Itasha

In Japan, an is a car decorated with images of characters from anime, manga, or video games (especially ''bishōjo'' games or ''eroge''). The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. The cars are seen prominently in places such as Akihabara (Tokyo), Nipponbashi (Osaka), or Ōsu (Nagoya), or Itasha-based events, such as Odaiba Itasha Tengoku.

''Itasha'' only applies to cars. There are different names for vehicles that have features of an ''itasha'', such as for motorcycles, for bicycles, for buses, for trucks, and for trains.

Etymology

In the 1980s, when Japan was at the zenith of its economic might, Tokyo's streets were a parade of luxury import cars. Among them, the "itasha"—originally Japanese slang meaning an imported Italian car—was the most desired. Since then, ''itasha'' (as the decorated vehicle) was derived from combining the Japanese words for and . ''Itai'' here means "painful", with additional senses of "painfully embarrassing" → "cringeworthy", "painful for the wallet" due to the high costs involved, or "painful to look at" (an eyesore). The name is also a pun for , truncated in Japanese slang as .

History

The subculture started in Japan in the 1980s with character plushies and stickers, but only became a phenomenon in the twenty-first century, when anime culture became relatively well known via the Internet. The earliest known report of an ''itasha''-decorated vehicle in convention was in August 2005, in Comiket 68.

Conventions

In 2007, the first , an ''itasha''-oriented convention, was held in Ariake, near Comiket. Since then, the subculture has grown and allows people to express themselves and show off their customization to fellow friends and competitors. In 2019, Odaiba Itasha Tengoku, which took place in Odaiba, Tokyo, was also held. Another Itasha-JDM event was held on March 27th named "Itasha Tengoku JDM Paradise".

International movement

Similarly decorated vehicles have been found in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom.

Vehicles owned by character rights owner

The executive director of ACID Co., Ltd. (parent company of game developer Âge), Hirohiko Yoshida, was reported to own a ''Muv-Luv''-themed Lamborghini Gallardo, Lancia Stratos, and BMW M5. The cars were unveiled in 2008 âge×Nitro+ in Akihabara UDX Gallery.

An official ''Macross Frontier-''themed Suzuki Wagon R was unveiled in Macross Galaxy Tour Final. It was later redesigned for the Macross Super-Dimensional Space Launch ceremony.

Vehicles from automotive manufacturers

In ''Nagoya Auto Trend'' in 2009, a ''Phantom of Inferno''-themed Chevrolet Corvette, a Melonbooks-themed MINI Cooper, and a '' Chaos;Head Noah-''themed Toyota Estima were unveiled.

Licensed model vehicles

Officially licensed ''itasha'' cars can be found both in display and R/C car models.

In June 2008, Aoshima Bunka Kyozai launched "ITASHA" as one of their model car product lines. Since then, many model companies have produced various ''itasha'' versions of their car models. Fujimi, Kyosho, HPI and Tamiya also sell models with ''itasha'' decorations.

Recently, combinations between models and actual ''itasha'' are increasing, wherein models based on the original ''itasha'' were made afterwards.

Derivative uses

The ''itasha'' decorative style has also been found on railway cars, aircraft, computer cases, and other products. The ''itasha'' equivalent in apparel is the " ''ita''-bag", a bag covered in fandom-related badges, buttons, etc.

In-vehicle electronics, such as navigation systems, were also reported to be customized with character voices. On 28 March 2008, Maplus began to offer character voices for its Maplus Portable Navi 2 GPS system, beginning with Shūichi Ikeda (Char Aznable from the ''Gundam'' franchise).

Automotive consumables such as motor oil have also been customized. On 20 June 2009, T&E, a tuning shop, began to sell scented semi-synthetic motor oil under the Itayu brand, with the first product being a ''Lucky Star-''themed motor oil, unveiled at the 48th Shizuoka Hobby Show 2009.Lucky Star Engine Oil
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See also

*Art car
*''Moe''
*''Dekotora'' – decorated trucks
*''Dekochari'' – decorated bicycles

References

External links

"Japanese 'itasha' gain in popularity in Taiwan"
– article describing ''itasha'' in Taiwan, July 2008

''Itasha Graphics''
the ''itasha''-oriented magazine by Geibunsha

富士スピードウェイに痛車がっ！ 世界一痛いカーイベント！
("Fuji Speedway hosts itasha! The most painful car event in the world!"), Ascii.jp report, May 2008 {{in lang, ja

1980s neologisms
2000s neologisms
Anime and manga fandom
Anime and manga terminology
Art vehicles
Japanese subcultures
Otaku slang
Decorated vehicles
Cars of Japan
category:Vehicle modification