If you happen to see cars or scooters on streets bearing images of cartoons, manga or online computer game characters, it’s quite possible that the driver is a fan of itasya (痛車).
Itasya is a Japanese term referring to cars decorated with cartoon or manga images on the outside — a subculture that has been popular in Japan for the past decade.
A fan of Japanese manga and itasya, 28-year-old Liu Chien-liang (劉建良) founded the Taiwan Itasya Culture Promotion Association in February with a few friends.
PHOTO: HSIEH WEN-HUA, TAIPEI TIMES
SEVEN EXAMPLES
At the moment, there are seven itasya in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Tainan, including Liu’s own itasya with “Kokagami,” a character from the manga Lucky Star on the doors, hood and roof.
It took him three attempts before Liu managed to paste Kokagami’s images onto his car.
Liu said that he’s very attracted to Kokagami because she looks cold outside, but is actually just shy on the inside.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
He said it makes him proud when he drives in the car because it makes him the focus on the road.
The term itasya comes from the Japanese word ita (痛), which means “to hurt” or “painful,” while sya (車) means “car.”
As for why an itasya is called an itasya, Liu said that there are three different explanations.
The first goes that, under Japanese traffic regulations, one has to pay extra fees to put exotic decorations on the outside of a car, and thus it “hurts” to pay the extra money.
The second explanation says that itasya is how the Japanese calls Italian cars, and since they believe Italian cars to be the best decorated ones, the Japanese then chose to call cars decorated with manga characters’ pictures itasya.
The third explanation, Liu said, goes that since the rich decorations on itasya are so colorful, they would “hurt” viewers’ eyes.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS