AKIRA T-Shirts: The Scene (Part 1) - Exploring the Birth of the "Anime T-Shirt" Craze with a Famous Collector

Welcome to "Aichaku Kaiwai," our new special series where we connect with people who are passionate about fashion and culture. With major collaborations like Gucci x DORAEMON and Loewe x Ghibli, the "fashion meets anime" crossover is now a massive global trend.

At the very beginning of this wave, and still its most iconic example, is "AKIRA" by Katsuhiro Otomo. Some of the original "AKIRA T-shirts" from the 1980s are now rare collector's items fetching over 500,000 yen. For our first installment, we sat down with Tsuyoshi Takahashi—a costume designer, stylist, and one of the world's foremost collectors—to dive into the "AKIRA T-shirt scene."

"I haven't counted them all, but I probably have over 200." The "AKIRA T-shirts" Takahashi brought with him cover the entire floor. How did he amass this collection, currently valued at several million yen?

"The 'AKIRA' manga was serialized in 'Weekly Young Magazine' (Kodansha) from 1982 to 1990, and the animated film was released in 1988. Official items like T-shirts and sweatshirts were being made even back then. There are also licensed T-shirts, collaborations with other brands, and commemorative T-shirts from exhibitions by the creator, Katsuhiro Otomo. I get them mainly through marketplace apps, buying them at thrift stores, and sometimes trading with other collectors."