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With the spread of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese cartoons) around the world, many have adopted the Japanese term 'otaku' to identify fans of such media. The connection to manga and anime may seem straightforward, but, when taken for granted, often serves to obscure the debates within and around media fandom in Japan since the term 'otaku' appeared in the niche publication Manga Burikko in 1983.
Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan disrupts the naturalization and trivialization of 'otaku' by examining the historical contingency of the term as a way to identify and contain problematic youth, consumers and fan cultures in Japan. Its chapters, many translated from Japanese and available in English for the first time – and with a foreword by Otsuka Eiji, former editor of Manga Burikko – explore key moments in the evolving discourse of 'otaku' in Japan. Rather than presenting a smooth, triumphant narrative of the transition of a subculture to the mainstream, the edited volume repositions 'otaku' in specific historical, social and economic contexts, providing new insights into the significance of the 'otaku' phenomenon in Japan and the world.
By going back to original Japanese documents, translating key contributions by Japanese scholars and offering sustained analysis of these documents and scholars, Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan provides alternative histories of and approaches to 'otaku'. For all students and scholars of contemporary Japan and the history of Japanese fan and consumer cultures, this volume will be a foundation for understanding how 'otaku', at different places and times and to different people, is meaningful.
- Sales Rank: #3223190 in Books
- Published on: 2015-07-16
- Released on: 2015-07-16
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.30" h x .70" w x 6.10" l, 1.10 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 240 pages
Review
“Debating Otaku offers a cogent introduction and a well-conceived series of essays that bring into focus not only the various socio-historical strands contributing to the discursive construction of otaku, but also the polemical stances that have made the term otaku central to debates about media and society in Japan. This collection succeeds beautifully in its central mission: to introduce a pause, a moment of hesitation, into the headlong rush of statements in circulation about Japanese youth, consumption, and pop culture. It will make you think again about otaku, and again.” ―Thomas Lamarre, James McGill Professor in East Asian Studies, McGill University, Canada
About the Author
Patrick W. Galbraith has a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan and is currently pursuing a second Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, USA. He is the author of The Otaku Encyclopedia (2009), Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara (2010), Otaku Spaces (2012) and The Moe Manifesto (2014), as well as the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (2012).
Thiam Huat Kam is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies at Rutgers University, USA.
Björn-Ole Kamm is a researcher and lecturer at the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Welcome to the origin story of otaku
By CheCarlos
Like prequel movies or prequel TV series, Debating Otaku Culture in Contemporary Japan takes a look back into the young but complex history of otaku in a quest to answer the question "Just how did this whole otaku thing get started, and just what exactly constitutes an otaku?" As a collection of academic essays, the book does not definitely answer this question, but rather quite effectively and eloquently opens it up for debate. Taking an approach of taking absolutely nothing for granted, the book tears down all the reductionism and selective amnesia that dogs the history and definition of otaku and invites us to take a critical look at the facts, and to reach our own conclusions and theories based on them.
Patrick Galbraith and his team have done a thoroughly impressive job of putting together essays that really tell the story of how 'otaku' has been applied differently through different times, starting with the first use of the word in 1983 by Nakamori Akio in a small bishoujo magazine of the time called Manga Burikko. After its first use, the term has had quite the turbulent ride, as it has been transformed by events such as:
- the Miyazaki Tsutomu kidnappings and ensuing debate,
- the rise of Okada Toshio to prominence in the otaku discourse (with special attention given by the book to Okada Toshio's anime Otaku no Video),
- the political manipulation of the otaku image in order to promote the Cool Japan campaign,
- the massive popularity of Densha Otoko and the transformation of Akihabara, and
- the contemporary otaku discourse as exemplified by figures such as Azuma Hiroki and Murakami Takashi.
