Do your Children Call Themselves Otaku?

What is the Definition of Otaku?

In most Western nations, otaku is a word that some anime fans use to refer to themselves and others. In that context, it is generally a compliment, and means that the individual is interested in anime and manga- perhaps in one genre, perhaps in many. It also means the person is likely to have watched a great number of different anime series and movies, perhaps read associated manga, or unrelated manga, and is passionate about their interest- a serious fan. They are also likely to participate in anime fandom (otaku culture) in other ways. Otaku differ from ordinary fans by their need to creatively embellish what they like.

Lawrence Eng discusses this in his article 'The Politics of Otaku', as well as the talk he gave at the Genericon XXIII convention.

So, are there others similar to otaku?

In science fiction fandom there are people known as Trekkies, who are strongly interested in the various Star Trek shows, especially the original series. Many of them can tell you every episode of the series in order, along with the secondary actors in any specific show, the writers, and who directed the episode. They are the group that most resemble anime fans that refer to themselves as otaku.

Another group who bear a resemblance to otaku, in both their Japanese and Western incarnations, are often known as geeks. People with great enthusiasm for interests and activities that may not be the norm at their schools or with their age groups were once called geeks - or nerds - in a mocking or disparaging way. The name has come to mean someone who has a passionate interest - and is often able to do something special with it. Geeks have revolutionized our world - can otaku?

Anime and manga otaku, however, have wider interests than the Trekkies, because there are so many genres of anime and manga. In Japan, manga and anime range from children’s stories, some of which incorporate elements from Japanese folklore, to historical tales and a wide range of fantasy and science fiction. As well, there are manga (Japanese graphic novels, usually issued in series) for housewives and sports fans, romance readers and men’s adventure tales. There are even educational manga.

In Japan, the term otaku is not reserved for anime and manga fans. The post below this will be helpful if you’d like to read further about the origins and different meanings associated with the name otaku in Japan. There are many different otaku subcultures in Japan.

What do otaku do?

In the United States and other western nations, self-referred otaku may do much more than watch anime and read manga. They may collect figures modeled after characters in their favorite anime or manga, posters or walls scrolled representing those characters, and CDs that have the music from their favorite series or OAV (original anime video). They may make costumes modeled after characters in anime, manga, or video games, as well as the occasional American animation. There are many different consumables available if the western otaku is interested - although nowhere near as many as can be found in Japan. Western otaku are also fond of imported Japanese cookies, candy and drinks. The thin sticklike cookie dipped in chocolate or other flavored coating, called pocky, is a favorite, and can be found in the imported food sections of regular grocery stores, because more than otaku enjoy them.

Becoming a geek - or an otaku

When I was nine, I wanted to know everything. In fourth and fifth grade, based on what I knew, and what my teachers seemed to know and be willing to teach, this seemed entirely reasonable to me. I was introverted, but able to be tenacious in following up on something I wanted to learn. I gradually narrowed my focus from everything to specific subjects and topics. But I still wanted to learn all there was to know about those subjects. My interests were varied - I was a history nut, a biology nerd, science fiction fan, mystery buff, gadget freak, adventure gameaholic and would-be artist and writer. A geek. A multiplexing geek, but a geek nevertheless. If there was a book about something I wanted to know, I read it. If someone in my biology class was hesitant to dissect their frog, I’d volunteer to do it. If there was another experiment to do in Biology class, I would stay after and do it. I wrote terrible poetry and made clay fantasy sculptures - with some idea of the anatomy they should have from my biology lessons. I played my favorite computer adventure game for as long as my parents allowed. I even corrected my teachers upon unappreciated occasions. I was an incipient otaku, even though I had never heard the word nor seen an anime at the time.

There are more like me. Now, as well as the things that interested me when I was younger (and still do) I enjoy anime and manga, which I discovered as a young adult. Now, your children are exposed to it at a young age. Disney brings over Japanese animation in arrangements with studios in Japan. Every bookstore and even stores like WalMart carry a few manga. Those who gravitate to this form of entertainment can find many sources.

