Honda Motor Co. has begun an investigative recall in Okinawa Prefecture over air bags made by Takata Corp., the first such move in Japan, a company official said Monday.
The Japanese carmaker is calling back 635 vehicles in the southwestern prefecture, without identifying the cause of possible defects in the air bags' inflators, which could explode too forcefully, releasing metal fragments into cars.
Given a shortage of replacement parts, Honda has initially launched the recall in hot and humid regions before expanding it to other parts of the country, as it has done in the United States.
Major carmakers have recalled more than 20 million cars around the world over the Japanese supplier's air bags, which have been linked to several deaths in the United States and Malaysia.
Mazda Motor Corp., meanwhile, informed the transport ministry that it will start its investigative recall in Japan next month covering 38,083 vehicles using Takata air bags.
