The meaning and image of Otaku in Japanese society, and its change over time

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify how the term otaku, commonly thought of as a Japanese equivalent to the word nerd, is defined and regarded in Japanese media and society. This is done through a chronological analysis of newspaper articles from the publications Asahi Shimbun, Shuukan Asahi and Aera, using Laclau and Mouffe’s theory on discourse and its analysis as a methodological foundation. The selected period for analysis stretches from 1989, when the term otaku was brought into the limelight in the media, to 2012. To supplement this analysis, a contemporary survey is included in the study, carried out in the form of an online questionnaire aimed at Japanese people who self-identify as otaku. The survey presents the otaku’s own thoughts on the subject at hand: how they define themselves, how they feel society and media regard them, et cetera. The complete analysis shows that during the past two decades, the term otaku has lost much of the negative connotations it carried from the end of the 1980s, though certain stereotypes remain associated with the term. In later years, the term’s meaning has become somewhat diluted as more people apply the label to themselves based on a comparatively shallow understanding of the term, removed from its original cultural context.