How do otaku define themselves? What do otaku do? Otaku watch Anime and read manga, go to Animation Conventions, consume and create. What do they take - and what do they give in return?

Anime conventions

In the United States, there are multiple Animation Conventions; Anime Cons which are held every month of the year. One of the Largest on the East coast is called, proudly, Otakucon. Yearly, thousands of anime fans of every genre gather to watch animations and dress in character costumes (called cosplay) and buy and trade manga, videos, CDs and DVDs. They also buy plastic, resin or plush figures from their favorite animations, copies of objects portrayed in animations, messenger bags with Hello Kitty or Bleach figures on them, hats, ears and tails to wear and snacks from Japan and other Asian countries to eat. They play games and have trivia contests, listen to geek stand-up comedians and eat pocky (one of the favorite con foods) and stay up too late talking with like minded people. Young artists sell pictures they draw or paint or make in digital programs like Photoshop. They are of characters from anime they like as well as ones they have imagined, along with every sort of fantasy or science fictional creature. Others craft ‘plushies,’ soft or furry creatures with ties to anime. At the last anime con I attended, there was a young woman selling fleece scarves which when rolled up looked like sushi. She also had soft fortune cookie pillows. This is all in addition to commercially made products sold by vendors. Some of those young creators hope to be the next great animator, manga writer or artist.

Lawrence Eng, PhD, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Otaku Culture, spoke at Genericon XXIII about what could be learned from the unique otaku subcultures, specifically the anime otaku. What made them different and special, curious and creative? He identified several different points.

Otaku enjoy pop culture - although they do not always view it in the expected ways. Otaku consume; they contribute to the economy with their anime related purchases, although their tastes are specific and choices judicious. Some otaku create shrines to their interests in their home spaces. Their décor has a specific anime flavor and uses the things they collected. They are consumers of primary media, created and sold by others, and secondary media, where they may collect ephemeral items such as posters for new anime releases - which then decorate their walls. Cels from animations can be framed, and they make and trade anime related items and reproductions. They create their own work, whether fan fiction, fan art, stuffed plush characters and model robots or costumes that duplicate the clothing of their favorite characters down to the tiniest details.

They also are social. They gather together to exchange objects and ideas and enjoy the company of likeminded people. The otaku are increasingly global, with connections that cut across boundaries of country or region. Otaku have skills that are creative and are skilled in research. They enjoy learning. They like to figure things out- and do things with what they discover. They are accepting of others who have different interests and do not tend to judge other people on looks. Their attitudes can make them act with initiative in the mainstream of culture; leaven in the global bread.

Otaku differ from fans in a basic way; not only do they seriously enjoy the things they are fans of, they have a desire to innovate, to see what they can add or do better.

Otaku analyzed

Toshio Okada, who has studied and lectured on otaku as well as animation, gave a talk at MIT in 2003, talking about Otaku, Anime History, and Japanese Culture and what is happening with all of them. Notes on the talk were taken by Eri Izawa.

Among the things discussed were the creativity inherent in being an otaku, and different attitudes toward developing creativity. He said that in Japan, future artists often copied and emulated the style of someone they admired, much as in this country people write fan fiction or expand on comics. He thought that eventually people go beyond this emulation to think, 'I can do better than this' or I can do something more than this', and that this results in the creative process beginning. From complete emulation they go to writing dialog, or innovating in some other way, and creativity of their own would emerge. He thought this was an easier route than just being told to create something original, although Japanese teachers, like Americans, also try to encourage creativity by saying make something original.

Children, he said, in Japan would draw and doodle from an early age, constantly, copying and doodling and continually practicing. He also said there is somewhat of a different attitude in Japan about this continuous copying, because many prominent animators manga artists began this way themselves, and do not feel able to complain, although high level executives might.

