Photo gallery: Itasha otaku car festival

Try not to avert your eyes as you scroll through this gallery of cars from the recent itasha gathering in Odaiba - things are about to get bright. 'Itasha' is a portmanteau of the words 'itai' (ouch) and 'sha' (vehicle) - a 'pain mobile', as Wikipedia neatly sums it up - that hints at the level of embarrassment you'd have to endure to drive one. Though not entirely the domain of the anime-loving otaku (geek) community, this little outing certainly proved that they've made the genre their own.