With the spread of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese cartoons) around the world, many have adopted the Japanese term 'otaku' to identify fans of such media. The connection to manga and anime may seem straightforward, but, when taken for granted, often serves to obscure the debates within and around media fandom in Japan since the term 'otaku' appeared in the niche publication Manga Burikko in 1983.

Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan disrupts the naturalization and trivialization of 'otaku' by examining the historical contingency of the term as a way to identify and contain problematic youth, consumers and fan cultures in Japan. Its chapters, many translated from Japanese and available in English for the first time – and with a foreword by Otsuka Eiji, former editor of Manga Burikko – explore key moments in the evolving discourse of 'otaku' in Japan. Rather than presenting a smooth, triumphant narrative of the transition of a subculture to the mainstream, the edited volume repositions 'otaku' in specific historical, social and economic contexts, providing new insights into the significance of the 'otaku' phenomenon in Japan and the world.

By going back to original Japanese documents, translating key contributions by Japanese scholars and offering sustained analysis of these documents and scholars, Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan provides alternative histories of and approaches to 'otaku'. For all students and scholars of contemporary Japan and the history of Japanese fan and consumer cultures, this volume will be a foundation for understanding how 'otaku', at different places and times and to different people, is meaningful.

Patrick W. Galbraith has a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan and is currently pursuing a second Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, USA. He is the author of The Otaku Encyclopedia (2009), Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara (2010), Otaku Spaces (2012) and The Moe Manifesto (2014), as well as the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (2012).

Thiam Huat Kam is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies at Rutgers University, USA.

Björn-Ole Kamm is a researcher and lecturer at the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan.

Foreword: Otaku Culture as 'Conversion Literature' Otsuka Eiji (International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan)
Introduction: 'Otaku Research' Past, Present and Future Patrick W. Galbraith (Duke University, USA) Thiam Huat Kam (Rutgers University, USA) and Björn-Ole Kamm (Heidelberg University, Germany)
Section 1: The 1980s
1. 'Otaku' Research and Anxiety About Failed Men Patrick W. Galbraith
2. The Birth of 'Otaku:' Centring on Discourse Dynamics in Manga Burikko Yamanaka Tomomi (Yokohama National University, Japan)
3. Opening the Black Box of the 1989 Otaku Discourse Björn-Ole Kamm
Section 2: The 1990s
4. Traversing Otaku Fantasy: Representation of the Otaku Subject, Gaze, and Fantasy in Otaku no Video Shen Lien Fan (University of Utah, USA)
5. Introduction to Otaku Studies Okada Toshio (Osaka University of Arts, Japan)
Section 3: The 2000s
6. The Construction of Discourses on Otaku: The History of Subcultures from 1983 to 2005 Aida Miho (Hiroshima City University, Japan)
7. Train Man and the Gender Politics of Japanese 'Otaku' Culture: The Rise of New Media, Nerd Heroes and Consumer Communities Alisa Freedman (University of Oregon, USA)
8. The Transformation and the Diffusion of 'Otaku' Stereotypes and the Establishment of 'Akihabara' as a Place Brand Kikuchi Satoru (Shinshu Unviersity, Japan)
9. The Transition of Otaku and Otaku Okada Toshio
10. 'Otaku' as Label: Concerns over Productive Capacities in Contemporary Capitalist Japan Thiam Huat Kam
Index