You've probably heard of itasha, cars decorated with anime characters, but the snowboards decorated in a similar vein have a name that's even more fun. Instead of "pain mobiles" it's "pain boards," itaita.

R25 reports this type of board decoration as a growing trend, citing an active Mixi community going back to 2006. Popular characters, as you might expect, include K-On! girls, Strike Witches, and Squid Girl.

The article also quotes some message board reactions to the idea of moe snowboards:

"Compared to itasha, this is pretty easy to do, huh."

"Is snowboarding becoming an otaku sport? [...]"

"The fault of itaita is that you have to tred on your wife [note: the character you adore], which is something that as an otaku I cannot accept."

Apparently there is one Mixi community called JIBA (something like Japan Ita Board Association, according to the Japanese) whose honorary president is Doumu Narita. Once an olympic snowboarder, he now is working as a talent in the otaku sphere and produces the idol act D-si☆'s.

via Hachima Kikou