I remember another one of James May’s funny antics during his visit to Japan. While he was in Osaka, James got to dress up as Ultraman and drive around in a go-cart. Apparently, this is a common activity in Japan’s metropolitan areas like Osaka and Tokyo. People would dress up as their favorite anime character and drive around in go-carts as though they were in a Nintendo game. At the end of this scene, James made an interesting point. Japan’s obsession with anime characters, superheroes, and monsters is not just something they imagined. It has become a deeply ingrained part of their culture. Due to this, you can find anime characters everywhere in Japan from sign posts, to appliance manuals, bedrooms, stores, you name it. With this in mind, James wondered if this concept can be seen as a modern interpretation of Shintoism, which talks about many gods and everything being inhabited by a spirit. These anime characters, superheroes, and monsters could be representations of these entities.
Grady P Brown - Author 