OTAKU - Who Knew?

I risked being called out as a total dork earlier this month -- making the humble, solo trek to an evening lecture at Ryerson University, entitled Anime and Contemporary Japanese Society. The lecture was put on in co-effort by the Toronto chapter of the Japan Foundation (which has worldwide cred), Consulate General of Japan in Toronto & the Digital Value Lab of Ry-U. The two parts of the lecture were Postcritical Anime: Observations on Its 'Identity' Within Contemporary Japan (Jaqueline Berndt, Assoc. Prof., Yokohama National University) & Otaku Culture: Personality, Space & City of Anime Fans in Japan (Kaichiro Morikawa, Assoc. Prof., Meiji University).

I wasn't that gripped by the 1st part of the lecture. Prof. Berndt seemed to be walking us through verbal recount of an essay she wrote. Her criticism of anime being/not being the true key to Japanese understanding identity was a little wandering. I may have been distracted by her strange accent (German affected by years of teaching in Japan... in what I am assuming would be fluent Japanese). Or maybe I wandered off with her funny quips & selections of clips from classic anime shows/films. But I felt comfortable amongst the full-house of anime fans in the room -- sharing giggles & guffaws at her 'inside' jokes about certain anime styles or characters. At once feeling part of a special club of people, but also laughing at my own dorkiness (thinking of how my love of anime/comics sets me apart from most of my friends & how most of them just wouldn't 'get it').

The 2nd part of the lecture was what perked my attention & has had a lasting impact on me. It blew my mind! Prof. Morikawa is a freaking awesome & awe inspiring lecturer. He's an expert in the culture of Otaku. And it's apparent from his breadth of knowledge & the way he divulges this information -- just how personal and intimate this subject is to him.

Otaku is a term that was coined in the mid-80s to signify a new personality which emerged as a reaction to the 'loss of future'. The term has attached itself to the stereotype of a computer nerd or social outcast who is obsessed with gaming, fantasy and anime -- even long after adolescence. Early Otakus were generally men who had given up on the promise, progress and futuristic appeal of technology. Technology lay by the wayside during times of war & economic downturn. And as technology became more accessible to consumers, the shops specializing in techno-gadgetry, located in specific city districts, became less centralized -- spreading to the burbs.

Left behind were the very people who dreamed and built and believed in the future city. In technology. With the advent of the personal computer, these refugees of the lost era of future-progress (sci-fi dreamers) became the labourers & experts in building, programming, selling & repairing the machines. Soon, the district of Tokyo called Akihabara, became a place where computer geeks congregated. And so adopted the name 'The Electric Town'. A bizarre transformation of the district occurred which was not the result of strategic planning but of the geographical concentration of a certain type of personality (the Otaku).

What struck me most was just how much the personality & concentration of the population of Otakus has affected the architecture of the place/space they congregate in. Known to be mainstream-society outcasts -- the Otakus' tastes and lifestyles seem to carry a weight of shame. So the Otakus tend to carry out their lifestyle in private or covertly. For this reason, the buildings and complexes which house markets vending anime, electronics and other fantasy wares, are usually windowless or plastered with concealing billboards & signs. Which isn't to say that it's not openly evident what you are there for, when you're in the notorious Electric Town -- 12-storey neon billboards of doe-eyed anime characters smiling down at you all coquettish... But the cityscape is different here. Especially as Prof. Morikawa juxtaposed for us photos of busy, trendy consumer Tokyo districts (more mainstream) against shots of Otakus in Akihabara. Mainstream society districts have open, airy spaces with transparent buildings (lots of windows). It's as though these people want to make a show of their social status -- flaunting their consumerism, their happiness & their outgoing personalities.

I can do no justice to the insane amount of information that was bestowed upon us in the lecture. I'm hoping that the Japan Foundation releases an audio-cast, video or transcript of the Otaku lecture sometime soon. I encourage you to read up on this phenomenon -- even if you aren't a fan of anime or know very little about any of those offshoots/subcultures. Otaku is such an interesting & perplexing facet of sociological and urban planning study.

Some things I was especially wowed by that you might want to check out include...

• Ikeburo Otome (Maiden) Road -- the female Otaku district of Tokyo (female Otakus congregating in their own gendercentric spot because interaction with male Otakus is awkward & the interests these two groups consume is very different)
• Rental Showcases -- there are whole floors of shopping centres in Akihabara that are lined with glass cubbies (display cases, stacked in rows upon eachother), that are rented out to fans/consumers for the purpose of showcasing & selling their anime wares (figurines, books & other paraphernalia)
  
• Garage Kits -- there are stores that specialize in these models & model kits for hobbyists who like to build and collect anime characters/figurines -- amazing obsession! Holy crap!
• The 'Otaku!' Exhibit at the Japanese Pavilion of the 2004 Venice Biennial International Architecture Exhibition (some pictures included here) -- the exhibit was insane enough to house a re-creation of 100s of Rental Showcases that contained miniature scale models of Otaku bedrooms/apartments, housed inside of a larger scale model Otaku apartment
• Yaoi -- 'Boys' Love' media which baffled me... homoerotic or homoromantic fiction that is created mainly by & for females
• Violence associated with Otaku culture -- see Akihabara Massacre, Osaka School Massacre, murderer Tsutomu Miyazaki
  

Photo: Akihabara district, Tokyo

Photo: just your average Otaku bedroom is all :)

Photo: example of a Rental Showcase - taken from Otaku! exhibit at 2004 Venice Biennial

Photo: really small pic -- but miniature scale models of Otaku rooms from exhibit at
2004 Venice Biennial

More Links...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060601767.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/featuredarticles/kie/akihabara/kie_akihabara_06.html
http://secure.giantrobot.com/products.php?code=GR52 (if you can find this issue someplace...)

Takashi Murakami on his art & Otaku culture...
http://www.jca-online.com/murakami.html
With Murakami gaining recognition in pop culture & art circles abroad in Western civilization (Europe, UK, North America), the art of Superflat and the media of the Otaku culture may quickly become more popular or mainstream.
More Murakami...

http://www.takashimurakami.net/

And the 411 on Dojinshi or fan-created anime stealing from or parodying Manga...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Djinshi