Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda's tearful public appearances during and after his Congressional testimony in the US won sympathetic votes in Japan on Friday as images and sound bites of the media-shy executive continue to monopolize headlines.

Following Toyoda's Congressional hearing at which he apologized and assumed full responsibility for the series of events and lapses in judgment that led to the recall of 8.5 million vehicles globally, a tearful Toyoda addressed local Toyota employees.

"For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well, he said," his voice shaky and full of remorse.

"At the hearing, I was not alone. You and your colleagues across America and around the world were with me," he said with tears welling in his eyes.

It was this image the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's top newspaper by circulation, used on the front page of their evening edition.

Another notable daily The Asahi Shimbun ran a story with a teary Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, with the headline: "Toyota President: Apologies, Gratitude, Tears."

Again, the image depicted Toyoda with a furrowed brow, lips pursed and teary-eyed.

The TV Asahi network ran and replayed clips of Toyoda reading out a prepared statement in English. An Asahi commentator praised the care he used in picking his words and the sincerity and remorse he showed by using English at that moment, despite translators being on hand.

Japan's national public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) reported that Toyoda offered apologies for accidents caused by defective cars and expressed his determination to do more to prevent reoccurrence.

NHK quoted Toyoda as saying to reporters after the testimony, " I would like to thank the Congressmen who have given me this opportunity. I'd like to do my best to revive the company into the one that will put customers first."