This has some similarities to the apprenticeships with artists in the Renaissance period. Young apprentices would learn to copy the master artist's style, reproduce his line and his color choices, his method of composition and the techniques used to make his paints. As they learned, they would begin to be allowed to draw the background line for the artist or more senior apprentices to color. Then they might paint small objects in a painting as their styles began to be accurate copies of the master's work. The further along an apprentice was in their apprenticeship, the more of a picture they would be entrusted with working on. There are famous artworks today called works from the school of..., because there is no way of telling if the master themself did the major portion of work on a picture, or if it had been completed by a senior apprentice. Generally, a master would do special details on a painting which were 'signatures' of their work- their specialties.

As an apprentice approached the end of the apprenticeship, mastery, they would begin to do minor original works, and then larger ones. At the same time, they would continue assisting the artist they were apprenticed to. They would be given time for themself, as the end of the apprenticeship period drew near- often seven years- and they would work on a masterwork to present to the guild in the city. If accepted, they would then be able to set up their own studio and take their own commissions. (This is a very simplified version of Renaissance artistic apprenticeships.)

The future

Whether you call them otaku, nerds or geeks, people with those labels have risen to extraordinary heights, starting world renowned business, bringing new technology to the public, starting animation studios and conceiving, drawing and directing innovative movies and anime. Who knows what will rise from the otaku – the geeks of the animation world in the West? Do not discourage your child’s interest in manga and anime, or other unusual interests and passions. Are they an otaku or a geek? Encourage them. These are the creative people who will make the art - and the technology - of our future.

References

Information in this article was also found at
The Politics of Otaku, by Lawrence Eng
"I'm alone, but not lonely” by Volker Grassmuck
Wikipedia- Otaku
Toshio Okada on the Otaku, Anime History, and Japanese Culture by Eri Izawa

read on February 18, 2010

The History of the Word Otaku: The Origins and Meaning

Note: This was previously housed at Bright Hub, but has migrated here for a permanent home.

Otaku and Anime

Anime is Japanese made animation. It comes in all styles and genres, from animations for young children (think Pokémon), to stories of children trying to survive on their own in post WWII Japan (Grave of the Fireflies), a very poignant story in a fairly realistic style, meant for an adult audience.

Otaku, in Japanese, is a very formal word meaning ‘you’, and is not normally used between people of the same age and status. There is also an association with the word taku, or house, in Japanese. Over the past few decades, the word has come to have other associations in Japan, some of them rather uncomplimentary. There are many otaku subcultures, ranging from those devoting themselves to anime and manga (Japanese comic books or graphic novels), radio, Pop Singers, computer games, computer programming, movies, model trains and numerous other interests.

In the United States, and in other western countries, the word otaku has come to mean a particularly devoted anime and/or manga fan. Perhaps the closest American analogy to the meaning for American anime fans is the group of Star Trek enthusiasts called Trekkies; the fans who know the plots and writers of every episode, the names of the extras, make their own Star Trek uniforms or build models of the USS Enterprise from plans drawn by other fans.

Lawrence Eng and Otaku 101

Lawrence Eng, PhD, wrote his dissertation on Otaku Culture. He gave a talk on Otaku 101 in February 2010 at Genericon XXIII, a small Anime Con held yearly at RPI in Troy, NY, where he discussed what is known about the changing meaning of otaku in Japanese culture.

In paraphrase, he said it seems to have begun when: a group of university students interested in animation in the late 1970s began to use otaku as an honorific greeting to one another. The group, many of them who went on to start Studio Gainax, a well-known Japanese animation studio, addressed each other with the formal term, although they were students of the same age. It seems to have had overtones of both detachment and recognition of expertise.

