TOKYO -- While it looks like any other filling station in Japan, the Iwatani Hydrogen Refueling Station in the Shibakoen neighborhood of Tokyo is distinguished by three things: the large "H2" on the pumps, an absence of any smell of gasoline, and the lack of very many customers. Five cars in one hour were considered exceptional, according to one station employee last Wednesday.
Japan boasts the largest network of hydrogen filling stations in the world -- a symbol of the government's faith in the future of hydrogen, and its efforts to win the race to commercialize it. © Illustration by Chuan Ming Ong
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