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How to pimp an otaku ride | Itasha
A little bit of an oldie from Keith Barry at Wired...about the phenomenon of Itasha, described as "the Japanese otakufad of painting cars with [manga and anime] and videogame characters".
The article notes that itasha is a word that combines itai (painful -- for the wallet) and sha (vehicle) and sounds like the word meaning "Italian car" (Itaria-sha). There's also those who decorate motorbikes (itansha) and bicycles (itachari). And, of course, a Itasha convention called Autosalone is held annually in Japan.
Hardcore Itasha loyalists will decorate their Honda (hee) or Suburu, or Lamborghinis, BMWs, even a rare Lancia Stratos (less than 500 were made) with wide-eyed and (mostly) half-clad female manga characters because, well, who knows why.
The article ends referring to the global economic downturn: "Apparently itasha is immune to the worldwide economic meltdown...Technology executive Koyo Yamamoto said he'd gladly continue to spend more than $4,000 yearly putting decals on his GT-R, while 21-year-old Makoto Yagami estimates that he spends more than 80 percent of his income on manga-ling his Nissan 180."
Yeah, right, priorities.
More: (source) Hentai Fans Airbrush a Mangallardo by Keith Barry @ Wired | Itasha @ Japan Times | Photos of Itasha (cars), Itansha (motorbikes), and Itachari (bicycles) @ HERE | Itasha pics @ HERE | Watch a report on Itasha from New Tang Dynasty Television @ YouTube | Photo credit: Pink Tentacle
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February 2, 2009 at 12:15 AM
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