The trend isn’t brand-new (it started a while back), and it’s even been portrayed in the anime Shonen Hollywood. However, in late 2015, it started getting national news coverage in Japan.

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This article was originally published in April 2015, but has since been updated after Sega gave out ita-bags at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.

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These bags.

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There is even an ita-bag idea book!

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Below are photos from when the trend first hit nationwide morning TV in Japan a few years back.

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This woman says that ita-bag are a way for you to show just how much you love a particular character.

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Many of the buttons are limited edition and only on sale at special events. So some fans, like the one interviewed here, pay a premium for them, making it expensive to decorate these bags.

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The woman says she’s spent about 80,000 yen—or US$668—on bag decoration.

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Here are fans who have spent between a couple hundred dollars on their bags up to around a thousand dollars—or more.

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A thread popped up on 2ch, Japan’s biggest web forum, showing pics of the trend, which somewhat resembles the male geeks called Love Livers who cover their bags with Love Live merch.

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Below, you can see some more ita-bags from Twitter:

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And the most impressive one of all.

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*applause*


Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.