Toyota said it was recalling just under five million cars, including the Corolla, Vitz and other models made between March 2003 and November 2007.
Nissan is recalling about 1.56 million cars over the same issue.
Both carmakers said the recall was for investigative purposes and no accidents or injuries have been reported.
Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, said the recall affected 35 of its models made around the world and that it would include 1.36 million cars in Japan.
The move is the latest in the saga of potentially exploding airbags made by Japanese car parts maker Takata that has been linked to at least six deaths - all in Honda cars.
After the recalls by Toyota and Nissan were announced, Honda - Japan's number three automaker - said it was also preparing to announce more car recalls related to the air bags.
No details were given on the number of cars Honda would recall.
In March, Honda had said it was recalling another 100,000 vehicles in the US related to the airbags.
About 25 million vehicles with Takata airbags have been recalled worldwide by 10 different carmakers since 2008.
Japanese car giants Toyota and Nissan are recalling a total of 6.5 million cars globally to replace potentially faulty airbag inflators made by Takata.