Itasha

The cars are seen prominently in places such as Akihabara (Tokyo), Nipponbashi (Osaka), or Ōsu (Nagoya), or Itasha-based events, such as Odaiba Itasha Tengoku.

There are different names for vehicles that have features of an itasha, such as itansha (痛単車) for motorcycles, itachari (痛チャリ) for bicycles, itabasu (痛バス) for buses, itatorakku (痛トラック) for trucks, itadensha (痛電車) for trains, and itahikōki (痛飛行機) for aircraft.

[5] The subculture started in Japan in the 1980s with character plushies and stickers,[6] but only became a phenomenon in the twenty-first century, when anime culture became relatively well known via the Internet.

[11] The executive director of ACID Co., Ltd. (parent company of game developer Âge), Hirohiko Yoshida, was reported to own a Muv-Luv-themed Lamborghini Gallardo,[12] Lancia Stratos,[13] and BMW M5.

[citation needed] Good Smile Co. has sponsored Super GT GT300 cars with liveries featuring itasha-like illustrations of Hatsune Miku since 2008.

In 2019, Good Smile partnered with Type-Moon and TRIGGER to field cars with itasha liveries for Miku, Fate, and Promare at the 2019 24 Hours of Spa.

[17] In Nagoya Auto Trend in 2009, a Phantom of Inferno-themed Chevrolet Corvette, a Melonbooks-themed MINI Cooper, and a Chaos;Head Noah-themed Toyota Estima were unveiled.