Otakuオタク

Otaku (おたく/オタク) is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom. Its contemporary usage originated with Akio Nakamori's 1983 essay in Manga Burikko. Otaku may be used as a pejorative; its negativity stems from the stereotypical view of otaku and the media's reporting on Tsutomu Miyazaki's "The Otaku Murder" in 1989. According to studies published in 2013, the term has become less negative, and an increasing number of people now self-identify as otaku.

from Otaku (Wikipedia) CC BY SA 3.0

Advice about Otaku

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Mandarake

Buying manga and anime anywhere in Japan is easy. It is available pretty much anywhere. After all, nearly every convenience store and station kiosk has a pretty broad selection of manga, for children and adults. And since there are Tsutaya and Geo shops all over Japan, you can almost as easily f…(487 words)

mikekato

Party in the 2.5th Dimension!

Somewhere between the real and virtual is a strange and exciting dimension that is absurdly geeky and gorgeous. On the one hand, there is an abundance of beautiful women, powerful cars and motorcycles, and tasty food. On the other, there are a panoply of geeky and nerdy otaku, as well as fun-seek…(761 words)

mikekato

Anime Come To Life

Japanese pop culture, particularly anime (short for “animation”) has become one of the country’s iconic exports in recent years and many people globally have become acquainted not only with internationally famous anime as Pokemon, but also more eclectic characters as well. An entire subgenre has s…(1100 words)

jdlawrence

Otaku Battles

There are groups who dress up in camouflage clothing and run about in various settings - woods, countryside, even urban - shooting at each other with air guns. These outings are actually organized and some of the participants will own several models of air guns. They even have magazines dedicated t…(75 words)

Joe Peters

Space Battleships

A bit different than the way many consider "nerd hobbies" in America, for example wizards and knight games, Star Wars collectibles, video games, etc, Japan's "Otaku" classification is a bit broader in scope. Otaku will sometimes be less concerned about the actual appearance or collection aspect of …(187 words)

KurtisW

Ame Yoko Cho

Ame Yoko Cho is the name of a shopping district located between Ueno and Okachimachi Stations. It's name is a Japanese acronym which has two meanings. The original name is said to mean Candy Store Alley, because the area had many candy and snack stores. The area still has some stores that sell c…(269 words)

mikekato

Tokyo: neon lights, robots, and otaku fun

Go out in Shinjuku“If you're in the search for neon lights, head to Shinjuku. Here you'll find more blinking lights, giant advertisement signs, and busy crowds than almost anywhere else in Tokyo. Head out Shinjuku Station's East Exit and walk towards Kabukichō, Tokyo's red-light-district.”R…(353 words)

DeepJapan

It depends!

It depends on what kind of industry you are in and what kind of job you do. If you belong to corporate staff working inside the office, business casual is a norm throughout the year. Shirts tend to be white and pants tend to be dark although more colorful combinations are seen nowadays. If your …(177 words)

Shoken

Music games are hot

Music game is one of the newest otaku hobbies. Every game centers install music game machines usually called Oto-ge. It is popular widely among all ages. You can play not only in game centers but also at home. A lot of people play it with their phone.Actually old otaku hobbies are also still po…(67 words)

Kim-san