"Otaku” is a generic name of the subculture fan that was
born in the 1970’s in Japan. “Otaku” had a negative connotation in the past,
however, it has come to be evaluated affirmatively recently. At first, “otaku”
had some particular meaning. For example, it has action, the culture, and
originality. Otaku not only means “geek”, but also has a lot of other meanings.
Next, mostly otaku like anime or comics. The scale of the manga and anime
business is big in Japan, it covers a wide array of genres, and doesn’t target
just a specific group of readers and the contents aren’t swayed by established
concepts. Moreover, in recent years, Japanese comics and anime have grown in
popularity all over the world. It probably gives a specific image to
foreigners, much different from and it is more than Japanese people’s image.
Already “Otaku” are becoming a representative culture of Japan. I think that
the Otaku culture is a culture of splendid Japan. “Otaku” doesn’t only mean
“geek” because it is a new culture of art, music, fashion and literature.
Research Notes
Patrick W. Galbraith, The Otaku Encyclopedia,
Kodansha International
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