The True beginning
With the history and trailblazers explored in the history of Itasha, we are finally lead to the beginning of the modern itasha that we see today, with intricate and beautiful designs, and full character art. From the early 2000s to 2024, lots of development has happened for the simple idea of character art on cars. On this page we will explore the 2000s, 2010s, and the current state of the 2020s and the advancements made in these years.

2000s
The 2000s is where Itasha truly began, with anime becoming widely popular in Japan due to the widespread use of the internet and ease of access, and with vinyl shops becoming much more common as well, Itasha began to flourish, first, on mostly unmodified cars however in the coming years this would eventually change. Designs were usually very simple as compared to cars today, but they were all true Itashas in every sense of the word. The first ‘documented’ Itasha debuted at Comiket 68 in 2005, and subsequently two years later, the first Itasha themed event was hosted at  AutoSalone 2007. Continuing in the proliferation of Itasha in japan, the first Itasha racing team was created, named GoodSmile Racing, a race team specifically for major anime merchandise site which featured a popular character named Hatsune Miku on almost every single car they raced. While Japanese Itasha was beginning to flourish, anime was still taboo and stigmatized in America, however this did not stop some who despite the criticism and hate they recieved decided to make their car an Itasha and were the first in america to do so. One of the first cars in America documented to be an Itasha(pictured below) consisted of random characters and little to no actual design fidelity, however it is an Itasha none the less
.2010-17
In this time period, Itasha finally became “popular” in america, proliferating greatly due to the gradual destigmatiazation of anime and more media from across the pacific becoming accessable to American audiences. Youtubers like NoriYaro and Danny Choo were the main beginnings of bringing Itasha media to the Americas and europe documenting cars in japan and posting videos about them in English, bringing the idea of these cars to a wider audience. These years marked the true beginning of Itasha becoming more common in the states. As time progressed forums began to see more and more articles of Japanese Itasha and car culture. In short time, groups of American drivers began to form, each with their own motifs and design philosophies in states like North Carolina, Texas, and California. Even further to add to the popularity, Anime Conventions started hosting their own small car shows to feature the growing numbers of Itashas to people that would appreciate them the most.

2018-Present
In the Present day, major cultural shifts lead the way for anime to be considered “popular”, and most people today have now atleast seen one anime whether they realize it or not. While this could be seen as a good thing, American culture began to see more people who obtained anime wraps for solely the attention it brought, rather than appreciation of characters, or an appreciation of combining their car hobby with their anime hobby. This is not to say there are no people who enjoy cars who get these wraps however. Many do still enjoy cars, and many amazing designs get made and beautiful tuned cars married to beautiful wraps, with conventions being more than willing to accept these cars into them as a piece of anime culture and appreciation. Many people make strong connections through these cars as well, leading to new ideas and strong friendships.