The Japanese subculture Dekotora, characterized by extravagantly decorated trucks and commercial vehicles—often featuring paintwork, neon lights and chrome accents—first caught on in the late 1960s as a form of mobile advertising: a truck carrying fish from Hokkaido, for example, would sport a traditional painting showing its cargo and origins. Today, due to regulations prohibiting this form of decoration because of the disrepute of the Dekotora scene, these trucks are used only by a few small businesses. In this photobook, French photographer Julie Glassberg documents this diminishing scene. Her photographs are contextualized by a lengthy, illuminating conversation with Japanese pop culture expert Kyoichi Tsuzuki. Through its considered interplay of image and text, the book asserts Dekotora’s cultural significance: Beyond its flashy exterior, Dekotora mirrors a penchant for elaborate decoration that is deeply ingrained in Japan’s suburban and rural communities.
