Behind the Scenes in Fantastical Neon Trucks of Dekotora Culture
In the mid 70’s a series of movies called “Torakku Yarō” (Truck Dude), with the star actor Bunta Sugawara, came out. The ten movies follow the drivers of two trucks — Ichiban Boshi (first star) and Jonathan — through the country. It is quite interesting because the subculture nourished the movies and the movies, then, nourished the subculture.
I started my new project, Dekotora, while I was living in Japan, centering around this subculture from the 70’s of heavily decorated trucks. My angle is more about the aesthetic, the feel and the mood. It often started from a kid’s dream and those men and very few women still have that spark in their eye and a lot of pride when they talk about their trucks. As a foreigner, it was a great and original way to discover and understand better Japanese culture. The experience was surreal for me sometimes, as my Japanese was very basic and communicating could be quite funny. I was lucky to meet very warm and welcoming people who were eager to share their culture.
Those truckers are very traditional and Dekotora is known to everyone in Japan. You may find it in movies, video games, anime, or even on a Tofu packaging! There is a contradiction between this very closed community, hard to find, where you sometimes feel like you are in a Japanese gangster movie, and those other times, like public events, where outsiders and fans come to see the trucks. The drivers do want a lot of people from the outside to come. Those trucks are rolling art pieces to them, that they will keep improving their whole life. I mainly spent my time with the group Utamarokai. I always felt protected by Tajima san, the president of the club. He is highly respected by the whole Dekotora community. Yamahara san, the leader of the Kansai region chapter, became a friend and invited me to stay with his family a few times in Osaka. I went all around Japan with them, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. The project is still on-going and in the editing process.
Julie Glassberg is a New York-based photographer interested in the diversity of world cultures, subcultures, underground scenes, and the misfits of society. View her work and follow her on Instagram.
