Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Is It Socially Unacceptable To Be An Otaku In Japan?
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
View previous topic :: View next topic | ||||||
Author | Message | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
prime_pm
Posts: 1891 Location: Under Your Bed |
|
|||||
Lawyers do not regale their judge of the latest trends about Batman and the Justice League, and restaurant chefs don't serve their customers luxurious cuisines named after My Little Pony characters. Keep your hobbies at home and/or the internet, or apparently Twitter, or at least regulate them to a conversation aside rather than the main topic of discussion.
And always remember: the world is bigger than YOU. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
mgosdin
Posts: 1091 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
|
|||||
Lyrics from an album I listened to a lot in my misspent youth, the song appears to have been written to a shut-in. It's never been easy being a nerd / geek / otaku, not in the West or especially the East, not in the past for certain nor likely in the future. Mark Gosdin |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
svines85
Posts: 27 |
|
|||||
Oh, very interesting, a great article, thanks a lot
|
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
princess passa passa
Posts: 219 |
|
|||||
Oh my goodness, this! And trust me it's not just in Akihabara but other anime stores in Japan. After being in a couple and seeing dirty old men take up manga with half naked preteens on the cover, I actually make it a point not to be seen in anime/manga stores anymore. I thought I wouldn't feel that way but the image of being an adult and into anime carries such pervy connotations that I down play how much into anime I am. It also doesn't help that the people that I've met who are seriously into anime here are just plain weird... |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
jr240483
Posts: 3322 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
|
|||||
not necessarily. while its a recipe for social stigmata in japan, in the US especially in anime friendly cities like NY , NJ and CA is another story. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
vonPeterhof
Posts: 482 |
|
|||||
|
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
enurtsol
Posts: 13543 |
|
|||||
Japanese society is characterized as "rigid" and "homogeneous" - it's not very amenable to "change" and "different." The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
They don't care much what ya do out of sight as long as what ya portray in view of others is what's considered socially acceptable. That's also the honne and tatamae aspect. As been explained in the article, honne is one's true self, and tatemae is the façade one shows in public. (Japanese people face a lot of criticism for the use of Honne and Tatemae. Some people view it as being two-faced or hypocritical, but in Japan it is something that is used daily and is not viewed in a negative way. Actually it is considered proper social etiquette to be able to use Honne and Tatemae to be polite and thus keep the harmony of the situation and avoid conflict.) Also remember that Japan is a shame-based society (as opposed to a guilt-based society such as in Christian nations) - something is considered "bad" if society deems it shameful. Basically, the good or bad of things is externally determined by how society feels about it (shame), not how one internally feels about it (which is how guilt-based society works). Thus, if society deems something to be shameful, regardless how ya feel about it, that's something not to be shown in view of others. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Vee-Tee
Posts: 39 |
|
|||||
You know, I've been into anime for well over 15 years now and when I finally went to Japan... I just couldn't go into one of the shops in Akihabara.
|
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Jonny Mendes
Posts: 416 Location: Europe |
|
|||||
I remember when i visit Akihabara the first time. I was with my wife and we get the full visit with friends. Anime/manga shops, game centers, AKB48 live show and even maid cafe.
Its almost another dimension inside Tokyo were otaku can be himself without culture pressure. Like is said in the article in some manga shops we can buy everything manga/anime related, and i mean everything. But, at least the manga shops i visited have separate spaces between most manga and ero-manga and doujinshi. So is pretty safe even if you are the kind of person that are uncomfortable with x-rated stuff. BTY for female otaku the place to visit is Animate in Ikebukuro. Let me say that is a fujoshi paradise. I had to drag my wife from there or i would spend a whole day and would not be enough to visit the whole place. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Mhora
Posts: 27 |
|
|||||
Seen how basic most of the questions are each week on AnswerMan(and many of its commenta), anime certainly doesn't learn fans anything about real life in Japan.
|
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
EricJ2
Posts: 2903 |
|
|||||
It's also the need to find a frustrated ANSWER to a social problem that can't be answered (certainly not easily), by finding the one trend that most annoys you and saying it "caused" the problem.
