Ohh the pain! Part I
November 1, 2009 by Adam Zillin
Filed under Latest Articles, Odd Spot
Earlier last month a group of around one thousand Otaku, or geeks as we know them, converged on the famous parking area of Odaiba to show off their painful prides and joys.
[singlepic id=3456 w=500 h=334 float=center]
The cars or ‘Itasha‘, is a term used loosely for any car that is emblazoned with fictional Anime, Manga or game characters. The vehicles are brightly decorated with cute female characters who are usually ‘slightly’ out of proportion.
[singlepic id=3467 w=334 h=500 float=center]
However, the word originally comes from the term ‘Ita-sha’ which was a contraction of the words ‘Italian’ and ‘Sha‘ which means car in Japanese. Slowly though the meaning changed and the ‘Ita’ part of the word was replaced with Kanji for ‘Itai‘ or ‘Painful’. Painful because the car is painfully embarrassing to drive around or has been painful to the hip pocket costing the owner an arm and a leg decorating it.
[singlepic id=3434 w=500 h=334 float=center]
The designs that have been applied to the cars above and below are no ‘cheapy’ jobs either. All of the work is usually done in Vinyl and painstakingly applied to the cars. It is not unheard of prices going over the one hundred thousand yen mark for these graphics. Whilst some of the designs are very ‘Kawaii‘ or cute, the cost and shame would dare I say, be prohibitive for most.
[singlepic id=3458 w=500 h=334 float=center]
This particular event, more than eight hundred vehicles gathered and displayed some of the best ‘Itasha‘. It wasn’t only cars that received the painful treatment but also motorbikes, bicycles and three wheelers too! Finally, prizes were awarded to the best vehicles on the day.
[singlepic id=3440 w=500 h=334 float=center]
More tomorrow （＾＿－）☆
Words: Peter Horniak
Images: Mainichi News
[nggallery id=119]
