Skip to comments.
Anime, manga fuel oddball 'otaku' biz boom (cultural insights on Japan's "ultra-geek" subculture)
Mainichi Daily News ^
| July 14, 2005
| Ryann Connell
Posted on 07/14/2005 6:01:13 PM PDT by DTogo
Dozens of grown men from their 30s to 60s crowd around the tatami mat room in Kagetsuen, a Shizuoka Prefecture ryokan inn, and begin playing with their train sets. More than 90 percent of the inn's guests are adults who enjoy playing with toy trains.
These mature train setters have not only kept the inn afloat as others around it have fallen into oblivion, they've helped it grow in a prime example of the otaku business that's now booming throughout Japan, according to AERA (7/18).
"Thanks to trimming down our target market, we could stay in business," Eiji Misu, Kagetsuen's owner, tells AERA.
Some estimates say there's already an 88.8 billion yen market in the Moe Sangyo, literally the Budding Business but moe is the term Japan's millions of otaku have adopted to describe the warm filling they're filled with when they see something that turns them on - like a bespectacled young girl in a maid's outfit, saucer-eyed comic characters or, for the middle-aged men in Shizuoka, toy trains.
(Excerpt) Read more at mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Japan; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: allurmangarblong2us; anime; entertainment; geek; japan; otaku; slackers; ultrageek
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next last
FYI. From playing with toy trains (I don't think they mean the HO variety) to
bishounen "beautiful boy" homo-comics by women for women, and now men? A mere peek at Japan's bizarre
otaku (ultra-geek) sub-culture.
The Moe Sangyo may be better than kidnapping young girls off the street to keep as a pet, but may just be providing encouragement or a temporary distraction. This stuff is just plain weird, IMHO.
1
posted on
07/14/2005 6:01:14 PM PDT
by
DTogo
To: maikeru; Dr. Marten; Eric in the Ozarks; Al Gator; snowsislander; sushiman; AmericanInTokyo; ...
I enjoy Japanese pop-culture as much as the next Japanophile, but this stuff is just soooooo
otaku.
Japan * ping * (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
2
posted on
07/14/2005 6:08:05 PM PDT
by
DTogo
(U.S. out of the U.N. & U.N out of the U.S.)
To: DTogo
Some of this is weird. But there is some really good anime. I recommend anything by the great Japanese writer/director Miyazaki, or from the Japanese/Italian combo, Studio Ghibli. These are wonderful for the whole family.
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/
3
posted on
07/14/2005 6:27:11 PM PDT
by
Cicero
(Marcus Tullius)
To: Cicero
Yes, Miyazaki's animated films are often-watched in our house, as are other cartoons and such that originated in Japan (Pokemon, etc.). I was referring to the otaku genre of anime/manga described in this article.
4
posted on
07/14/2005 6:32:54 PM PDT
by
DTogo
(U.S. out of the U.N. & U.N out of the U.S.)
To: JenB; RosieCotton; SuziQ; Soupy
5
posted on
07/14/2005 6:39:15 PM PDT
by
ecurbh
(Join the Hobbit Hole Troop Support - http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/)
To: DTogo
Otaku means something that turns you on, like a pretty girl in a maid's dress? Would "All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku" qualify? Or some aspects of "Neon Genesis Evangelion"?
6
posted on
07/14/2005 6:44:13 PM PDT
by
Cicero
(Marcus Tullius)
To: DTogo; JenB
Boy's Love comics and books tell stories of pretty young boys deeply in loveYeah, but in love with whom?
7
posted on
07/14/2005 6:50:32 PM PDT
by
SuziQ
To: SuziQ
Each other... I don't do shonen-ai. Neither does Clare, I'm sure.
I got pinged to this thread three times in nine posts. Ah well. Atashi wa otaku desu.
8
posted on
07/14/2005 7:11:56 PM PDT
by
JenB
(I solemnly swear I am up to no good.)
To: Cicero
Otaku means, more like, "geek". Only with very few good connotations, though some otaku are trying to claim the word the way American geeks embrace their title.
If you're turned on by "Neon Genesis Evangelion" you probably are a (male) otaku.
9
posted on
07/14/2005 7:13:17 PM PDT
by
JenB
(I solemnly swear I am up to no good.)
To: TalonDJ
Not much of a thread yet but it's not every day you see words like "otaku" on FR.
10
posted on
07/14/2005 7:20:20 PM PDT
by
JenB
(I solemnly swear I am up to no good.)
To: DTogo
Just don't show this one to your kids.... If you have to ask, you don't wanna know.
11
posted on
07/14/2005 7:40:55 PM PDT
by
adam_az
(It's the border, stupid!)
To: Cicero
"Otaku means something that turns you on, like a pretty girl in a maid's dress?"
I thought it meant "enthusiast?"
12
posted on
07/14/2005 7:41:36 PM PDT
by
adam_az
(It's the border, stupid!)
To: Cicero
As I understand it, an otaku is someone who is excessively expert about or devoted to one particular thing, either a hobby or about some aspect of pop culture. Not only do you love it, but you know every fine detail about it. Star Wars movies, Hello Kitty, etc. It need not be sex-related.
The Economics of the Jihad II - The Demand for Jihad.
13
posted on
07/14/2005 7:47:46 PM PDT
by
untenured
(http://futureuncertain.blogspot.com)
To: adam_az
It was translated to me as "obsessive" by a guy in Kanda who ought to know. His field was little girls in sailor suits. And bondage.
To: Cicero
To: untenured; Billthedrill
OK. I hadn't heard the term before.
16
posted on
07/14/2005 8:33:07 PM PDT
by
Cicero
(Marcus Tullius)
To: JenB
No, I'm not turned on by "Neon Genesis Evangelion." I just sometimes feel a need to know everything. It was mentioned in a discussion of interesting anime films, I ran across several episodes in a remainder bin at Record Explosion in New York, so I picked it up and filled out the set on half.ebay.com.
17
posted on
07/14/2005 8:37:40 PM PDT
by
Cicero
(Marcus Tullius)
To: SuziQ
Boy's love comics and books Also known as slash fiction, homoerotic stories of boys in love, written for and read by a female audience (or largely female audience).
18
posted on
07/14/2005 8:48:54 PM PDT
by
Ciexyz
(Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
To: Cicero
OK. I hadn't heard the term before. There's a comparable word used in British English: anorak.
-ccm
19
posted on
07/15/2005 12:03:23 AM PDT
by
ccmay
(Question Diversity)
To: Billthedrill
it basically means an 'obsessed fan' of any particular subject. In America anime fans use the it to describe themselves but very very few of them would be an 'otaku' the way the Japanese define it. In Japan it covers any hobby and activity and describes someone who takes any hobby to a life consuming extreme.
20
posted on
07/15/2005 5:46:15 AM PDT
by
TalonDJ
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson