TheAkihabara neighborhood ofTokyo, a popular gathering site forotaku
Otaku (Japanese:おたく, オタク, or ヲタク) is a type of Japanese subculture of people with consuming interests, such asanime, manga,video games,computers, or any other enthusiastically pursued hobby. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay byAkio Nakamori inManga Burikko.
Otaku subculture is a central theme of various anime, manga, documentaries, and academic research. The subculture began in the 1980s as changing social mentalities and the nurturing ofotaku traits by Japanese schools combined with the resignation of such individuals to what was then seen as inevitably becoming social outcasts. The subculture's birth coincided with the anime boom after the release of works such asMobile Suit Gundam, before it branched intoComic Market. The rise of the internet and media further expanded the otaku subculture, as more anime, video games, and other media catering to otaku interests were created.[1] The definition ofotaku subsequently became more complex, and numerous classifications ofotaku emerged.
Otaku may be used as a pejorative, with its negativity stemming from a stereotypical view ofotaku as social outcasts and the media's reporting onTsutomu Miyazaki, "The Otaku Murderer", in 1989.Otaku discrimination was particularly intense between 1989 (when a serial murder suspect was arrested) and the mid-1990s.[2] According to studies published in 2013, the term has become less negative, and an increasing number of people now identify themselves asotaku,[3] both inJapan and elsewhere. Out of 137,734 teens surveyed in Japan in 2013, 42.2% self-identified as a type ofotaku.[3] In 2005, theNomura Research Institute dividedotaku into twelve groups and estimated the size and market impact of each of these groups. Other institutions have split it further or focused on a singleotaku interest. These publications classify distinct groups including anime, manga, camera, automobile,J-idol, and electronics otaku. In 2005, the economic impact ofotaku was estimated to be as high as ¥2 trillion (US$18 billion).[4]
Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another person's house or family (お宅,otaku). The word can be usedmetaphorically as a part ofhonorific speech in Japanese, as asecond-person pronoun. In this usage, its literal translation is "you". It is associated with some dialects ofWestern Japanese and withhousewives, and is less direct and more distant than intimate pronouns, such asanata, and masculine pronouns, such askimi andomae.[5]
The origin of the pronoun's use among 1980s manga and anime fans is unclear. Science fiction fans were usingotaku to address owners of books by the late 1960s (in a sense of "Do[es] [your home] own this book?").[6] Social criticEiji Ōtsuka posits thatotaku was used because it allowed people meeting for the first time, such as at aconvention, to interact from a comfortable distance.[5] One theory posits thatotaku was popularized as a pronoun by science fiction authorMotoko Arai in a 1981 essay inVariety magazine,[5] and another posits that it was popularized by fans of anime studioGainax, some of whose founders came fromTottori Prefecture in western Japan (whereotaku is commonly used).[7] The pronoun was also used in the popular animeMacross, first aired in 1982, by the charactersHikaru Ichijyo andLynn Minmay, who address each other asotaku until they get to know each other better.[8][9][10]
The modern slang form, which is distinguished from the older usage by being written inhiragana (おたく),katakana (オタク or, less frequently, ヲタク) or rarely inrōmaji,[11] first appeared in public discourse in the 1980s, through the work of humorist and essayistAkio Nakamori. His 1983 series 'Otaku' Research (『おたく』の研究,"Otaku" no Kenkyū), printed in thelolicon magazineManga Burikko, applied the term as pejorative for "unpleasant" fans, attacking their supposed poor fashion sense and physical appearance in particular.[12] Nakamori was particularly critical of "manga maniacs" drawn to cute girl characters,[12] and explained his labelotaku as the term of address used between junior high school kids at manga and anime conventions.[13]
In 1989, the case ofTsutomu Miyazaki, "The Otaku Murderer", brought the fandom, very negatively, to national attention.[14] Miyazaki, who randomly chose and murdered four girls, had a collection of 5,763 video tapes, some containing anime andslasher films that were found interspersed with videos and pictures of his victims. Later that year, the contemporary knowledge magazineBessatsu Takarajima dedicated its 104th issue to the topic of otaku. It was calledOtaku no Hon (おたくの本,lit. The Book of Otaku) and delved into the subculture of otaku with 19 articles by otaku insiders, among them Akio Nakamori. This publication has been claimed by scholar Rudyard Pesimo to have popularized the term.[15]
In modern Japanese slang, the termotaku is mostly equivalent to "geek" or "nerd" (both in the broad sense); a technological geek would be agijutsu otaku (技術オタク) and an academic nerd would be abunkakei otaku (文化系オタク) orgariben (ガリ勉)), but in a more derogatory manner than used in the West.[14] It is also applied to anyfan of any particular theme, topic, hobby or form of entertainment.[14] According to journalist Colette Bennett, "[w]hen these people are referred to asotaku, they are judged for their behaviors — and people suddenly see an 'otaku' as a person unable to relate to reality."[16][17] The term thus has more of anegative association in Japanese society.[18]
