it didn’t leak a single bit.

Hall says he’s been building campers for over six years now. He started by converting an old school bus into a pretty sweet RV. This wasn’t a build to sell, but a vehicle he actually lived in for a couple of years. The bus had to be left behind when he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Hall says it took a while to get used to living in Japan, but eventually, he wanted to go exploring just like he did in America. That meant building a whole new rig. Hall bought a 2004 Mitsubishi Minicab and started from there.

He says that it took over a year to construct and the little camper was finished around two years ago or so. Then, it actually scooted around Japan, as you can see above.

Hall is now back in America and while he couldn’t bring his Mitsubishi, he was able to bring his camper. Now, it’s time for someone else to take it on the road. What’s most impressive is the interior, which Hall built to be tall enough for someone to stand up in. From Hall:

-400w of solar
-1500w power inverter
-100ah lithium battery
-5000btu Emerson quiet Kool air conditioner.
-AC and USB outlets throughout

-4 permanently mounted hand crank jacks with wheels on bottom
-truck bed liner exterior paint
-LED interior and exterior lights
-couch pulls out to twin size bed, comfortably sleeps 2 if you like to snuggle.
-Traditional Japanese noren in doorway to keep cold air inside
-fold up/down butcher block countertop
-Traditional Japanese shibori died curtains
-built in Bluetooth radio and speakers
-max air vent fan
-Velcro on/off bug screens on windows
-waterproof storage under the couch that’s accessed from the outside with a vent fan (designed to put wet dive gear in)

Hall says that the camper is so small that even the tiny air-conditioner cools down the camper quickly. The camper then holds heat and cool air well because of its insulation. He further notes that the air-conditioner is efficient enough that it’ll run all day off of the electrical system and the battery without stopping. The air-conditioner will then run for another six hours at night.

It sounds like Hall put a lot of work into making this camper work as a real camper. I love the details like the jacks and the interior finishes. I would find the waterproof storage especially helpful after a nice ocean swim. I also don’t have a dog, but I could see my birds using the under-bed area as a cute little bed of their own. Alternatively, the storage areas would work for storing a powered cooler, a compact generator, water tanks, or other equipment.

Hall, who is currently out of Spokane, Washington, wants just $9,500 for the camper and I think it’s probably worth the price. Sadly, the price is just the beginning. You’ll need to either import or buy a Kei truck to slide under the camper.

Admittedly, I’m not really a fan of the lack of running water, but that’s not too hard to fix. There’s enough storage for a cassette toilet and to set up an outdoor shower. Hall also doesn’t say how much the rig weighs, but apparently, it’s enough to require an air suspension to be added to the Kei truck. Thankfully, the necessary airbag suspension comes in the sale.

How Would You Use This?

I think the biggest drawback is that Kei trucks aren’t practical vehicles for long-distance driving in America. Sure, these trucks can go highway speed, but they aren’t really meant to storm down the American Autobahn. That wasn’t a problem in Japan where this camper was built and slept in. I never drive my own Kei van in environments faster than country roads. You can cover great distances in a Kei vehicle, but not nearly as quickly or as comfortably as you could in a motorhome built for this country’s roads. I also couldn’t imagine how this little guy would be trying to power through gnarly winds at highway speed.

That said, I could see this tiny RV being a cool way to camp locally, or like that Geo Tracker camper from earlier this year, maybe a cute thing to take out into the wilderness. Heck, you can still take it across the country, but very slowly!

Most of that stuff doesn’t seem like it would be insurmountable. You can still import a running and driving Kei truck for a few grand and it wouldn’t take much to add running water to this rig. At the very least, this is a little Kei truck camper that you can stand up in, which is pretty awesome! I’m not entirely sure how you would use this camper, but I love that it exists.

(Images: Jake Hall)