For example, the way parents wanted to ban Mortal Kombat for clearly "causing" the Columbine shooting--Or more to the point, the way 50's adults were convinced that comic books singlehandedly caused juvenile delinquency, as it was becoming an unstoppable problem, and they couldn't think of anything else that was causing it. (Like, maybe, a generation developing a greater need for independence, and growing discontent with the conservative values of the Eisenhower era?....Nah, it's gotta be those Batman comics.) For Japan, they have a big whopper of a social problem they can't answer: Back in the 80's, they were convinced they were going to take over the economic world, and now, one bubble-recession later, they can't even get their own economy back on its feet again. And they don't know why--For forty years since the war, and during it, they were told "Work hard and sacrifice if you want to achieve your goals, and if you don't, it's YOUR fault!" And now it seems to be the entire country's fault, and there's no one to point to and berate. So they just push harder, thinking it was their own fault they weren't pushing others hard enough. The current generation doesn't see the need to jump on the cram-school track to a corporate future anymore, since it doesn't seem to be working, and many of the younger kids now want more creative expression to follow their own paths. Or, if they can't handle the pecking-order bullying to "work harder"--and pick on those that "don't"--they crumble and retreat into hikkikomori status. And ah, frustrated Japanese say: NOW we have our scapegoat villain. Why, it's those people I read about on the news, who won't work! And then they have their little secret subculture cult where they laugh at the world behind its back and rebelliously brag about not working! If they worked, we'd be making more money again, and they'd learn responsibility, too! They might even get out into the sunshine they're so afraid of a bit more! Look at the depictions of anime or game otaku in pop culture--There's no either/or: In the current mainstream Japanese mind, IF you watch anime, you watch Pretty Cure magical-girls or Love Live idols (when was the last time you saw a Gundam/mech otaku in anime?) because you're afraid of "3D girls", and can't let your childhood go. IF you own a game console or desktop computer (as fewer do in Japan), you are an Internet addict who chooses to devote his full-time life to MMORPG's and snacks, and brags about his "freedom from the 9-5 rat race" to all his Twitter friends. IF you are a manga fan, you have turned your already cramped bedroom into a museum "shrine" of manga volumes and action figures, mostly magical-girls. And if you're not, then you're one of those responsible working folk making a better country, which means you're now allowed to laugh, abuse, bully and stereotype the media image of those who don't--or who happen to share the same hobbies as those who don't--to your heart's content. (Rather like the dead-or-alive concept of the "Wolf's-head" outlaw in medieval society, that anyone could shoot on sight.) Remember when we thought Welcome to the NHK was some "mindbending" story about paranoia, and not simply social propaganda that if you give a hikkikomori a desktop computer, he'll max out the storage with Internet porn in two hours flat, and then go out to the schoolyard with a camera to get new photos by himself? In Japan, substitute "Anime" and "Pedophile" for the 50's "Comic books" and "Juvenile delinquent", and then just repeat the same national movement to try and dig up some important Psychological or Social excuse to sell mainstream society on the need to ban it and make it go away for good. And then things will all be better again. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
otagirl
Posts: 58 |
|
|||||
A pedophile murderer in the 80's , Miyazaki Tsutomu forever ingrained in Japanese society the association of his crimes wih "otaku".
It doesnt help that a crazed otaku knifed a bunch of people in Akiba at some point too. Add to the fact the more recent knife attacks on AKB48 girls and other idols, increase in unemployment related hikkikomori, its no wonder they are shunned by society. They are like terrorists to the Japanese. Its akin to the negative reputations muslims have in the West. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Mohawk52
Posts: 8069 Location: England, UK |
|
|||||
They may shun indigenous otaku, but they welcome gaijin otaku with open arms. Especially ones with bulging wallets and highend golden credit cards.
