How did an all-American boy – born in Alaska and raised on a farm in Montana – end up living in Tokyo, giving tours of Akihabara, and dressing in his favorite manga and anime costumes as if every day were Halloween?

Meet Patrick Galbraith, author of the new book The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan. By day, Patrick is an ethnographer and journalist based in Tokyo. He’s also a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. By night, he pursues a self-admitted obsession with manga and anime.

Working as a freelance journalist specializing in Japanese popular culture since 2004, Galbraith writes a regular column for Metropolis magazine. Under the auspices of H.I.S. Experience Japan, he also runs a weekly tour of Akihabara, the otaku capital of Japan. Prior to moving to Japan, he earned degrees in print journalism and Japanese at the University of Montana.

Patrick Galbraith will be discussing otaku culture and signing copies of The Otaku Encyclopedia at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM.

Patrick was kind enough to answer some questions for Seattle Metblogs about otaku culture, his studies, and Japanese pop media.

When and why did you become involved in Japanese pop culture fandom? Do you recall how your interest originated?

I was maybe five or six years old when I first saw anime, Japanese anime. I was sitting waiting for my parents in this barbershop, and the owner was playing anime in Japanese. I have no idea why, but guess it might have been a kind of background noise or ambience. The work was Miyazaki Hayao’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, this immersive story that takes place in a world ravaged by war and ecological disaster. Of course, at the time I had absolutely no clue what I was looking at. It was way above my ability to comprehend, and in a language I couldn’t understand. I just sat there, watching the pictures and wondering what was going on. The lead character was a cute girl, and the giant insects were cool, and that was enough.

Later, there was this realization that there was so much more to what I had seen, and I started obsessing over it. My brother was taking Japanese classes, which were offered at his high school in Anchorage, and he had tapes of cyberpunk anime from Japan, like Bubblegum Crisis. With the help of fan subtitles and pigeon Japanese, I slowly began to unlock the mysteries of anime. The more I knew, the more fascinating it all became, like I had opened a window onto another world or something. I wanted to know everything about Japan, the land of anime. I was consumed by the idea.

When did you first consider yourself “otaku“?

My first year of university, when I wrote a 100-page paper in response to Neon Genesis Evangelion– not to show anyone, but just to clear my thoughts and pay homage to this anime that meant so much to me. I was holed up in my room for weeks in this almost religious zeal. It was so painful and rewarding, and I realized that my idea of a fun Friday night was a little out of whack with those around me. Retrospectively, I might have been called an otaku much earlier, but I did not make that connection.

What inspired you to write The Otaku Encyclopedia?

I went to university to study journalism and Japanese language, and part of that education was a mandatory year in Japan. This was like the trip of a lifetime for someone who had been preoccupied with a place on the far side of the Pacific for over 15 years, the majority of his life. I had all these preconceived notions about how it was going to be. There would be giant robots, fighting schoolgirls in uniform, and the odd samurai or two. Maybe even some cute little Pokemon. Of course I am exaggerating, and I realize it is absurd, but at the time I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm and anything seemed possible. At the very least I would be welcomed with open arms into the bosom of otaku culture.

When I arrived in 2004, I found that the world I imagined exists only in my mind. Far from discouraged, I became doubly interested in accessing the minds that had created the anime world that so spoke to me. I was no longer as interested in the product as I was the people who created and consumed it. I observed otaku and participated in their activities as much as possible.

I was in Akihabara, the area of Tokyo where otaku are known to hang out, almost everyday. Once again, I found myself losing touch with people in my exchange program and at school, and I was even kicked out of my host family’s home for being so strange. But this time as I moved away from others I was getting closer to something – other otaku. It was like I was coming home and meeting all these old friends, only for the first time.

I started writing The Otaku Encyclopedia as a field guide to help me understand this new world and aid in my interactions. I know from experience that it can be hard to communicate with otaku without a common frame of reference, and I wanted to build one. It occurred to me along the way that the text might be useful for other otaku who wanted to know more about the culture in Japan and perhaps to come join in.

Otaku culture is one of the most discussed aspects of contemporary Japan, but it is consistently viewed from outside, which lends itself to misunderstandings and stereotypes. I thought I could help bridge the gap, build understanding and promote the culture as I found it.

What pop culture media and/or media creators have most influenced you?

