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NEWS: 1.72 Million Otaku in Japan


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Tempest
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:25 pm Reply with quote
SalarymanJoe wrote:
Animation Otaku are quoted at spending 20bn yen over a space of 110,000 people; that's roughly 181,818,182 yen per capita. Judging by the costs of many related products such as DVDs, that's an awful lot of money spent on a hobby.


Umm.

20 billion yen / 110 000 people = 18,181.82 yen per capita. That's only US$159.35

-t
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SalarymanJoe



Joined: 03 Feb 2005
Posts: 468
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:04 am Reply with quote
tempest wrote:
SalarymanJoe wrote:
Animation Otaku are quoted at spending 20bn yen over a space of 110,000 people; that's roughly 181,818,182 yen per capita. Judging by the costs of many related products such as DVDs, that's an awful lot of money spent on a hobby.


Umm.

20 billion yen / 110 000 people = 18,181.82 yen per capita. That's only US$159.35

-t


Hmm.. I apperently used too many decimals in my billion calculation. My case is over stated, and now I feel like an idiot. Thanks for the correction and putting everything into perspective.
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DriftRoot



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 222
Location: NH
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:22 am Reply with quote
SalarymanJoe wrote:
freshkazuki wrote:
I think this whole notion of "otaku" is becoming just an imagined
and mythic word that is gradually losing its meaning and that has no relation to reality. I mean, c'mon, railroad and fashion otaku?


I think the notion here in the States never had the meaning it has held in Japan.

It's one thing to have a hobby, it's another to have a hobby that consumes much of your waking hours outside of work or school. Not to mention, the income derived from said job being spent, in turn, for that hobby.

As far as things like trains go, these type of otaku not only build model trains or perhaps have a few coffee table books on trains; these are the type of people who have bookshelves of books about trains, blueprints/design sketches that they pour over studying and have their living space covered with running model train lines.


Regarding the train fetish...
This particular hobby is not that uncommon (though for someone who's never experienced it firsthand, it may seem really, really weird). Keep in mind that these kind of hobbyists are not as prevalent as they used to be, namely because trains aren't THE mode of fast, transcontinental transportation anymore.

My late great uncle was basically independently wealthy and didn't work past his mid-40's as a train engineer. All his life he was obssessed with trains, and while this is cute in a kid, it's something else in a grown man (who never married, btw). He had eight, count them EIGHT, authentic Pullman traincars on his property which he restored (several of which are now in display at a museum in Mystic, Conn.), the attic of his house was entirely converted into a model railroad dislpay and he had an additional building on the property devoted to another, massive, display. Model trains, diagrams, books, artifacts etc. covered every inch of his home. He ate, sleeped and breathed trains, but he also was a smart, decent guy who could carry on a conversation on non-train topics without having a seizure.

Now, hobbies are nice, but I daresay anyone on either side of the Pacific would consider my great uncle to be a weird old hermit, and in Japan this would equal "otaku." There are extremes to every hobby. Regardless of whether American society places more value on individualism than Japan's does, extreme individuals are still are considered out-of-the-norm. Being able to grasp a concept like "train otaku" is really not that difficult (or far-fetched) if you think in terms of what such an individual would be called in the U.S. These obsessed people are out there, to one degree or another, and they are not something unique to any one society. It's human nature to fear and mistrust people who are perceived as strange. What varies from culture to culture are what labels we choose to apply to these people and how we treat them because or in spite of those labels.
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The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:33 am Reply with quote
Glad to see US fans reminded that the term 'otaku' doesn't have to mean anime. I'm so damned sick of US manga and anime fans using the term. It also really has a negative connotation. Though that's rather the media's fault. Also, we see here many compnaies see the word and see giant dollar signs from a boatload of obsessive suckers.

-Xenos
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Cowpunk



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
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Location: Oakland - near the Newtype Lab
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:25 am Reply with quote
freshkazuki wrote:
I guess what I was trying to say is that if you had the same phenomenon as otaku culture in America instead of Japan, they wouldn't stand out as much.


Man you have not met any real Rail fans have you. US rail otaku are as obsessive as you can get and their obession makes them stand out. One fellow I met while visiting friends in Arcata (Humboldt county, Northern California) could tell you the present location of any old steam train that had once been in use in that county. He was a classic uber-geek, I say this with affectiion, the man is truely impressive in his depth of knowledge. I come from a railroad family so I had enough knowledge of old trains to appreciate his skills.

An anime otaku I know once said that the dividing line between otaku and mere fans was one of who paid the most attention to the little details.

Also in Japan they make a distinction between otaku and maniacs. Maniacs enjoy their hobbies in their space time, otaku would make their hobbies their lives.
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Train



Joined: 26 Apr 2005
Posts: 4
Location: Tomoeda
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:38 pm Reply with quote
tempest wrote:
SalarymanJoe wrote:
Animation Otaku are quoted at spending 20bn yen over a space of 110,000 people; that's roughly 181,818,182 yen per capita. Judging by the costs of many related products such as DVDs, that's an awful lot of money spent on a hobby.


Umm.

20 billion yen / 110 000 people = 18,181.82 yen per capita. That's only US$159.35

-t


........20 billion yen / 110,000 people = 181,181.18 yen per capita.
2 billion yen / 110,000 = 18,181.82

So about $1500 US, then?
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SalarymanJoe



Joined: 03 Feb 2005
Posts: 468
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:42 am Reply with quote
Train wrote:
tempest wrote:
SalarymanJoe wrote:
Animation Otaku are quoted at spending 20bn yen over a space of 110,000 people; that's roughly 181,818,182 yen per capita. Judging by the costs of many related products such as DVDs, that's an awful lot of money spent on a hobby.


Umm.

20 billion yen / 110 000 people = 18,181.82 yen per capita. That's only US$159.35

-t


........20 billion yen / 110,000 people = 181,181.18 yen per capita.
2 billion yen / 110,000 = 18,181.82

So about $1500 US, then?


Man, I love our Math skills.
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