Kato Motor and Sanjo Mitsubishi just showed off NOCTI — and it might be the most sensible camper of the year. No giant motorhome, no lost all-wheel drive. Just a regular Delica D:5 that turns into a bedroom by the sea, in the mountains, or at a festival once the workday ends.
The base is a Delica D:5 P with a 2.2-liter diesel turbo engine, 4WD, and the S-AWC system. That’s a strong foundation for a camper: the vehicle shrugs off winter roads, gravel, and wet campsite approaches, yet keeps regular dimensions — 4,800 mm long, 1,815 mm wide, and 1,875 mm tall. You could live in this thing in the city, not just hunt for a wide parking spot out in the countryside.
The big change is in the back. The third row is gone entirely, freeing up space for a proper rest-and-sleep module. On the road, NOCTI seats 5; parked, it sleeps two adults. The second row and purpose-made mats fold into a flat bed, with storage and furniture built in so nothing eats into the usable space.
And here’s where it gets interesting. The NOCTI M trim packs a 600 Ah lithium-ion battery — enough to run a 12-volt air conditioner as standard, charge while driving, and plug into external power. For Japanese summers, that’s no small thing: sleeping with the AC on without running the engine is a rare luxury for a minivan in this class. Paid extras add an FF heater, a MAX Fan ceiling fan, a microwave, and a solar panel.
Winter gets standalone heat, summer gets ventilation and AC, and the solar panel cuts down on the need for a campsite outlet. The name NOCTI nods to the Leica Noctilux F/0.95 lens — the team draws a parallel with its soft depth of field, aiming for a cabin that feels less like equipment and more like a cozy “third place” between home and the road.
Sales in Japan have already started, and the price doesn’t sting as much as you’d expect from a full camper conversion: NOCTI starts at 6,044,500 yen.
NOCTI doesn’t break what makes the Delica D:5 work, and it doesn’t turn it into a heavy motorhome. It adds what minivan owners are usually missing: a real bed, standalone power, and a reason to drive further than the standard family routine allows.
