2007年VOA标准英语-Japanese Anime Fans Gain Economic Power

By Catherine Makino
Tokyo
17 January 2007

 
Image from the 1984 Japanese anime film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds
Fanatical followers¹ of Japanese comic books and cartoon animations² have become an economic force in Japan. These so-called otaku are spending more than $2 billion a year on their obsessions³, as Catherine Makino reports from Tokyo.

Otaku are obsessive⁴ fans of comic books, called manga, and cartoon animations, called anime. Japan's biggest-selling manga comic, "Shonen Jump," sells millions of copies each week.

In Tokyo's Akihabara district, packs of otaku in their 20s and 30s spend hours in nondescript buildings shopping for anime, comics, DVDs, games and action figurines. Akihabara also holds major events such as the Comic Market, a twice-yearly event where more than a quarter of a million otaku come to buy and sell self-published comic books.

Sandra Shoji is an instructor⁵ of humanities at Toyo Gakuen, a Tokyo university, and has studied the otaku phenomenon.

"They represent the new recreational majority among young people," she says. "They're very much into anime, or animated⁶ films, they're inspired by comic books, and they seem to have problems watching anything over the length of about 15 minutes."

 
Tokyo hairdresser in a maid costume shampoos a client, 06 Sep 2005
According to the Nomura Research Institute, there are about 2.4 million otaku in Japan. Once a fringe group, they have now entered the economic mainstream⁷, spending $2.5 billion a year on comics, animated films, computer games, action figurines and other products.

They can also be found at cafes in Akihabara that cater⁸ especially to them. On weekends, some men stand in line for up to two hours for a table at establishments like Cos-cha.

Cos-cha is one of the so-called "maid cafes," where waitresses dress in scanty⁹ black maid's outfits¹⁰ with white aprons¹¹, black net stockings and lacy white headbands. They greet male customers with "Welcome home, master."

When Hiroyuki Ito, a first year student at Yokohama University, sat down at Cos-cha 
Waitresses in Tokyo, 01 Aug 2006
recently, the waitress dropped to her knees and looked up to take his order. The costumes and behavior were inspired by a French maid character in an erotic comic book.

Ito says much of his life is spent in this fantasy world of cafes and comic books.

"I spend about five hours a day watching anime and reading my favorite comic books," he says. "I also draw my own fantasy stories, like women wizards who are super heroes."

Sandra Shoji said most otaku use this fantasy as an escape from the pressures of real life.

"They see that is it is very creative, and that they can enter a world where anything is possible," she says, "unlike the real world, where they basically have no job future, where they're told exactly what to do in school, or by their mothers. This is something where they can completely escape and find their own world."

The appeal of otaku has spread to women since the success of romantic anime movies such as last year's "Train Man," in which a typical 23-year-old otaku man wins the love of a beautiful woman.

Women otaku now have their own version of maid cafes. Last March, one called Swallowtail opened on a narrow street in Ikebukuro, a Tokyo shopping district. Waiters dressed as elegant butlers in black tailcoats greet the mostly female customers with, "Welcome, home, Madame."

In contrast with the cheap-looking maid cafes, Swallowtail looks like an English manor¹², with custom-made furniture and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It averages more than a hundred customers a day, ranging in age from 20s to 40s.

Shoji says the culture has now spread outside the otaku cafes.

"I went to a bakery, and all the women were dressed in their black-and-white maid costumes. I went to a family restaurant for women with children, and all the waitresses were in their maid uniforms. And the woman manager was in her butler uniform," she says.

A "princess restaurant" has opened in Ginza, an expensive district in Tokyo. Young women are greeted by waitresses in pink maid costumes, escorted to a throne chair and given the royal treatment. In some Ikebukuro hair salons¹³, women are given hairdos by men dressed as butlers.

Sociologists in Japan say the otaku culture caters¹⁴ to the needs of people, especially Japanese men, who are not able to relate to human beings on a deep level, and may lack communication skills.

Those who study the otaku trend say the phenomenon will not disappear anytime soon. And they note it is not only for Japanese anymore. Devout¹⁵ fans of anime can be found all over the world, as Japanese-style cartoons and related toys and games show up in magazines in dozens of countries.

1 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

2 animations   

n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作

参考例句：

• You'll see your team cheerleaders and mascot performing new animations as well. 你会看到啦啦队队长跟吉祥物也都会有全新的动作。 来自互联网
• Ability to create simple movie and animations using graphic & multimedia software. 能够用平面和多媒体软件制作简单的电影及动画。 来自互联网

3 obsessions   

n.使人痴迷的人（或物）( obsession的名词复数 )；着魔；困扰

参考例句：

• 95% of patients know their obsessions are irrational. 95％的病人都知道他们的痴迷是不理智的。 来自辞典例句
• Too often you get caught in your own obsessions. 所以你时常会沉迷在某个电影里。 来自互联网

4 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

5 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

6 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

7 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

8 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

9 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

10 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

11 aprons   

围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份）

参考例句：

• Many people like to wear aprons while they are cooking. 许多人做饭时喜欢系一条围裙。
• The chambermaid in our corridor wears blue checked gingham aprons. 给我们扫走廊的清洁女工围蓝格围裙。

12 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

13 salons   

n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅

参考例句：

• He used to attend to his literary salons. 他过去常常去参加他的文学沙龙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Conspiracy theories about Jewish financiers were the talk of Paris salons. 犹太金融家阴谋论成为巴黎沙龙的话题。 来自互联网

14 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

15 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。