The most influential is Anno Hideaki, a former anime director at Gainax. He is a product of the otaku generation, a child of a subculture built around media and the production of knowledge. He displays an incredible hybrid style influenced by anime, manga and film expressions, and is makes sophisticated cultural quotes, for example from “sentai” super hero shows, science fiction and classic anime. It is a reflexive, self-aware form of creation. The complexity of his works is only matched by his own. In his magnum opus, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Anno torn out his heart and painted the screen with it. Every cel is colored by his emotions, every frame contains a bit of his soul. And then he showed it on primetime TV. I find Anno to be an inspiration because he can create as easily as we breathe, and he does not compromise his vision. I regret that he left otaku and anime behind, but I still think he is a very brave man.

Is there someone within (or without) the otaku community that you would consider a mentor?

I can say that I look up to Okada Toshio, a former producer at Gainax who used to be called the “Otaking,” or King of otaku. I think in his media appearances and university courses in the 1990s he really tried to put otaku in a positive light. After the Miyazaki Tsutomu serial killings, and the media association of this very disturbed individual with otaku, the image of otaku was one of a social deviant or sociopath.

Okada said the culture was actually the next evolution of humanity, which of course is overstating things, but at least he tried to counterbalance the negative image. He was instrumental in Otaku no Video, a mock history of Gaianx and otaku culture in the 1980s. This masterpiece juxtaposes the positive and negative images of otaku, and both turn out to be fictional media constructs.

I am also a great fan of Morikawa Kaichiro, a university professor who has consistently and brilliantly dealt with otaku culture. On top of that, he is a truly decent human being.

Outside of otaku culture, I have always looked up to Anne Allison and Sharon Kinsella, whose pioneering works on Japanese pop and sub- culture were an inspiration to me.

My mentor would have to be David Slater from Sophia University in Tokyo. When I was an exchange student skipping classes and hanging out in Akihabara, professor Slater took an interest in my life and taught me how to look critically at the subject. I was condemned to viewing only surfaces before he pointed out that there are depths to be probed, both in the self and others. It is no exaggeration to say he taught me all I know about the social sciences and humanities.

What are you working on currently? Any other books in the works, or other projects?

I am currently at The University of Tokyo writing my doctoral dissertation, which will be on how shifts in capitalism and consumption have impacted the otaku mode of social existence in Japan. I have my fingers crossed that this might be finished in two years. At the same time, I am releasing some academic articles on Akihabara, moe, maid cafes, fujoshi and so on. I am still writing column for Metropolis and contributing to otaku2.com and otaku USA, and doing a weekly walking tour in Akihabara.

This summer, White Rabbit Press is releasing an audio tour of Akihabara, which I narrate along with otaku experts Patrick Macias, Morikawa Kaichiro and Danny Choo. I am also in discussion about making a documentary film about otaku culture.

Now that the book is published, is there anything you would change?

I am very happy with the way the book turned out, though some otaku on both sides of the Pacific tell me the brightly colored cover and character image make it a little hard to read in public! In all seriousness, this is a good guide for anyone interested in learning about otaku culture or going a little deeper. There are limitations with page numbers and so on, but I hope we can release an expanded edition with many more pages to include even more information. In such a case, I would like to collaborate with otaku young and old, Japanese and otherwise, from various backgrounds.

Otaku culture is so expansive, and members are so into their specific area, that there are experts in every possible field and subgenre. The intensity and duration of interest is astounding. I love otaku precisely because they are so narrow and deep in their interests, and I hope that more people will share their worlds and thoughts with me.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about otaku culture? About mainstream culture as it relates to otaku?

The most challenging aspect of otaku culture is the tendency to categorize and draw distinctions. As I mentioned, otaku are experts in their own area, and they are so immersed in it for so long that it makes it hard to communicate outside a certain range of topics. This can be a very exclusive and exclusionary thing. The result is the presumed “otaku” collective or culture is actually a scattering of small subgroups organized around competing interests, properties and consumption patterns. Rather than reaching out and building bridges, otaku tend to cut themselves off from others, both in the mainstream and in the culture itself. Everyone claims they are different from everyone else and end up going into increasingly smaller and more specialized groups. This is counterproductive as it breaks the culture down and saps away its influence. It also makes it very hard for anyone outside a given group to understand, one reason why the culture is now being dismissed by even the likes of its one-time champion Okada Toshio.

