[lbo-talk] Japanese TV show turns lense on American fanboy tourists

Dennis Redmond dredmond at efn.org
Thu May 4 10:27:43 PDT 2006


B. wrote:


> http://tvinjapan.blogspot.com/2006/05/otaku-from-usa.html
>
> [Video above.]
>
> This Japanes TV show focuses on these "otakus" (as
> they're aparently called in Japan) -- nerdy American
> tourists who come to Japan to stock up on Japanese
> anime/manga/etc. kitsch.

"Otaku" is the original Japanese term for diehard comic strip fans and sci-fi geeks. It used to be a borderline epithet, more like "dweeb" than the endearing "Trekkie". Interestingly, nowadays anime, manga and videogames have become Gojira-sized global industries throughout East Asia, and respect for these genres has grown. JETRO has some stats here:

www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jem0506-2e.pdf

-- DRR (counting the milliseconds until the Playstation 3 launch)



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