Dekotora

• Prize
  Gold in Advertising/Self-Promotion, 2nd Place winner in Advertising
• Photographer
  Todd Antony

Dekotora, is an abbreviation for "decoration truck", is a type of extravagantly decorated truck in Japan. It’s roots date back to 1975, when a series of 10 movies called Torakku Yarō (Truck Guys) that featured a trucker who drove his garishly decorated truck all over Japan, getting into escapades and generally chasing women. This movie was a hit and the dekotora fad swept the country. Each truck is highly personalized, and owners often spend millions of yen (10’s of thousands of dollars) embellishing them exactly to their liking over many years. Junichi Tajima, head of the Utamaro Kai (The national Dekotora group) Says ' After 40 years, Dekotora is my children, my brothers. It's my life's aching treasure'.