On my first day of NashiCon 2018, I noticed a majority of people carrying colorful backpacks decorated with pins, plushies, and charms inside a visible clear window section.
“That’s the beauty of ita bags [is] that you can fill it with anything,” the shop owner of Ita Bag Palace said.
A growing staple at anime cons in recent years, ita bags got their start in Japan where “ita bag” (痛バッグ) translates as “painful bag.” This translation is a commentary on how painful it is to own and carry a backpack that’s weighed down by the sheer amount of contents inside and on display. For more on the history and terminology, check out the following articles on Kotaku and Manga Tokyo websites.
The premise of an ita bag is to proudly showcase your devotion to a fictional character, series, or shipping pair—with those three being the most common theme.
Thanks to the massive amount of merchandise available from official license distributors and handmade pieces created by fans themselves, it’s easy to show off how passionate you are when it comes to your favorite video game character, anime show, or ride-or-die relationship pairing.
As I looked at the bags for sale and the unique takes from everyone else’s own personal bags, I settled on a pink and white ribbon ita bag with a square visible window.
Now the hardest part was: how am I going to decorate this bag? I was so impressed with the level of commitment it takes to focus on one character or series, but I know myself: I’m the type that gets into numerous fandoms, so I couldn’t settle on just one thing.
Slowly but surely, I’m making my first ita bag a special one by showing pieces of my fandom and my personality.
I guess you can say my ita bag’s theme is myself.
So far it’s worked as I’ve had kind strangers at several conventions stop and compliment my ita bag. Usually, it starts with one item someone noticed until they get a close-up view and see I have several related fandoms on display.
After leaving NashiCon 2018 with my new ita bag in tow, I realized this was more than just a quirky convention trend. I loved the moments where people would stop and recognize my Palmon plushie or D. Va pins because it signaled the types of fandom that we have in common for that split second of “hey I love your bag.”
Now I just need to save enough money for a second bag, but I’m guilty of spending it on enamel pins and ita bag accessories.
Do you own an ita bag? If you could buy one, what would be your theme? Let me know in the comments below.
ladidalynne 