|
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
H. Guderian
Posts: 809 |
|
|||||
This. The true 'source' of otaku is UNKNOWN. its first derogatory use was from an editorial writer who went to make fun of 'self-proclaimed' Otaku. Akio Nakamori went in to assassinate the character of fans who he thought were below him, until his editor shut him down. In essence, Otaku coopted a term for their own uses and means something different to them, and no one in the mainstream gave a care until Miyazaki showed up and shocked the general public - even then plenty of people I speak to are fairly okay with the term now - a problem solved by the amount of fame and money the country received that it otherwise wouldn't have. So the first mention of Otaku in any magazine was Nakamori's usage, and even he notes the term predates his attempt to shame them - of which there's not an actual record to show what was really the source. I like to lean on the formal 'your' usage, because I can totally see someone handing doujinshi off to a friend and treat it like a revered ceremony. It is the funnier image. "Hey, basement dweller.' I guess works. |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Lord Oink
Posts: 328 |
|
|||||
Not unless by geek you mean millenials who watch mainstream geek material like superhero movies and Game of Thrones and brag about their Funko Pop collection on Reddit/Facebook. They're fine. The kind who browse /co/ or Paheal discussing which Loud House sister is the hottest? Not so much... Japan has an edge on that just by virtue of some of the shops I've seen in Akihabara and official merchandise of that stuff existing.
The blatant images posted around Japan and districts like Akibahara sort of say otherwise, unless there's ISIS recruitment centers in America Im unaware of. That stigma against otaku is overblown on the net. It may be limited to a subculture, but people dont cross the street to avoid you. At least in my experience Worst I ever got was some funny looks, but that was probabl more of me being a gaijjn |
||||||
Back to top | ||||||
Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next |
|
Page 1 of 4 |
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
⬈
⬋
-
+
Forum
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
The Spring 2017 Manga Guide
manga
Looking for new manga to read? Our first-ever Spring Manga Guide has you covered!
Available Now: Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1 - My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness Vol. 1 - Grimgar Vol. 1 - Your Name Vol. 1 - Tales of Zestiria Vol. 1 - Appleseed Alpha Vol. 1 - Aho-Girl Vol. 1 - After Hours Vol. 1 - Rakugo Shinju Vol. 1 - Re:Zero Chapter 2 Vol. 1 - and much more! ― Welcome to Anime News Network's ...
Available Now: Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1 - My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness Vol. 1 - Grimgar Vol. 1 - Your Name Vol. 1 - Tales of Zestiria Vol. 1 - Appleseed Alpha Vol. 1 - Aho-Girl Vol. 1 - After Hours Vol. 1 - Rakugo Shinju Vol. 1 - Re:Zero Chapter 2 Vol. 1 - and much more! ― Welcome to Anime News Network's ...
Uncovering the Animation of The Eccentric Family in Nakano Broadway
anime
events
Kim Morrissy & Callum May check out the stunning artwork behind P.A. Works' sleeper hit before the exhibit's closing time.
― The Eccentric Family is perhaps the very definition of a sleeper hit. This quirky drama about a family of talking tanuki was inaugurated as a Kyoto Special Goodwill Ambassador earlier this year thanks to its faithful recreations of the real-life locations of Japan's former capi...
Answerman - Why Is It Socially Unacceptable To Be An Otaku In Japan?
anime
Generally speaking, Japanese society still shuns the otaku - why is that? Justin has a few ideas.
― James asks: I have seen a rather large number of anime and manga series in recent years in which a character (either male of female) is extremely popular and successful at school and with their friends, but hides the fact that they are an otaku (approximately the Japanese equivalent of a nerd in weste...
Rakugo Shinju, Kabukibu and The Traditional Arts of Japan
anime
From Touken Ranbu to Kabukibu to Rakugo Shinju, anime has been embracing Japanese traditional arts more than ever. Lynzee Loveridge examines the phenomenon.
― Japan is a country with a very old cultural history, dating back millennia before what we consider modern U.S. history. Those millennia produced a wealth of traditional art forms, ranging from the graceful strokes of shodo (calligraphy) to the ...
Dreamin' Sun GN 1
manga
This earlier work from the creator of Orange isn't quite as polished, but it combines an honest look at depression and anger with shoujo romance tropes in interesting ways. Rebecca Silverman has the details.
― Originally published in Margaret magazine in 2007, a transfer of rights to a new publisher has resulted in a re-release of Ichigo Takano's Dreamin' Sun and its translation into English. (Takano...
Fans Young & Old Come Out for Tokyo Toy Show 2017
events
merch
Tokyo Big Sight is overrun with players of all kinds to check out the latest and greatest toys on the market. Yes, they have fidget spinners.
