Otaku

is derived from a Japanese term for another person's house or family (お宅, ). The word can be used metaphorically as a part of honorific speech in Japanese, as a second-person pronoun. In this usage, its literal translation is "you". It is associated with some dialects of Western Japanese and with housewives, and is less direct and more distant than intimate pronouns, such as anata, and masculine pronouns, such as kimi and omae. The origin of the pronoun's use among 1980s manga and anime fans is unclear. Science fiction fans were using otaku to address owners of books by the late 1960s (in a sense of "Do[es] [your home] own this book?"). Social critic Eiji Ōtsuka posits that otaku was used because it allowed people meeting for the first time, such as at a convention, to interact from a comfortable distance. One theory posits that otaku was popularized as a pronoun by science fiction author Motoko Arai in a 1981 essay in Variety magazine, and another posits that it was popularized by fans of anime studio Gainax, some of whose founders came from Tottori Prefecture in western Japan (where otaku is commonly used). The pronoun was also used in the popular anime Macross, first aired in 1982, by the characters Hikaru Ichijyo and Lynn Minmay, who address each other as otaku until they get to know each other better. first appeared in public discourse in the 1980s, through the work of humorist and essayist Akio Nakamori. His 1983 series , printed in the lolicon magazine Manga Burikko, applied the term as pejorative for "unpleasant" fans, attacking their supposed poor fashion sense and physical appearance in particular. Nakamori was particularly critical of "manga maniacs" drawn to cute girl characters, and explained his label otaku as the term of address used between junior high school kids at manga and anime conventions. In 1989, the case of Tsutomu Miyazaki, "The Otaku Murderer", brought the fandom, very negatively, to national attention. Miyazaki, who randomly chose and murdered four girls, had a collection of 5,763 video tapes, some containing anime and slasher films that were found interspersed with videos and pictures of his victims. Later that year, the contemporary knowledge magazine Bessatsu Takarajima dedicated its 104th issue to the topic of otaku. It was called and delved into the subculture of otaku with 19 articles by otaku insiders, among them Akio Nakamori. This publication has been claimed by scholar Rudyard Pesimo to have popularized the term. ==Usage==

In modern Japanese slang, the term is mostly equivalent to "geek" or "nerd" (both in the broad sense); a technological geek would be a and an academic nerd would be a or ), but in a more derogatory manner than used in the West. The word entered English as a loanword from the Japanese language. It is typically used to refer to a fan of anime and manga, but can also refer to Japanese video games or even Japanese culture in general. Non-Japanese media like American magazine Otaku USA popularize and cover these aspects. The usage of the word is a source of contention among some fans, owing to its negative connotations and stereotyping of the fandom. Widespread English exposure to the term came in 1988 with the release of Gunbuster, which refers to anime fans as . Gunbuster was released officially in English in March 1990. The term's usage spread throughout the Usenet group rec.arts.anime with discussions about Otaku no Videos portrayal of otaku before its 1994 English release. Positive and negative aspects, including the pejorative usage, were intermixed. The term was also popularized by William Gibson's 1996 novel Idoru, which references otaku. ==Subculture==

Kaichirō Morikawa identifies the subculture as distinctly Japanese, a product of the school system and society. Japanese schools have a class structure which functions as a caste system, but clubs are an exception to the social hierarchy. In these clubs, a student's interests will be recognized and nurtured, catering to the interests of otaku. Secondly, the vertical structure of Japanese society identifies the value of individuals by their success. Until the late 1980s, unathletic and unattractive males focused on academics, hoping to secure a good job and marry to raise their social standing. Those unable to succeed socially focused instead on their interests, often into adulthood, with their lifestyle centering on those interests, furthering the creation of the otaku subculture. In 2013, a Japanese study of 137,734 people found that 42.2% self-identify as a type of otaku. This study suggests that the stigma of the word has vanished, and the term has been embraced by many. In the early 1990s, the otaku subculture started to gain traction in the Western world. According to Lawrence Eng, the first anime that could have caused this to happen was Gunbuster, and the protagonist, Noriko Takaya, is teased about her otaku behavior. Through Gunbuster, Western audiences would learn about the word otaku. In the late 1990s, otaku was a popular subculture among Generation Xers in the United States. In the early 2000s, the otaku community in the United States often consisted of suburban young people and niche online groups. Places The district of Akihabara in Tokyo, where there are maid cafés featuring waitresses who dress up and act like maids or anime characters, is a notable attraction center for otaku. Akihabara also has dozens of stores specializing in anime, manga, retro video games, figurines, card games, and other collectibles. Media about otaku also exist outside of Japan, such as the American documentary Otaku Unite! which focuses on the American side of the otaku culture, and the Filipino novel Otaku Girl, which tells the story of a virtual reality world where otaku can role-play and use the powers of their favorite anime characters. cosplayers take photos in the itasha exhibition area of the doujinshi convention. Habits A term used in the otaku fandom is , a type of cheering performed as a group. Another term is , which describes vehicles decorated with fictional characters, especially bishōjo game or eroge characters. ==Classification==

s taking photos of trains at an annual depot open-day event in Tokyo in August 2011 The Nomura Research Institute (NRI) has made two major studies into otaku, the first in 2004 and a revised study with a more specific definition in 2005. Japanese otaku use it to describe themselves as adult fans of an anime, a manga, or a TV show that is originally aimed at children. A parent who watches such a show with their children is not considered an ōkina otomodachi, nor is a parent who buys anime DVDs or manga volumes for their children; ōkina otomodachi are those who consume such content by themselves. == Otaku outside Japan ==

Based on a survey with 1,800 responses conducted by Dentsu in July 2022, an extrapolated 34% of American Gen-Zs (around 15 million people) identify themselves as anime otaku. Kim Morrissy of the media company Crunchyroll wrote that, in the anime fandom, some Westerners believe that identifying as an otaku constitutes cultural appropriation, and that it can only refer to a Japanese person. == Anti-Otaku sentiment ==

"Anti-Otaku sentiment" or "anti-Otaku discrimination" (オタク差別; lit. "Otaku discrimination") refers to social exclusion, prejudice, and hatred of Otaku. Some critics have analyzed that discrimination against marginalized groups (Otaku) in Japanese society creates anti-Otaku discrimination. ==See also==