Japanese fan collects over 10,000 Dragon Ball items in a bid to fulfill his lifelong dream
An avid Dragon Ball fan from Japan has broken Guinness World Records collection record title with his massive Dragon Ball collection.
Hitoshi Uchida's Largest collection of Dragon Ball memorabilia consists of whooping 10,098 different items - Hitoshi even has an entire room dedicated to 4,000 Son Goku items!
Hitoshi was a Dragon Ball fan from childhood. "I played Gacha games (a Japanese integrated video game and capsule-toy vending machine) to get my hands on Dragon Ball erasers. I always bought them and placed them in my room", he said.
His fascination with Dragon Ball continued throughout his life, but the growing number of Hitoshi's collection concerned some friends and families. "People started thinking I'm a bit strange!"
But according to Hitoshi, Dragon Ball saved his life. "Since I was a child, I was scared of ghosts, and I was scared of dying. And whenever I got scared, I imagined the voice of Son Goku as I was trying to go to sleep. (Son Goku) helped me cope with my fear."
One of the reasons Hitoshi decided to attempt a Guinness World Record title is to meet Masako Nozawa - the voice of Son Goku.
"She's helped me out throughout my life and to this day I am longing to meet her - it's my final goal in life. When I thought about hos I could make that into a reality, I thought of aiming for the record."
Setting a record for any largest collection is a laborious undertaking, and this one was no different. All the figures, including those from Planet Namek and Majin Buu sagas, had to all be photographed one by one.
When asked his view on the philosophy behind the Dragon Ball story, Hitoshi replied: "I think it wants to tell the audience about not giving up. Goku's opponents are always stronger at first, but Goku goes beyond that. When you face an obstacle, you go over it. I also challenged myself that way so that I can become stronger."
<div class="wysi-grey-breakout-box"><strong>You can find Hitoshi Uchida's Dragon Ball collection in the brand new <em><a href="/products/books/guinness-world-records-2020/">Guinness World Records 2020</a></em>, available to buy later this year.&#160;</strong></div>