Itasha
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese term for an otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
fad of individuals decorating the bodies of their car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s with fictional characters of anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, or video games (especially bishōjo game
Bishojo game
A , or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive anime-style girls". These games are a sub-genre of dating sims targeted towards a male audience....
or eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
). These characters are predominately "cute" female. The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. Automobiles are called Itasha, while similar motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s and bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s are called and , respectively.
The cars are seen prominently in places such as Akihibara (Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), Nipponbashi
Nipponbashi
is a shopping district of Naniwa Ward, Osaka, Japan. The area is centered along Sakaisuji Avenue, extending from the Ebisu-chō Interchange of the Hanshin Expressway in the south, to Nansan-dōri in the north...
(Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
), or Ōsu
Ōsu
Ōsu is a popular area located in the Naka ward of Nagoya, central Japan.Ōsu is a historic area which has many small shops offering everything from Japanese traditional food to handicrafts. A large department store is OSU301...
(Nagoya).
Etymology
In 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. However, in 1990s, the term 'itai' was adopted to describe intense, cultish otaku associated with serial killer Miyazaki Tsutomu. Since then, Itasha (as the decorated vehicle) was derived from combining the JapaneseJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
words for and . Itai here means "painful", which can be interpreted as "painfully embarrassing" or "painful for the wallet" due to the high costs involved. The name is also a pun for , truncated in Japanese slang as .
History
The decoration was started in 1980s with character plushies and stickers, but only became a phenomenon in the 21st century, when otaku culture became relatively well known via the Internet. The earliest known report of the decoration vehicle in convention began in 2005-08, in Comic Market 68.Conventions
In 2007, the first , an Itasha oriented convention, was held in AriakeAriake, Tokyo
is a location within Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It is best known as the region adjacent to and directly east of Odaiba. Airake is subdivided into four chome and comprises part of the Tokyo Bay Landfill #10 and Tokyo Rinkai Satellite City Center....
, near the site of Comiket
Comiket
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book fair, held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people....
.
Involvement in motorsports
Participation of Itasha in Japan's professional motorsport event can be seen as early as 2007, when a Lancer Evolution VII
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, colloquially known as the Lancer Evo or Evo, is a high-performance sedan manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of each model is most commonly a roman numeral...
featureing themes of Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in Japan Dirt Trial. One year later, Studie
Studie
Studie is a Japanese tuning company of BMW and a Super GT racing team which participates in GT300 class.-History:Studie was established in 1995 in Yokohama as a BMW parts dealer and developer.They currently having 4 branches in Japan...
GLAD Racing (a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
tuning shop in Japan)'s Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku
is a singing synthesizer application with a female persona, developed by Crypton Future Media. It uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2 synthesizing technology. The name of the character comes from a fusion of the Japanese for , and future , referring to her position as the first of Crypton's...
-themed Z4 in the Super GT
Super GT
The Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...
GT300 class marked itasha's debut in international event directly under FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
. Since then different itashas which belongs to various teams has entered various kind of motorsport event in Japan, like Super GT
Super GT
The Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...
, Super Taikyu, Japan Rally Championship, and D1 Grand Prix
D1 Grand Prix
The , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled Professional Drift, is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Option magazine & Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada, and drifting legend Keiichi Tsuchiya hosted a professional level drifting...
. In some of the recent year's events, competitions between different itasha teams in a single race can also being seen as well.
International movement
Similarly decorated vehicles have been found in Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, and The United States.Vehicles owned by character rights owner
ACID Co., Ltd. (âgeÂge
Âge is a division of Acid Co., Ltd., a Japanese publisher of adult video games and visual novels. Âge was formerly known as Relic and developed video games for consoles. It gained fame following the release of its 2001 adult visual novel Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. It was founded by Hirohiko Yoshida,...
games developer)'s executive director Hirohiko Yoshida was reported to own Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv
is a Japanese visual novel developed by âge, which was originally released as an adult game for the PC in February 28, 2003. Subsequent versions with the adult content removed were sold for the PC and Xbox 360...
-themed Lamborghini Gallardo
Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by Lamborghini. The Gallardo is Lamborghini's most-produced model to date, with over 10,000 built in its first seven years of production...
, Lancia Stratos
Lancia Stratos
The Lancia Stratos HF, widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a car made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for High Fidelity...
, BMW M5
BMW M5
The first BMW M5, based on the E28 5 Series, made its debut at Amsterdam Motor Show in February 1984. It was the product of demand for an automobile with the carrying capacity of a saloon , but the overall performance of a sports car. It utilized the 535i chassis and an evolution of the engine from...
. The cars were unveiled in 2008 âge×Nitro+ in Akibahara UDX Gallery.
An official Macross Frontier
Macross Frontier
is a Japanese animated science fiction space drama that aired in Japan on MBS from April 3, 2008 to September 25, 2008. It is the most recent Japanese anime television series set in the Macross universe. Animated by Satelight, premiered Japan on MBS on April 3, 2008...
-themed Suzuki Wagon R
Suzuki Wagon R
The Suzuki Wagon R is a kei car first introduced in Japan in 1993, and is still in production by Suzuki. The R stands for Recreation. It is one of the first cars to use the "tall wagon or tall boy" design in which the car is designed to be unusually tall with a short bonnet and almost vertical...
was unveiled in Macross Galaxy Tour Final. It was later redesigned for the Macross Super-Dimensional Space Launch Ceremony.
Vehicles from automotive manufacturers
In 2009 Nagoya Auto Trend, Phantom of InfernoPhantom of Inferno
Phantom of Inferno is a visual novel game created by Nitroplus, and distributed by Hirameki International . It came out in Japan in 2000, and then was distributed in America as an AnimePlay title in 2003...
-themed Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
, Melonbooks-themed MINI Cooper, Chaos;Head Noah-themed Toyota Estima were unveiled.
Licensed model vehicles
Officially licensed itasha can be found both in static car models and movable car models.In June 2008, Aoshima Bunka Kyozai launched "ITASHA" as one of their model car
Model car
A model car or toy car is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in the general category of model cars...
s product line, Since then many of the model producers produced various Itashas on the car models. Fujimi, Kyosho, HPI and Tamiya also sold models with Itasha models.
Recently, combination between model and actual itasha are increasing. Where model based on the original itasha were made afterwards.
Derivative uses
The itasha decorative style has also been found on aircraft, computer cases, and other products.In-vehicle electronics, such as navigation systems, were also reported to be customized with character voices. In 2008-03-28, Maplus began to offer character voices for its Maplus Portable Navi 2 GPS, beginning with Shuuichi Ikeda (Char Aznable).
Automotive consumables such as motor oil has also been customized. In 2009-6-20, T&E tuning shop began to sell scented semi-synthetic motor oil under Itayu brand, with the first product being a Lucky*Star-themed motor oil, unveiled in 48th Shizuoka Hobby Show 2009.
External links
- "'Anime'-decorated cars latest 'otaku' fad" – Article describing itasha, May 2008
- "Japanese 'itasha' gain in popularity in Taiwan" -Article describing itasha in Taiwan, July 2008
- Itasha Graphics, the Itasha oriented magazine by Geibunsha
- Autosalone, the Itasha oriented convention, from 2007
- 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 SpeedwayFuji Speedwayis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
hosts itasha! The most painful car event in the world!), Ascii.jp report, May 2008 - Itasha -Japanese pain car & anime car-, English blog about itasha by Japanese Engineer. Itasha news, magazine, Sticker & decals, how to put it on car...