The "take nothing for granted attitude" is made crystal clear from the very beginning of the book. In his unorthodox foreword, Outsuka Eiji (a key figure in introducing current anime aesthetics, and editor at Manga Burikko during Nakamori's time) basically states that what is called the "otaku discourse" is just a joke that he and others in the 80's made up but was somehow taken seriously by others, including the other authors in this book. He outright states that he doesn't believe in this whole otaku discourse nonsense and that the meaning behind 'otaku' is much more mundane in nature with roots in the failed leftist movements of Japan in the 1960s, and asks the reader to not buy too closely into what the rest of the authors in the book have to say about otaku discourse. The off-beat, "let me start by telling the reader that they're interested in something meaningless" foreword is absolutely perfect to introduce the surprising tensions that exist in understanding and defining 'otaku'.
The essays are all well-researched, well-paced, high-quality incisive looks into the definition of 'otaku' that achieve the goal of debunking commonly-held (mis)conceptions and inviting a new kind of conversation.
As for required reading prior to the book, I think the book can be thoroughly enjoyed on its own, but to get the most out of the experience, I would recommend having read Galbraith's other works "The Otaku Encyclopedia" and "The Moé Manifesto", as well as Azuma Hiroki's "Otaku: Japan's Database Animals". Azuma's work is frequently cited throughout Debating Otaku (often in a critical context), and having read the book certainly helps understand why the authors take such issue with it--it's also a great book in its own regard, in my humble opinion. Galbraith's previous work is also wonderful in the academic sense, but amusingly, it also brings (in my mind) a little bit of drama to the otaku discourse in the form of Galbraith's seemingly complicated relationship with Okada Toshio's views on otaku.
Reading Galbraith's books in a sequence reveals a story where once starry-eyed, idealistic otaku Galbraith finally meets his otaku idol Okada Toshio only to discover Okada hates everything that Galbraith's generation of otaku represents (The Otaku Enyclopedia). Galbraith then rebels against his idol by embracing everything Okada hates (The Moé Manifesto), until finally we see Galbraith coming to terms with the differences in ideologies between them, and accepting some of Okada's ideas while preserving his deep admiration for him (Debating Otaku). It strikes me as meaningful that most essays in the book have no introduction, except Okada Toshio's essays which all have an introduction by Galbraith. I'm sure the actual story is nowhere as dramatic as this, but the otaku in me likes to imagine otherwise.
In closing, for readers interested in a deep, academic look into the otaku discourse, Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan is well worth the price of admission. Buy it now, and join the discussion of just what does it mean to be an otaku. Five stars.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Highly recommended!
By Jim Pyke
I was lucky enough to get access to this book early through my university library, so I am happily able to post this review on the date of first availability here on Amazon.
If you are part of its intended audience, this book will be like a series of lightning bolts as you read it. While not 100% pure gold - there are a couple essays that are slightly opaque or feel slightly out of place due to their overly statistical bent - it really is filled with fantastic material on the whole.
The price tag on this is kind of bizarrely steep, but there is enough value in here to make it worth recommending that you request your local library purchase a copy.
Here's who I would define as some members of the intended audience:
- anyone who has read and enjoyed any issues of the journal "Mechademia"
- anyone who has read and gotten value from other things published by the principal authors and editors of this book
- anyone who has read and experienced benefit from any academic studies of manga, anime and gaming culture in Japan
- anyone who has longed for English translations of Gainax co-founder and "Otaking" Okada Toshio's writing on this subject
- any well-educated anime/manga fan who goes to conventions mainly for panel presentations, because you just love learning more about this stuff
The essays in this book are extremely well chosen for the purpose of providing a thorough cross section of - as the title implies - the /debate/ about the otaku subculture that has evolved through the years since 1983 when the term otaku first came into popular usage.
The authors consistently display an impressive awareness regarding the overall project of the book to interrogate and problematize the varied aspects of otaku subculture, rather than attempt to provide what less skilled and confident authors might attempt to pass off as the capital "A" Answers to all the questions that have arisen over the decades.
It also provides rather massive reference lists to help the interested reader find more material for further study in this area.
In short, for students of Japanese popular culture, specifically around manga, anime and gaming, this book has my highest recommendation as it sheds a great deal of clarifying light on a subject that is widely misunderstood and somewhat difficult to grasp in its complexity.
In closing, I want to add that as I myself do research specifically on the historical, maybe I could even say "ancestral", background of the Evangelion series, I would be happy to connect with students and authors with similar interests through the comments below.
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