Masaya Taniguchi has a "heartache" plastered across the hood of his flaming red Audi AG TT Roadster.
Her name is Mashiro Mito, a character from his favourite computer game with melancholic eyes and pink ribbons in chestnut hair. Taniguchi, 28, is an
otaku, a Japanese term for nerd, who combines a passion for cars with affection for cartoon girls in
manga comic books, movies and video games.
"I love cars and I love computer games, and this is a natural way to combine the two," says Taniguchi, who this week attended a gathering of fellow
otaku on Tokyo's Odaiba island.
Marginalised for their eccentricity,
otaku like Taniguchi say they're emboldened by Taro Aso's election as prime minister in September. Aso, a manga fan, has championed Japan's animation industry, which has annual sales of as much as $31.4 billion (Dh115b) including comic books and video games according to Keisuke Murakami, director of media contents at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Taniguchi's Audi was among 430 vehicles with car-length stickers at an event on Odaiba this week, including a $245,000 Lamborghini SpA Gallardo plastered with a purple-haired heroine of a computer game called MUV-LUV Alternative. Two cartoon girls in miniskirts bare their midriffs on the hood of a 26 million yen (Dh0.98m) Ferrari SpA F430 Spider.
The cars on display are called
itasha, originally Japanese slang for Italian cars, with sha meaning car. In the
otaku world,
ita refers to the "pain" felt by outsiders of the artwork.
Maurizio Raffone, a director at Dresdner Kleinwort (Japan) Ltd, feels the pain. "As an Italian, and a car guy, living in Japan, I have to say, I almost cried when I saw the photos of
manga-adorned cars," he says.
Prime Minister Aso, known among
otaku as "Rozen Aso" because of his love of the comic book series
Rozen Maiden, has held political rallies in Akihabara, Tokyo's nerd centre for Japanese anime, electronics and video games.
"I would like to tell all of you unabashed anime nerds out there that your subculture has spread throughout Asia as the window on Japan," he said on an earlier visit in 2006.
A gift shop called "
Oretachi no Taro" or "Our Taro" opened in Akihabara in September, calling him a "cool old dude."
"Having someone at the top who doesn't look at
manga and
otaku in a derogatory way and doesn't think of them as repulsive is a good thing," says Taniguchi, the Audi owner, who works in information security at NTT Communications Corp in Tokyo.
Tokyo University scholar Patrick Galbraith says
otaku indulge a childish hobby in an unproductive way to the detriment of their social responsibility. The popular image of the group is of reclusive individuals, venturing out only to pick up the latest comic books or computer games.
Taniguchi – in slim black jeans, black shirt, black blazer with black iPhone – and other
itasha owners say that image is out of date.
"I consider myself a member of the new generation of
otaku," says Akira Murakami, 26, who owns a Mitsubishi Mirage compact, plastered with 11 female characters from a video game called
Idol Master.
Galbraith, who is writing an encyclopedia on all things
otaku for Kodansha International, says the growth of the
itasha community signals
otaku reaching out and seeking affirmation as the culture becomes less stigmatised.
"With the weaker economy, society is less appealing to conform to and is more tolerant of
otaku behaviour," he says.
Koyo Yamamoto, 34-year-old owner of an internet server maintenance company, says he owns seven cars, including a Nissan Skyline GT-R sports car, which he spends 400,000 yen a year on for stickers.
"The
itasha industry is not easily swayed by the economy," says Hirohiko Yoshida, 41, owner of the Lamborghini and president of Acid Co, a game software company. "People will cut out wasteful spending and pay for the things they really want."
Vehicle sales in Japan excluding minicars dropped for a third straight month in October, led by Toyota Motor Corp's 14 per cent decline and Nissan's 20 per cent plunge.
"The auto industry is facing hard times, but I don't think there is a movement that is as hot and growing as this one," says Tomohisa Shimizu of Geibunsha, which publishes
Itasha Graphics magazine and organised the gathering.
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