Yesterday, a pretty Zaobao (聯合早報) journalist rounded a group of local otakus to find out about Singapore’s otaku culture, and our take on the Akihabara Massacre (秋葉原通り魔事件).
Zaobao Sunday (早报星期天) article – “教你辨认御宅族” (15 Jun 2008; P.11)
Together with DarkMirage and LianYL of RIUVA, we met with Caixia at Sunshine Plaza’s “the dim sum” place for the interview. Along, too, came Panther and his clan.
Eight of us squeezed into the dining area next to the tattoo shop for the interview.
Clockwise from Left: DarkMirage, Caixia, LianYL and Gordonator
Earlier in the week, I received an email from Caixia, who stumbled upon my blog while researching on otaku culture in Singapore. In her email, she said she wanted to have a better understanding of the culture because she’s writing an article about it. I second guessed that it’s about the Akihabara stabbing incident. I agreed, and pulled in LianYL (since he is a representative of the 20something generation, and being fluent in Chinese too), who in turn managed to bring DarkMirage out of his seclusion.
From Left: Panther, Gordonator and Visual-kei bishonen Squee
One of the things that surprised Caixia was our chattiness. She had the impression that otakus are a bunch of shy, introverted geeks who tend to be reserved. There is some truth in that, but if the conditions are right, introverts can become rather animated and talkative. In this instance, we are on ‘homeground’ – we asked to meet her at Sunshine Plaza on a Saturday. We are among kindred.
The rather chio Caixia and Unreserved Lian
Even though Lian sat next to the rather pretty journalist, he had non of his usual inhibitions. (Caixia looks like a gorgeous Korean idol, doesn’t she? Lian gives his thumb-up of approval).
Caixia did a fair bit of research on this topic, especially on the mainstream (media) perception of otakus in Japan as well as in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In her article, she mentioned that the media when reporting on incidents involving otakus, they are quick to attribute their misfit behaviour to their obsession with animation, comics and games. Caixia’s full-paged article debunked these presumptions. And her report also de-linked the hikikomoris with otakus. Although there could be overlaps in both phenomenon, a large part of otakus are not hikikomoris.
The Otaku Label
We made it clear that we are not ashamed of being ‘labelled’ as otakus although the term has a derogatory slant at its place of origin. Its a convenient term to identify ourselves in terms of the cultural tribe that we belong to. Some of us are open and proud of our passion, while some only open up when hanging out with their own kind.
Regarding the Kato Tomohiro (加藤智大) incident, I mentioned that it wasn’t an otaku problem – it’s a problem that Japan’s society and culture have to address.
Is Tomohiro crazy? I think not. I believe that his actions were premeditated and rational. He had probably given due considerations on his plan to become a terrorist. He picked a location and course of action where his acts will be quickly amplified by the media, to make him look larger than life. Akihabara is the ideal place because this district has drawn the attention of the media recently. There’s likely to be news crews and journalists prowling the street for stories – as well as a high density of Internet-savvy denizens who can instantaneously spread the news of his act of terror far and wide. Akihabara is also a place that he is familiar with – he knows how to navigate and where to hit for his symbolic attack to achieve its effects. A crazy person will simply kill at random, indiscriminately, without thought. This wasn’t a random act. Tomohiro was seeking martyrdom.
