This is an unusually lengthy and opinionated post, which may prove unsuccessful. I don’t usually venture out with my own perceptions as they’re not very developed, but this topic has been pretty active with Japan bloggers and provided a lot of information. The following is just my take on this whole issue. [It's also the first time I've typed a full sentence in Japanese on this blog - probably wrong, but ho hum]
For years, I assumed that I was a geek. I took 4 years of Latin in high school, became HTML literate at 17, studied biochemistry* during my ‘down time’ in my mid 20’s, and have now become a fully fledged Japanophile. These supposedly marginalised interests and the fact that I am a shameless obsessive has earned me the appellative geek by ‘IRL’ (In Real Life) friends. When I started becoming infatuated with all things Japanese, it was automatically assumed that I had become オタク (otaku), that special brand of manga-reading, anime-watching, J-pop-listening, techno whiz geek.
How things change.
Suddenly, looking at the world of オタク and it’s inhabitants, I am a relative square. I’ve read a little manga, but never become addicted to it. I love Ghibli animations, but can’t say I’ve ever watched anime as such. J-pop is very sweet and catchy, but pales in comparison with classical, punk, and ska Japanese music (check my blogroll for a very brief selection). Even the word ‘geek’ has been reclaimed by the community and is no longer an insult. The manga, anime, gaming, programming, Mixi, etc. etc. just sail past my eyes on the Interthingy, and all these fresh-faced geeklings tweeting in perfect colloquial Japanese…it makes my head spin. This is decidedly not the solitary, spotty, sad existence that I had as a teenager. Nor is it my current lifestyle, which I’ll summarise later.
My bewilderment and alienation doesn’t stop at all of the above. There is of course a darker, antisocial element of オタク whose interests may at first appear to have the same sources as the cheerful Danny Choo devotee (he’s indeed a lovely young trooper).
But this distinctly separate group’s obsession takes a pretty sharp turn away from the physical, social world and devolves into modified, ever-deepening strata of ether. [See ColonyDrop's humorous yet spot-on article here]
Highly developed online personas, avatars wandering non-existent streets, and forming one-sided relationships with perfectly designed human substitutes; I never really accepted that such a large and ever-growing percentage of society really lives like this. This is not a true geek, either as I used to know the term or in the modern sense.
The more I investigate what it is to be オタク, the more I see a clear delineation between those who are and those who are not. To me, it simply comes down to whether a person owns their obsessions, or whether their obsessions own them. Whether they obsess among friends or view ‘friends’ as interchangeable with cartoon characters. (That’s just my take, so I’m open to more knowledgeable information)
Another ColonyDrop article (tweeted by Peter Durfee, which is how I found the site) has a comment with a helpful and enlightening bit about the tiers of this newfangled culture:
…the loner Otaku concept, which while existent and possibly the most numerous, must also be recognised as co-existing with the university/college circle Otaku(who are more group orientated), and the salary men otaku(who are basically trying to recapture their youth through otaku materialism).
The ‘loner Otaku’ in my mind should be shortened to ‘loner’. Those who shun society have always existed, and will take on any obsession so long as no human contact or interpersonal confrontation takes place. This little soundbyte from White Rabbit Press (thanks to Christ Gaunt for referring the site) describes more of a decidedly fanciable Simon Pegg/Tim Bisley character, and is someone I can almost still relate to in terms of geekiness.
I have to admit to being out of the loop with a large percentage of other Japanese learners; I simply don’t understand most of the references and culture. Though I dislike having to tell people that I am not オタク, simply because it sounds really snarky and disdainful. Quite the contrary – I just can’t keep up.
The internet is an enormous boon to someone like myself who has neither the time nor the money to go to university or college, but who still demands a decent education. Blogging is a great substitute for not being a single person who can move wherever the scene is and meet the people who have all that tasty personal experience. What little HTML I remember is pretty damn handy for fixing bugs.
Do I get bored as arse looking at a computer screen for hours? Yes. Do I really want to watch cartoons or read manga over movies and novels? No. Would my Acer turn into nothing but an email machine if I could live in Japan, speak Japanese, watch Japanese telly and movies, and see life in Japan with my own eyes – all with hubby by my side? Oh, you betcha.
As it is, I barely have time to study my 日本語, keep up with my immersion and Japanese news, and write the occasional blog entry. The reasons might not sound very impressive: I have, as I mentioned, husband, cooking/cleaning, and hopefully a new small business to manage. None of my current friends or family has more than a passing interest in Japan, and quickly reach full capacity with my incessant Japanophilia. Immersion would basically be impossible without the blessed, cursed computer and Internet.
So, it seems to be more because of my lifestyle – and not my interests – that I have been stripped of any オタク cred.
*I should point out that neither studying Latin or biochemistry has ever actually stuck, and I can therefore make no claims to above average intellegence. That’s the geekiest kind of geeking, I’d imagine.
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