While probably first used among anime makers and fans, use of the word spread to a number of subcultures or interest groups in Japan around the early 1980s. It was generally used to indicate people who had strong interests in an area, and devoted themselves, fanatically, to learning more. In many ways they were people with strong intellectual curiosity and an interest in examining things from many different angles. He asked the audience for the meanings they associated with the word otaku. The list they came up with was that Otaku can mean enthusiast, creep, introverted and agoraphobic fanatic, geek, observer, unkempt, collector, pervert, expert, or anime fan, depending on who you ask and how people think of themselves or others.

History of Otaku in Japan

In 1983 the media in Japan began to pay attention to the otaku subcultures, and portrayed them with varying degrees of mockery. They were often typified as antisocial, unwashed, overweight and what in the United States would be referred to as nerds or geeks. They were equated with the sort of person who lived with a huge collection of items related to their mania in their parent’s garage, unwilling to go out in the sunlight or get jobs. While there are members of most groups who fit that stereotype, most people in any group do not, and otaku groups are no different.

In Japan, in 1989, there was an incident involving a psychopath called Tsutomu Miyazaki, who kidnapped, assaulted and murdered four little girls. Investigators found his apartment filled with manga, pornography, anime and slasher movies. The media called him the Otaku Murderer, and all over Japan, the otaku subcultures, especially the anime otaku, were viewed with revulsion and panic. All otaku were tarred with the same brush, and to be called an otaku was very derogatory. Many people in the otaku subcultures no longer wanted to be identified with the word otaku.

For years, the otaku were pictured throughout Japan as, at best, the unkempt geeks the media had previously portrayed them, and at worst, as sociopaths waiting for an opportunity. Very gradually, the image began to change, and with it the stigma of being an otaku. An otaku man saved a beautiful woman from death under a train, and somewhat ineptly began to court her. Manga were written about the story, TV shows portrayed it, and movies were made. He was an endearing character to the public, not a threat. Certain industries found that self-identified otaku made very good employees in their fields, with an unusual depth of knowledge and devotion to learning more.

Otaku outside Japan

Studio Gainax made an animation, Otaku no Video, in 1991, which was a humorous look at different Otaku subcultures, which has many other types than those devoted to anime or manga. It was released in the US in 1992, and American fans learned the word otaku.

Otaku had never stopped doing what they enjoyed, and industries grew up catering to their wants. There were manga devoted to the different types, models and plastic figures made of their interests, whether Pop Idols or cyborg women or giant robots, and computer games and video games sold. Financially, the otaku were having a real impact on the economy. And the interest, especially in anime and manga, was not confined to Japan. Worldwide, there were fan who wanted to watch anime TV shows and movies, play anime related games, read manga and make costumes portraying their favorite characters. Outside of Japan, devoted fans were proud to call themselves otaku. Bookstores stocked manga and DVD of animations could be rented from video stores.

Money talks, and politicians and industry leaders who had no interest in what actually interested otaku started listening. Prominent members of the public, like former Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso, identified themselves as otaku. While not everyone in Japan is comfortable with the name or the ideas of the otaku, public perception no longer saw psychopaths lurking in every otaku subculture.

Otaku now

After the worldwide release of Otaku no Video in 1992, animation fans began to use the word to describe themselves. In America, Great Britain, France and Canada, anime fans were delighted to refer to themselves as otaku, although most of them know that in Japan the name may have different associations to some people. 

Are you an otaku?

Sources

As well as Lawrence Eng’s talk, and my own familiarity with the word in anime fandom, information for this article was also found at:

The Politics of Otaku, by Lawrence Eng,

"I'm alone, but not lonely” by Volker Grassmuck ,

Wikipedia’s article on Otaku,

Online Urban Dictionary.

Online sources read on February 18, 2010

Otaku no Video image from Wikipedia Commons

Scudding Through the Universe

When I was young I wanted to know everything. And I tried. Learning is often a joyful experience, and it certainly makes my mind an interesting place to be inside. If you look through what appears here, you'll see some of the furnishings. Feel free to let me know what you think of them.