Bippu vans yay!

[DrWebster]

Alright, time to get this thread back on track. Another aspect of Japanese car culture that I have woefully overlooked so far is the itasha, basically a car painted/vinyl'd with the owner's favorite anime/manga characters. (Fun fact: itasha literally means "pain car," as it's thought that such cars are painfully embarrassing to be seen riding around in.)

Caramelldansen? On MY Ferrari?

I'm lovin' this K-On itasha, they even got a vanity plate for it:

Even more itasha over at Danny Choo's blog: http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25143/Anime+Cars.html

 

[Grappler]

God I wish we could have had the evo wagons in the states

 

[DrWebster]

Alright, need to get this thread cranked up again.

How about a quick Japanese lesson? "Dekotora" is an amalgam of two words -- "deko," or decoration, and "tora," which is short for "torakku." Say "torakku" (pronounced toe-RAH-koo) fast and you should be able to figure out what it means in English.

And fittingly, some dekotora pictures!

Fun fact: Dekotora aren't just for show, they're actually used to haul stuff. Their owners are real truck drivers!

 

[DrWebster]

Wait, what is this? Two bippu thread updates in a week?! I must be crazy!

Crazy for kei cars, that is!!!!

 

[Big Nate]

Why do I want one Of these????

 

[Workdawg]

No one wants one of those. Parents in Japan punish their kids by adding gaudy shit to their cars when they get bad grades. Clearly the kids are just trying to make it cool so they don't look like idiots...

<.<