"Otaku" — nerd, über-fan, obsessive collector. Since the 1980s, the term has been used to refer to fans of Japanese anime, manga, and video games. The word appeared with no translation on the cover of the premier issue of Wired magazine in 1993.
Patrick W Galbraith has produced a groundbreaking work of reportage that takes us beyond the stereotypes of "weird Japan" and into the private rooms of self-described otaku. Interviews and more than 50 color photos reveal a seldom seen side of these reclusive Japanese collectors. They talk frankly about their collections of blow-up dolls, comic books, military paraphernalia, anime videos, and more.
Photographer Androniki Christodoulou brings the interviewees to life, intimately capturing their collections and living spaces in full-color images.
Galbraith follows the collectors to their favorite shops and shows how public space in Japan is starting to mimic the look and feel of the otaku's private room. He also interviews Japan's top cultural critics, helping to place otaku culture in wider sociological and economic contexts.
Galbraith broadens his interview focus even further to include otaku from the United States and the United Kingdom, forcing those of us who live in any hyper-consumerist culture to admit that we can and do have otaku tendencies.
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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Antonios_M
I love Androniki! Amazing photographer!
John Constantine
Hey ....I do not have that "Haruhi Suzumiya" figure.
MaboDofuIsSpicy
That photo above is great, but the big white dot should not be there as it destroys the whole composition.
genji17
DORKS!
Kami Hiratsuka
This is beautiful, but I think we should stop thinking that "otaku" is so special. In my opinion, there's little difference between otaku people and people are not otaku
LoveNot
Do you say that all these perverts are normal?
Nikki623
Just because somebody has a collection of anime paraphernilia does not make them a pervert. Blame the market that makes items that appeal to perverts. As an otaku myself, I am not a pervert. Most of the otaku I know are not perverts. Some perverts simply become otaku because it is more socially acceptable to have revealling dolls of anime characters rather than pornographic pictures of real people.
Ranger_Miffy2
Mr Galbraith is really on a roll with this subject. The world would be less interesting without otaku.
papigiulio
where can we find these interviews and photos?
lostrune2
Haha, everybody's a perv in one way or another!