The word entered English as aloanword from the Japanese language. It is typically used to refer to a fan ofanime andmanga, but can also refer toJapanese video games or evenJapanese culture in general. Platforms likeTrackOtaku[19] and the American magazineOtaku USA popularize and cover these aspects.[20][21] The usage of the word is a source of contention among some fans, owing to its negative connotations and stereotyping of the fandom. Widespread English exposure to the term came in 1988 with the release ofGunbuster, which refers to anime fans asotaku.Gunbuster was released officially in English in March 1990. The term's usage spread throughout theUsenet group rec.arts.anime with discussions aboutOtaku no Video's portrayal of otaku before its 1994 English release. Positive and negative aspects, including the pejorative usage, were intermixed.[21] The term was also popularized byWilliam Gibson's 1996 novelIdoru, which referencesotaku.[22]
Kaichirō Morikawa identifies the subculture as distinctly Japanese, a product of theschool system and society. Japanese schools have a class structure which functions as acaste system, butclubs are an exception to the social hierarchy. In these clubs, a student's interests will be recognized and nurtured, catering to the interests ofotaku. Secondly, the vertical structure of Japanese society identifies the value of individuals by their success. Until the late 1980s, unathletic and unattractive males focused on academics, hoping to secure a good job and marry to raise their social standing. Those unable to succeed socially focused instead on their interests, often into adulthood, with their lifestyle centering on those interests, furthering the creation of the otaku subculture.[14]
Even prior to the coinage of the term, the stereotypical traits of the subculture were identified in a 1981 issue ofFan Rōdo (Fan road) about "culture clubs".[14] These individuals were drawn to anime, a counter-culture, with the release ofhard science fiction works such asMobile Suit Gundam. These works allowed a congregation and development of obsessive interests that turned anime into a medium for unpopular students, catering to obsessed fans. After these fans discovered Comic Market, the term was used as a self-confirming and self-mocking collective identity.[14]
The 1989 "Otaku Murderer" case gave the fandom a negative connotation from which it has not fully recovered.[14] The perception ofotaku was again damaged in late 2004 whenKaoru Kobayashi kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered a seven-year-old first-grade student. Japanese journalist Akihiro Ōtani suspected that Kobayashi's crime was committed by a member of thefigure moe zoku even before his arrest.[23] Although Kobayashi was not anotaku, the degree of social hostility againstotaku increased.Otaku were seen by law enforcement as possible suspects for sex crimes, and local governments called for stricter laws controlling the depiction of eroticism inotaku materials.[24]
Not all attention has been negative. In his bookOtaku,Hiroki Azuma observed: "Between 2001 and 2007, theotaku forms and markets quite rapidly won social recognition in Japan", citing the fact that "[i]n 2003,Hayao Miyazaki won theAcademy Award for hisSpirited Away; around the same timeTakashi Murakami achieved recognition for otaku-like designs; in 2004, the Japanese pavilion in the2004 International Architecture exhibition of theVenice Biennale (Biennale Architecture) featured 'otaku'. In 2005, the wordmoe — one of the keywords of the present volume — was chosen as one of the top ten 'buzzwords of the year'."[25] In 2013, a Japanese study of 137,734 people found that 42.2% self-identify as a type of otaku. This study suggests that the stigma of the word has vanished, and the term has been embraced by many.[3]Marie Kondo told ForbesWomen in 2020: "I credit being an otaku with helping me to focus deeply, which definitely contributed to my success."[26]
In the early 1990s, the otaku subculture started to gain traction in theWestern world. According to Lawrence Eng, the first anime that could have caused this to happen wasGunbuster, and the protagonist,Noriko Takaya, is teased about her otaku behavior.[27]: 88 ThroughGunbuster, Western audiences would learn about the wordotaku.[28] In the late 1990s, otaku was a popular subculture amongGeneration Xers in the United States.[29] In the early 2000s, the otaku community in the United States often consisted ofsuburban young people and niche online groups.[30]
The district ofAkihabara in Tokyo, where there aremaid cafés featuring waitresses who dress up and act like maids or anime characters, is a notable attraction center for otaku. Akihabara also has dozens of stores specializing in anime, manga,retro video games, figurines, card games, and other collectibles.[31] Another popular location isOtome Road in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Students fromNagoya City University started a project to help promote hidden tourist attractions and attract more otaku toNagoya.[32]
There are specific terms for different types of otaku, includingfujoshi (腐女子; lit. "rotten girl(s)"), a self-mockingly pejorative Japanese term for female fans ofyaoi, which focuses onhomosexual male relationships.[33]Reki-jo are female otaku who are interested inJapanese history. Some terms refer to a location, such asAkiba-kei ("Akihabara-style"), which applies to those familiar with Akihabara's culture.
