Toyota

Toyota Motor Corp chief executive Akio Toyoda and other executives will not attend the opening ceremony, Toyota said on Monday.

"It is true that Toyota will not be attending the opening ceremony, and the decision was made considering various factors including no spectators," a spokesperson said.

"We will not be airing any commercials related to the Games in Japan," she added.

It will give 50 million yen (£274, 000) to the Cartivator group that operates outside Toyota city in central Japan.

The Nikkei Asian Review reports Toyota and its group companies have agreed in principle to support the project.

So far crowdfunding has paid for development of the so-called Skydrive car, which uses drone technology and has three wheels and four rotors.

Kirobo Mini, who was 10cm (4in) high, had been designed to provide companionship, the company said.

And it could tailor conversations to include comments about journeys based on data from its owner's vehicle.

It also has childlike attributes, but a robotics expert told the BBC a robot could not be a substitute for a child.

"He wobbles a bit, and this is meant to emulate a seated baby, which hasn't fully developed the skills to balance itself," Fuminori Kataoka, Kirobo Mini's chief design engineer, told the Reuters news agency.