Itasha: Otaku Car Modification

What happens when anime otaku and petrolheads combine?

Itasha (痛車) is a Japanese term for an otaku decorating the bodies of their cars with fictional characters of anime, manga, or video games. Predominately "cute" female characters, usually involve paint schemes and stickers. Automobiles are called Itasha, while similar motorcycles and bicycles are called itansha (痛単車) and itachari (痛チャリ).


The 'itasha' word originally Japanese slang meaning for an imported Italian car in 1980s, when Tokyo's streets were a parade of luxury import cars. The name is a pun for Italian cars (イタリア車 Itaria-sha), shortened as Itasha (イタ車).  

However, in 1990s, the term 'itai' was adopted to describe intense, cultish otaku associated with serial killer Miyazaki Tsutomu. Since then, 'Itasha' word as the decorated vehicle was derived from combining the Japanese words for itai (痛い, painful) and sha (車, vehicle). Itai here can be interpreted as "painfully embarrassing" or "painful for the wallet" due to the high costs involved.

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 cars are seen prominently in Akihibara (Tokyo), Nipponbashi (Osaka), or Ōsu (Nagoya).

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photo source: Kirainet.com