Further, the mass media played an important role in defining otaku in Japan, and mass media tend to construct easily recognizable types. otaku are divided into typologies based on naive psychological or behavioral parameters. The media image is strong, and the atomizing culture resists simple definition on the ground, so otaku end up being up as stereotypes. It is very difficult to penetrate these images to get to the real people, and then from there to set new parameters to dialogue with them. One of my biggest hopes is that The otaku Encyclopedia will help in this ongoing process.

What was the most difficult part about producing The Otaku Encyclopedia?

As mentioned above, one big difficulty was pulling away the veil of media and accessing the culture with eyes unclouded. I was often at a loss with how different the people were from the image in the media and my own preconceived notions developed watching anime back in my room in Montana. On a more technical note, it was very hard to decide what words should go into the text and the amount of detail to go into in a given entry.

The book is only 250 pages long, and space fills quite rapidly when documenting a complex culture, or rather a collection of cultures. I started with well over 500 pages of just text, which was narrowed down to the current selection. My editor, Andrew Lee, was a tremendous help in this process. He said we needed to think about the target audience and make the material as accessible as possible, rather than just a collection of random bits of data that would appeal to [only the] most seasoned of otaku.

The ultimate goal was to build understanding and promote otaku culture, so those already steeped in the culture ostensibly need it least, though I still feel there is information of interest in here for all otaku. We also wanted to edit the book to make it a self-standing reference, or eliminate the need to look up Japanese words and concepts that appeared in interviews or the text without qualification. Sometimes these are not necessarily related to otaku culture, for example White Day. We also included things that appear in anime, manga and videogames, but are not necessarily related to otaku: for example, the neighborhood of Shibuya and the “gal” subculture. I hope it will be an overall guide and useful orientation to otaku culture and its place in Japan.

What did you learn anything from the process?

I learned that there is no culture as fascinating as otaku! The members are so dedicated to their hobbies that they not only consume media and material, but also produce it, and then re-produce it. Otaku culture is carnival-like and alternative, yet maintains and actually creates its own logic and capital to sustain the entire process. It’s really cultural production on an unprecedented scale. There is so much going on that everyone can join and find a place in the culture, or alternatively just build a place that connects to the database of cultural knowledge and connects to the wider network of otaku cultures.

In their search for space and self, otaku are actually building new worlds. Private interests manifest in a public space, and people are accepted as part of something larger than themselves. It is amazing to me the culture is chaotic and creative. There is always something new emerging in this vibrant, volatile, living culture.

Do you have any advice for readers who might be interested in Japanese pop culture?

My advice is to be curious about everything all the time. Nothing is as simple as it seems. Some people, including my old hero Okada Toshio, say that the curiosity is gone from young otaku, who just sit in their private rooms and consume media and material without any interest in where it comes from or how it was made. The result is that private otaku worlds do not connect to a larger public group or culture.

I, for one, do not believe that the curiosity, creativity and community are gone from otaku in Japan or overseas. The culture is beginning to blossom and mature, and along the way mutate and transform. I hope that all of us with an interest in the culture will take a stake in its future and become an active member, be that in the form of producing, proselytizing, researching or whatever. We have yet much to learn about the culture, where we come from and what we share. It is my sincere wish that otaku learn from one another and continue to grow as a culture.

Do you have anything specific you would like to say to mainstream readers, fan readers, or to potential otaku?

To mainstream readers, please give otaku a chance. At times otaku can appear a bit strange, but bear in mind that a culture based in media and technology is an amplified reflection rather than rejection of the mainstream.

To otaku, thank you for having the conviction to stick to your ideals and the courage to share your worlds. The world is changing, and you are the revolution.

To potential otaku, I urge you to take it slowly. Once you jump off the deep end it is all too easy to become totally submerged! Good luck to us all in finding our place, or building up a new one.

Patrick’s full schedule:
Friday, August 28
7:00 PM
Village Books
1200 11th St.
Bellingham, WA 98225

Wednesday, September 2
7:30 PM.
Elliott Bay Book Company
101 S. Main St.
Seattle, WA 98104

Thursday, September 3
7:00 PM
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

Read more about Patrick, Otaku, and The Otaku Encyclopedia at O is for Otaku: A handy new guide covers Japanese subculture from A to Z

Moe-pon, the blue-haired, kawaii mascot appearing throughout the book, was created by illustrator Akashiro Miyu, who is currently in her third year of studies at Osaka Communication Arts College.