Itasha or how to tune your car manga style

Choosing a car model has a lot to do with each buyer’s taste and personality, in addition to their budget and the features they seek in an automobile. However, there are those who demand a little extra customization and find tuning to be the perfect way of expressing their style and personality.

And then there are the Japanese, who have taken their cars to the next level with a tuning style known as itasha.

The word comes from a play on words between “Italian car”, which were very fashionable in Japanese society in the 1980s, and “itai”, which can be translated as “painful” or “embarrassing” in Japanese, to which the suffix “sha” (car) was added. Initially, itasha referred to those excessively customized Italian cars, something that caused pain (due to the cost of doing so) and embarrassment to some of those who came across one of these tuned automobiles. But, with the otaku culture that boomed in the 21st century, this decoration was filled with characters and motifs from anime, manga, and some video games, and became fashionable as a decoration, thus extending its definition to Japanese automobiles.

Styles

Itasha may appear to the most discreet eye as overly tuned cars. These decorations are created either with paint or vinyl, sometimes covering the entire surface of the car and other times only certain parts, such as the hood, windows, or rear bumper. In any case, all owners of a vehicle of this style invest a great deal of time and money in customizing their cars. The styles embodied in these vehicles are also very diverse: some opt for striking and colorful designs, while others prefer a more elegant and discreet aesthetic. But virtually all of them feature the hypersexualized female characters characteristic of anime and manga culture.

Not just cars

Itasha vehicle owners gather at various events and gatherings where they show off their cars to other users like them and the general public, who are drawn to the striking designs. The largest convention for this type of vehicle was the Odaiba Itasha Tengoku, which attracted approximately 1,000 Itasha owners in Tokyo in 2018.

But in recent years, itasha culture has also spread to other types of vehicles, such as motorcycles and bicycles. These are known as itansha and itachari, respectively.

From Japan to the world

In recent years, Itasha vehicles have spread beyond Japan and into other countries around the world, including Germany, Switzerland, the United States, and Mexico. In the latter, there is an official community called Itasha Mexico ©, whose events, in addition to exhibiting these vehicles, also host anime conventions.