Japan’s ‘cringeworthy’ cars make image U-turn

Seeing double: A woman dressed up as anime character Daiwa Scarlet posing next to Takahata’s car with the same design, during the Itasha Tengoku show in Tokyo. — AFP

TOKYO: Yosuke Takahata doesn’t care what people think of his “itasha” car, which has his favourite anime character – a sexy, red-eyed horse-woman – emblazoned across both sides.

For him and other owners around Japan, plastering cartoon pictures all over their vehicles is just another way of paying homage to their two-dimensional true loves.

“Itasha” means “cringeworthy car”, reflecting the misfit image the vehicles had when they first started appearing on roads around 20 years ago.

But perceptions have begun to change, with anime and other hobby subcultures gaining a new mainstream acceptance in Japan.

It’s all the same for Takahata, a 31-year-old car shop employee, for whom looking cool is not the point.

“It’s the character that I like, and that’s all that matters,” he said, holding an umbrella to keep the rain off his defiantly unfashionable mullet.

Driving around with the buxom Daiwa Scarlet from the manga and anime series Uma Musume Pretty Derby on show means he can “always be with the character”, he said.

After all, if he worried about others judging his fully customised Jaguar XJ sedan, he “wouldn’t be able to drive anywhere”.

Itasha owners can spend thousands of dollars pimping their rides with huge vinyl stickers, turning their cars, motorbikes or even caravans into a canvas.

Shota Sato, who works at another car shop, describes owning an itasha as “an extension of having a character’s picture on your phone”.

The 26-year-old and his friends have all decorated their cars with different cute characters from the anime Lucky Star, and they often go for drives together.

Owners also get together for events such as Itasha Tengoku, an annual show held in Tokyo that features up to 1,000 vehicles.

The cars on display are a riot of colour and imagination, upstaging even the neon wigs and outlandish costumes of the visitors who come dressed in cosplay.

Many of the vehicles also have customised frames, wheels, engines and interiors that cost eye-watering sums even before adding the artwork.

The culture grew naturally among young people interested in cars and anime, said event organiser Kenichi Kawahara, who also publishes a magazine for itasha enthusiasts.

“More than 99%” of owners are men, who use itasha to “express their feelings for the things they like”, he said.

“There are 1,000 itasha here today, and no two are the same.” — AFP