Japanese Itasha Cars: Painfully Embarrassing or Totally Awesome?

Nowadays, the involvement of itasha in real motorsport events has been a unique feature in Japan’s motorsport industry. Race cars in itasha decals can be seen from regional club events to international races (including events under the FIA). Participants are also not bounded by privateers amateurs. Many professional teams, or even manufacturer-backed teams, would not mind to turn their race cars into itasha cars; not only does it act as an alternative for sponsorship decals (if the character or design is provided by the sponsor), it is widely considered as one of the many ways of expanding their team’s fanbase or promoting the event they are participating in.