Japanese for Gamers 101: Are You Geek Enough?

The word “otaku” is often bandied about quite casually on English game and anime forums as another word for “geek”. However, in its home country this word has quite different nuances to those given it in the English speaking world. This week we will take a look at the ins and outs of otaku-dom, its history and usage.

Word: おたく　オタク (occasionally ヲタク)
Romanization/phonetic: Otaku/oh-tah-koo
Etymology: Extremely formal Japanese word for “you” or “your household”.
Definition: Very loosely translates as “geek”.
Origin: Originally used among groups of hardcore anime fans. Later popularized by the writer Yasutomo Shibahara.

Notes:
The Japanese Wikipedia entry (it does differ a bit from the English entry, making this hopefully not an entirely pointless exercise) defines an otaku as: “a class of people, or an individual person, that is committed to a hobby which has low social visibility.” In particular, otaku are associated with subcultures, such as those surrounding anime, computers, and of course gaming. The entry further divides otaku into “consumer otaku” who simply burn all their free time and money on their particular hobby (obsessive collectors of Final Fantasy merchandise for example), and “psychological otaku” who expand their hobby into other activities (cosplayers, fanfic writers etc.).

Before it came into common usage, “otaku” was used as the preferred version of the pronoun “you” (there are several ways to say “you” in Japanese) among groups of hardcore anime fans. This is very unusual, as Japanese rarely use the second person pronoun (they either address each other by name, or omit the pronoun entirely). During the 1980s, the term was coined and popularized by the writer Yasutomo Shibahara (under the alias Nakamori) in his column “Otaku no Kenkyuu” (Otaku Research) in the magazine Manga Burikko.

Although originally a neutral or even humorous term, “otaku” as it is used in Japan today has taken on a some very negative baggage. As often happens in the West, the Japanese mass media is quick to point out when a criminal –especially a murderer or child molester– happens to be a game or comic “otaku”. This has created a generally bad perception of otaku culture. The image of the otaku was helped somewhat by Densha Otoko (Train Man), a book, later adapted as a wildly popular manga, TV drama and movie, based on the supposedly true story of a shy but very virtuous young otaku. (Trivia for film buffs: the Japanese title of the movie Napoleon Dynamite was “Bus Otoko” (Bus Man) in direct reference to Densha Otoko). However, this word still has deeply ambivalent connotations and should be used with care when among native Japanese people.

Bonus words! Some other words for “geek” in Japanese are:
ひきこもり (Hikikomori): A recluse or shut-in. Usually an unemployed young person who lives at home and spends all his/her time alone in their room.
非もて (Himote): Literally means “unpopular”. A person who is incapable of getting a girlfriend/boyfriend.
マニア (Mania): From the English word “mania”. Almost indistinguishable from otaku. Someone who is VERY enthusiastic about their hobby.
リア住 (Riajuu): From “riaru” (from English “real”) and the kanji 住 (reside). I.e. someone who lives in the real world. The opposite of a geek. Used pejoratively by geeks.