― Tokyo Big Sight, June 3, 2017. 9:00 am Japan Standard Time. The 2017 International Tokyo Toy Show had just begun, and the line of entry snaked all the way across the enormous venue. The children paced around and tugged at their parents’ sleeves, unable to con...
The Best and Worst of the Season So Far: Week of May 27-June 2
just for fun
My Hero Academia races up the charts as the Spring 2017 season starts to wind down! Find out how your favorites performed in our weekly user rankings.
― Our team of reviewers are following 27 anime series of the Spring 2017 season and readers are rating each episode as the reviews go up. So let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season. Keep in mind that these ran...
This Week in Games - The Modest Life of Virtual Console
games
In the calm before the E3 storm, Dustin considers the legacy and future of Nintendo's Virtual Console service. PLUS: Pokemon, Final Fantasy Dissidia, more old Mega Man games and much more!
― Good god, E3 starts next week. Though I'm fortunate enough to not be going to LA, there's still a hint of dread mixed in with all the excitement for what's coming. It's a flood a-coming, one which comes in the af...
Prince of Stride: Alternative BD+DVD
anime
This otome game adaptation eschews most reverse harem tropes in a surprisingly fun story about a bizarre blend of track and parkour. Rebecca Silverman gets into this show's Stride.
― If you were wondering, the “alternative” in Prince of Stride Alternative comes from the fact that this 2016 series is based on a 2015 otome game simply called Prince of Stride. That's mildly surprising, because the show ...
Answerman - Why Isn't More Anime Shown On American TV?
anime
There are countless hours of US cable television programming to fill, and yet only a few hours a week are filled with anime. Why is that? Justin gets into it.
― Kyle asks: How come some English dubbed anime only get released straight to DVD here in the US and never air on American TV? I know that a handful of them do air on Anime-only channels, such as the FUNimation Channel and Neon Alley, and also...
Adventures in the Yuri!!! on Ice Café
events
merch
Tokyo correspondent Kim Morrissy sits down for a bowl of katsudon in an intimate café setting with the Yuri!!! on Ice boys.
― Katsudon is a Japanese rice dish made with deep-fried pork cutlets, egg, and vegetables. If you prepare it with just the right blend and consistency, it's absolutely mouth-watering stuff. It's common enough that you'll find it served on just about every street corner in Tokyo,...
How Polygon Pictures is Changing the 3D Anime Industry
anime
From Knights of Sidonia to Blame!, Polygon Pictures has led the charge in CGI anime innovation. Callum May explores what makes their production process so unique for the anime industry.
― At 10:00 PM in the Polygon Pictures studio, the lights turn off for the night. Polygon Pictures is like few other animation studios in Japan. In an industry where working overnight is painfully normal, a studio turn...
Horus: Prince of the Sun (Little Norse Prince) Blu-Ray
anime
The directorial debut of Isao Takahata is now available on Blu-Ray for the first time. Theron Martin details how this ambitious film has held up.
― Also known in English as Little Norse Prince Valiant, this 1968 movie holds a place in anime history for two important reasons. It marks the directorial debut of Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata and his first collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki, who i...
This Week in Anime - It Came From DeviantArt
anime
Re:Creators takes some fanfic-tastic turns, while the stakes shoot much higher in Rage of Bahamut and The Royal Tutor. Nick and Micchy discuss all this and more in shows from Attack on Titan to My Hero Academia!
― Previous Weeks in Anime Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5 - Week 6 Nicholas Dupree got into anime in high school, and manga even earlier. From One Piece to The Promised Neverland, ...
Vice & Luna - Comic-Con Justice
just for fun
Luna strikes a blow for freedom while showing Maybell the ropes at the Enchanted Grove Comic-Con.
―
Sound of the Sky Sub.Blu-Ray
anime
Sound of the Sky marries wartime drama and slice of life storytelling in a rich and beautiful mix. Nick Creamer explains what makes this series special.
― Sound of the Sky opens with new soldier Kanata Sorami heading off to her first post, a guard post at the border city of Seize. Stark cliffs and cozy tiled roofs introduce us to her new city, a rustic town that's currently in the middle of a festiva...