Miyadai describes two big subtypes of the otaku type, a world type and a battle royale type. There is a chronological development from the world type of the late 1990s to the battle royale type of the 2000s but they also coexisted. The antagonism between the world type and the battle royale type emerged in the age in which reality and fiction are regarded as equivalent tools for self-defense. He further describes the internet society as a rhizomic structure which invalidates the distinction between "reality" and "fiction". The world type treats fiction as an equivalent of reality (real-ization of fiction), while the battle royale type treats reality as an equivalent of fiction (fictionalization of reality).[2]
Otaku often participate in self-mocking through the production or interest in humor directed at their subculture. Anime and manga otaku are the subject of numerous self-critical works, such asOtaku no Video, which contains a live-interviewmockumentary that pokes fun at the otaku subculture and includesGainax's own staff as the interviewees.[34] Other works depict otaku subculture less critically, such asGenshiken andComic Party. A well-knownlight novel, which later received a manga and anime adaptation, isWelcome to the N.H.K., which focuses on otaku subcultures and highlights other social outcasts, such ashikikomori andNEETs. Works that focus on otaku characters includeWataMote, the story of an unattractive and unsociableotome gamer otaku who exhibits delusions about her social status;[35] andNo More Heroes, a video game about an otaku assassin namedTravis Touchdown and his surrealistic adventures inspired by anime and manga.[36] Media about otaku also exist outside of Japan, such as the American documentaryOtaku Unite! which focuses on the American side of the otaku culture,[37] and the Filipino novelOtaku Girl, which tells the story of a virtual reality world where otaku canrole-play and use the powers of their favorite anime characters.[citation needed]
A term used in the otaku fandom iswotagei or otagei (ヲタ芸 or オタ芸), a type of cheering performed as a group. Another term isitasha (痛車; literally "painful (i.e. cringeworthy) car(s)"), which describes vehicles decorated with fictional characters, especiallybishōjo game oreroge characters.[38][39]
Anoraks taking photos of trains at an annual depot open-day event in Tokyo in August 2011
TheNomura Research Institute (NRI) has made two major studies into otaku, the first in 2004 and a revised study with a more specific definition in 2005.[40][41] The 2005 study defines twelve major fields of otaku interests. Of these groups:
Estimates concerning the otaku market scale (2004)
These values were partially released with a much higher estimation in 2004, but this definition focused onconsumerism and not the "unique psychological characteristics" of otaku used in the 2005 study.[40][41]
The NRI's 2005 study also put forth five archetypes of otaku:
The first is the family-oriented otaku, who has broad interests and is more mature than other otaku; their object of interest is secretive and they are "closet otaku".
The second is the serious "leaving my own mark on the world" otaku, with interests in mechanical or business personality fields.
The third type is the "media-sensitive multiple interest" otaku, whose diverse interests are shared with others.
The fourth type is the "outgoing and assertive otaku", who gain recognition by promoting their hobby.
