ABOUT

Entitled Dekotora, which translates to 'decorated truck’, the personal project explores an unusual aspect of Japan's culture, which is essentially the practice of adding bling-upon-bling to everyday working trucks.

The tradition of drivers decorating their trucks originally stems from a 1975 Japanese movie that drew its inspiration from American films such as 'Smokey & the Bandit'.

"The first Torakku Yaro ('Truck Rascals') movie was released, and nine more followed through the end of the decade. Each Torakku Yaro instalment followed a duo of Dekotora-driving heroes on a different, lovelorn wild goose chase. And while the crazy plots and affable characters certainly spoke to audiences, it’s the glittery, light emblazoned trucks that inspired the movement of Dekotora. Drivers started decorating their trucks in the hope of being cast in the movies and the Utamaro-Kai association of Dekotora drivers was started. Things have evolved since then and now the truck designs can be quite personal to each driver and can cost anywhere up to and over $100k, the price of a small house in Japan.