Sources on the origin of the concept of ‘otaku’

Abstract

The process of associating the concept of ‘otaku’ with the stereotyped image that Japanese society already had of that group, or what is the same, the genesis of the current definition of the term, developed throughout the 80s until which became popular at the end of the decade, thanks to the infamous "Miyazaki incident". Two articles published in magazines dedicated to anime fans at the beginning of that decade are key to the understanding of this process: on the one hand, the definition that Shirakawa Shōmei made in 1981, as part of a guide for new students, of those young people who they belonged to school culture clubs; and on the other, the one recognized as the first text that coined the term ‘otaku’ in association with an image similar to that offered by Shirakawa, the article published in two parts in the summer of 1983 by Nakamori Akio. This paper presents an unpublished translation into Spanish made directly from the original texts, as well as a brief review of their authors and an analysis of their relevance.