Known as Dekotora, Decotora, or simply as Japanese art trucks, these incredible masterpieces on four wheels have become a symbol of Japan.

Dekotora is an abbreviation for “decoration truck”, and if you can say something about these trucks it’s that they are very decorated. That’s basically what defines the Dekotora art movement – adding as many decorations to your truck, as you possibly can, while keeping it operational. And making use of the ingenuity that defines the Japanese, they have been able to create some truly impressive rigs that blow your mind. Neon lights, flashy spoilers, manga and kabuki artworks are all part of a Dekotora artist’s arsenal, in his quest of creating the flashiest truck possible.

The Dekotora movement was born in 1975, when Toei released the first of its 10-movie series called “Trucker”, which featured a trucker who drove his overly-decorated truck all over Japan. The movie was a huge success, and people started tuning their own big rigs to resemble what they saw on screen. Dekotora truckers are very passionate about what they do, and money is no object when it comes to turning their vehicles into flashy masterpieces. They often form communities where they can show off their creations and interact with other art-truck enthusiasts. Most of them try to adorn the trucks with as many decorations as possible, while keeping them street legal, but there are those who go over the limit and create impressive Dekotora beasts that can only be admired in exhibitions.

There are three main Dekotora styles – Kansai, Kant and Retro, and starting with the late 1990s, the Gundam franchise has had a huge influence on the world of Dekotora. I guess the Japanese love robots and sci-fi,even when it comes to big flashy trucks.

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Taras Lesko is an incredibly talented designer who likes to create beautiful things both on his computer and with his own two hands. Though his graphic designs are nothing short of impressive, it’s his paper craft creations that really caught my eye.

Taras spends months working on his paper craft models, drawing up the parts, cutting them out and putting them together. Now that doesn’t sound like anything special, but wait until you see what this guy make out of paper.

The Freedom Gundam is, in my opinion, the coolest paper craft model in his personal portfolio. Inspired by the famous Gundam anime movie, Taras spent two months working on the 4-foot paper-craft Fredom Gundam. He ended up using 175 paper sheets and 500 individual parts.

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After the pink assault rifle, and the bedazzled Gundam robot, Hello Kitty has tainted yet another bastion of manliness, the Ferrari Modena.

Some have suggested this kind of auto blasphemy should be illegal, but unfortunately, the person who afforded to buy it can do whatever they want with it. This particular Hello Kitty car was spotted on the streets of Jakarta, in Indonesia, where the Japanese icon apparently has quite a following. Now, the exterior doesn’t look so bad, except for the Hello Kitty exhausts, huge rear window decal, and hideous side-mirrors, but the interior s simply beyond words.

Hello Kitty seat covers, steering wheel cover, mats and all kinds of other memorabilia taint the inside of this Ferrari road monster. There’s really just one thing the owner of this car could do to complete this “massacre” and that’s replace the Ferrari logo with that of Hello Kitty. Can you imagine the horror?

If he can afford to but a Ferrari and turn it into a Hello Kitty shrine on wheels, maybe this person should build himself a Hello Kitty castle to go with the car.

Photos by Detikoto and GT Spirit

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Two weeks after the Tokyo Gundam statue was dismantled, a new robot statue was unveiled in Kobe, Japan. This time it’s the Tetsujin 28-go aka Gigantor.

This mean looking machine was set up in Wakamatsu Park, Kobe and unlike the RX78 Gundam statue it will remain here permanently. The funds for the construction of Gigantor were not supplied by big-time corporations either. The approximately 1.5 million dollars were raised by local shop owners, in hope that it will bring commerce and people to Kobe.

The city of Kobe was seriously damaged by an earthquake, in 1995, and its population has decreased to around 80% of what it was before the cataclysm. Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a legendary manga artists, was born in Kobe and helped design Tetsujin 28-go.

via Mainichi

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I swear Hello Kitty is trying to take over the whole world. It’s everywhere these days, even on things that used to belong to us manly men, like guns and Gundam robots and it even got its very own Hello Kitty castle.

And if thing weren’t bad enough, I’ve just come across some dreadful photos of a Hello Kitty car, taken in mother Russia. Someone went through an awful lot of trouble converting a perfectly nice Suzuki into a hideous girly-pink ride.

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Leave it to the Japanese to come up with something totally weird yet not totally unpleasant. After some of the weirdest. After stuff like the  Hello-Kitty Gundam and the husband-hunting bra, Japan introduces the blue, green and red beer.

The people at the Abashiri Brewery have found a use for the icebergs that wash up on Japan’s cost every year. They’ve melted them and used the water to make the world’s first blue beer. The unusual draft looks amazing and is said to taste pretty good as well. Japanese blue beer also contains a fair amount of seaweed.

Abashiri’s green beer is also made of seaweed, as well as hops and a mixture of plants from Japan’s Siretoko peninsula. The red beer contains anthocyans, natural pigments found in plants and fruit.

via eToday

With the world going crazy over the Transformers and the Gundam statue of Tokyo, people have forgotten all about nice old Thomas the Tank. But someone found a way to make him popular again by turning him into some sort of Transformer train.

This weird little toy has been auctioned on eBay by a person from Singapore, for a price of S$10. That’s 10 Singapore dollars, which translates to around 6 dollars US. The package is made up of three different color Thomas trains that come together to form the ultimate Trainsformer.

via Like Cool

It may not be as cool-looking as the life-size Gundam robot in Tokyo, but, for a home-made statue, this real-life Bumblebee Transformer is pretty awesome.

A big Transformers fan from Lemoore, California, Tom Rhoads decided to build a Bumblebee replica right in his front yard. He started working on the 18-foot-tall statue right after his son was born. Seeing these are financially-troubled times, Tom created the life-size Transformer out of an old Volkswagen Beetle, instead of a brand new Camaro, like in the movie.

Rhoads and a friend worked on this Bumblebee statue for an entire year, then lifted it into position using a crane and reinforced its legs so it wouldn’t fall down.

via Daily Stab