The last is the "fan magazine-obsessed otaku", which is predominately female with a small group of males being the "moe type"; their secret hobby is focused on the production or interest in fan works.[41]
The Hamagin Research Institute found thatmoe-related content was worth ¥88.8 billion ($807 million) in 2005, and one analyst estimated the market could be as much as ¥2 trillion ($18 billion).[4] Japan-basedTokyo Otaku Mode, a place for news related to otaku, has been liked onFacebook almost 10 million times.[42]
Other classifications of otaku interests includeVocaloid,cosplay,figures, andprofessional wrestling, as categorized by the Yano Research Institute, which reports and tracks market growth and trends in sectors heavily influenced by otaku consumerism. In 2012, it noted around 30% of growth indating sim andonline gaming otaku, while Vocaloid, cosplay, idols andmaid services grew by 10%, confirming its 2011 predictions.[43][44]
Ōkina otomodachi (大きなお友達) is aJapanese phrase that literally translates to "big friend" or "adult friend".[45] Japanese otaku use it to describe themselves as adult fans of ananime, amanga, or a TV show that is originallyaimed at children.[46] A parent who watches such a show with their children is not considered anōkina otomodachi, nor is a parent who buys anime DVDs or manga volumes for their children;ōkina otomodachi are those who consume such content by themselves.
Based on a survey with 1,800 responses conducted byDentsu in July 2022, an extrapolated 34% ofAmericanGen-Zs (around 15 million people) identify themselves as animeotaku.[47]
Kim Morrissy of the media companyCrunchyroll wrote that, in the anime fandom, someWesterners believe that identifying as an otaku constitutescultural appropriation, and that it can only refer to a Japanese person.[48]
^abMiyadai, Shinji (2011). "Transformation of Semantics in the History of Japanese Subcultures since 1992".Mechademia.6:231–258.doi:10.1353/mec.2011.0012.
^Bolton, Christopher; Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Istvan; Tatsumi, Takayuki, eds. (2007). "Introduction".Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. xxii.ISBN978-0-8166-4974-7.
^Galbraith, Patrick W.; Kam, Thiam Huat; Kamm, Björn-Ole, eds. (2015).Debating otaku in contemporary Japan: historical perspectives and new horizons. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 7–8.ISBN978-1-4725-9497-6.OCLC897946266.
^abcdefgMorikawa, Kaichirō (April 20, 2012)."おたく/ Otaku / Geek".Center for Japanese Studies UC Berkeley.Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. RetrievedAugust 13, 2013.
^Pesimo, Rudyard C. (2007). ""Asianizing" Animation in Asia: Digital Content Identity Construction within the Animation Landscapes of Japan and Thailand".Reflections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity. The Nippon Foundation. p. 167.
^abEng, Lawrence (February 28, 2012). "Chapter 4: Strategies of Engagement: Discovering, Defining, and Describing Otaku Culture in the United States". In Ito, Mizuko; Okabe, Daisuke; Tsuji, Izumi (eds.).Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. Yale University Press. pp. 85–104.ISBN978-0-300-15864-9.
^Eng, Lawrence (2012). "Strategies of Engagement: Discovering, Defining, and Describing Otaku Culture in the United States". In Ito, Mizuko; Okabe, Daisuke; Tsuji, Izumi (eds.).Fandom unbound: otaku culture in a connected world. New Haven [etc.]: Yale University Press (published February 28, 2012). pp. 85–107.ISBN978-0-300-15864-9.
^Beran, Dale (July 30, 2019).It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office (1st ed.). New York:All Points Books. p. xiv.ISBN978-1-250-21947-3.
^Beran, Dale (July 30, 2019).It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office (1st ed.). New York:All Points Books. p. x.ISBN978-1-250-21947-3.
^"Akihabara". japanguide.com. July 24, 2013. Archived fromthe original on April 27, 2011. RetrievedAugust 19, 2013.
^Saitō, Tamaki (2007). "Otaku Sexuality". In Bolton, Christopher; Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Istvan; Tatsumi, Takayuki (eds.).Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams. Translated by Bolton, Christopher. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 224.ISBN978-0-8166-4974-7.
^When this phrase is actually pronounced, the colloquial formokkina otomodachi (おっきなお友達) is often used. The phraseōkii otomodachi (大きいお友達) is also used with the same meaning.
Galbraith, Patrick W. (2009).The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan. Foreword: Frederik L. Schodt. Tokyo: Kodansha.ISBN9784770031013.OCLC318409815.
Galbraith, Patrick W. (2012).Otaku Spaces. Photographer: Androniki Christodoulou. Seattle: Chin Music Press.ISBN978-0-9844576-5-6.OCLC709681091.
