Ontological, Postal (1998) is Azuma's doctoral dissertation, published by
Shinchosha in 1998. It investigated why
Derrida, in the 1970s and 1980s, began writing texts in experimental styles rather than conventional academic philosophical essays. In this research, Azuma critically built upon the ideas of Japanese critics like
Kojin Karatani and
Akira Asada. The work was awarded the
Suntory Literary Prize in 1999. To mark the 25th anniversary of
Ontological, Postal's publication, a symposium was held in 2023, and a collection of essays based on the symposium was published in 2024. Azuma demonstrated that the concept of
deconstruction Derrida presented early in his career differed from the one he introduced in the 1970s. The former, which Azuma calls "Negative-Theological Deconstruction," focuses on "the unrepresentable 'hole' or 'crack' within the entire system of representation to dismantle the whole." According to Stefan Hall, Azuma's work functions as a social commentary, arguing that otaku represent a specific type of postmodern condition—"database animals"—who seek "grand nonnarratives," thus eschewing the normative consumption mode that searches for deeper meaning. According to Fabian Schäfer and Martin Roth, Azuma's core ideas regarding databases overlap "surprisingly" with those presented in
Lev Manovich's standard work,
The Language of New Media.
Philosophy of the Tourist (2017) In this book, Azuma uses the figure of the tourist to address major contemporary political and social impasses. Azuma connects the tourist to the idea of the "
postal multitude," arguing that the tourist's experience often results in "misdelivery"—experiences diverging from expectations—which opens up space for "novel political insights."
Yuk Hui identifies the book as an "essential philosophical exercise". The work is welcomed for its goal of responding to the "political impasse of our time," particularly the intensification of geopolitical conflicts and the limitations of the nation-state concept. Hui praises Azuma’s effort to "reinvent the tourist as a figure that heralds the possibility of transcending the limitations of the nation state". This effort is driven by Azuma’s stated refusal to accept a world where the "path toward the universal global citizen has been blocked" (Weltbürgertum). == Notable Awards ==