If you search Japanese carrier images on google, there will be girls, not real carriers.
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E5%B3%B6%E9%A2%A8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=ja&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=1BceUpWNH8qOlQW-noGwDA&biw=950&bih=958&sei=1hceUojxIcaHkwWh6oDQCg
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E9%87%91%E5%89%9B&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=ja&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=IRgeUubnCYXckQX2soCICQ&biw=950&bih=958&sei=IhgeUtXlIoiykAXYq4Bo
This is the phenomenon that the personified carriers images is displayed, because of the popular game "kantai collection".
Japanese personifies something often. The history of Japanese personification goes back to Nara period(710-794). People have personified god, nature, creature, and good/bad in a human's mind. The religions that have one god, people was negative about that, so the personification wasn't developed. Yet Japanese religion was animism, so people personified everything.
Then, from the end of 20C, people personified heatedly because of Internet and technical improvement of CG of individuals. The society was hungry for lovely girls, iMac was personified in 1998.
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=iMac+Girl&um=1&hl=ja&biw=950&bih=958&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=0SAeUomjH8efkgXMhYGAAQ
This culture spread in the general public from 2000. Whatever might personified and companies started to impress them.
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AD%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%88%E3%81%9F%E3%82%93&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=ja&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=dSEeUriONM_slAXt64GQCQ&biw=950&bih=958&sei=diEeUt7-McjtlAXphoHIBQ
As I write this, moe characters are made .
http://imagesjapan.blogspot.jp/2013/08/kantai-collection-wallpapers-and-stuff.html
