Objects of otaku affection: animism, anime fandom, and the gods of … consumerism?

Abstract

Japan, to modify slightly a title of a book by Bruno Latour (1993), has never been modern. The indigenous folk beliefs and practices of Shintoism, or kami no michi (way of spirits), continue to permeate the fabric of everyday life, and although most Japanese profess neither to personal religion nor to belief in the spiritual, this cultural legacy provides a rich creative resource fuelling the country’s cultural industries. Indeed, Japanese animism is everywhere in the textual contents of anime (animation) and manga (comic books), so it perhaps comes as no surprise that Japan is also the country which gave the world the otaku. The defi nition of otaku varies but is typically understood as a hardcore fan of popular culture, especially anime and manga. He (and yes, the stereotypical otaku is male) is characterized by his passionate devotion to the objects of his fandom affection and proportionate absence of social grace. The otaku, in short, is a suspicious, socially awkward character who is more comfortable around two-dimensional cartoons than real, three-dimensional people.