Chinese Equivalent for Japanese Word Otaku
honker
April 15, 2009, 04:44 PM posted in General DiscussionI'm sure there may be a few Japanese students here as well. I was wondering if there is an equivalent word in 中文 for Otaku (オタク).
The author William Gibson gives a good feel of what an Otaku is:
The otaku, the passionate obsessive, the information age's embodiment of the connoisseur, more concerned with the accumulation of data than of objects, seems a natural crossover figure in today's interface of British and Japanese cultures. I see it in the eyes of the Portobello dealers, and in the eyes of the Japanese collectors: a perfectly calm train-spotter frenzy, murderous and sublime. Understanding otaku -hood, I think, is one of the keys to understanding the culture of the web. There is something profoundly post-national about it, extra-geographic. We are all curators, in the post-modern world, whether we want to be or not.
zhenlijiang
April 17, 2009, 04:53 AMchangye, kimiik found a most obscure, short-lived "talent group" from recent japanese tv archives. you don't need to know/be reminded! it' not Heroes.
to repeat my question about possible ways to say otaku in Chinese, could something like 博学之士 work? or just 博士 if you provide context? (how about 动脑筋爷爷?)
他在超级联赛的方面（里？）是个博学之士。 he's a Premier League otaku.
yes/no/maybe?
changye
April 16, 2009, 12:18 AMHi honker and kimiik
御宅族 is merely a Japanese word. "Otaku" is "おたく" in hiragana, and "御宅" in Japanese kanji. There is no Chinese word that exactly means "otaku", so Chinese people use the Japanese word to indicate "otaku". Anyway, the word 御宅族 is not so popularly used in China yet. Of course, the word is "non-political". On the other hand, 哈日族 is a pure Chinese word and frequently used in Taiwan. 哈日族 might sound "political" to anti-Japanese people, hehe.
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2009, 12:31 AMi think the word in japan is most often seen in the katakana オタク, to make clear it doesn't refer to any of the originals senses of お宅.
profoundly post-national and extra-geographic--so true.
changye, i have seen 卡哇伊（カワイイ kawaii）quite a bit, how well-used is this one? guessing this is more of a girl word.
changye
April 16, 2009, 02:01 AMHi zhenlijiang
The Japanese word "お宅 (御宅, otaku)" mainly has two meanins. One is "your family/house", and the other is "you". And "otaku" is originated in the second one. Those geeky guys (in the early stage) usually called each other "otaku".
Looks like that オタク (otaku) is more frequently used than おたく (otaku) on the Internet, but interestingly, the relevant Wiki article is titled "おたく" (in hiragana), which I think is a more "authentic" way to refer to "otaku", hehe.
As for 卡哇伊 (kawaii, pretty/lovely), it seems to be more commonly used than 御宅族, at least on the Internet. Their Google hits are as follows,
卡哇伊 2,650,000
御宅族 553,000
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2009, 02:18 AMchangye, i was going to say when we were talking about this a while ago, before i lost track--one like yourself could be quite accurately described as an otaku in the current sense yes? and that would be an expression of admiration and respect, yes? though of course we should always say what otaku. languages otaku for instance.
changye
April 16, 2009, 02:32 AMHi zhenlijiang
Sorry, looks like I misinterpreted this sentence in your comment.
it doesn't refer to any of the originals senses of お宅.
honker
April 16, 2009, 04:00 AMFrom what I've seen when one Otaku addresses another, the word can carry a sign of admiration. But when someone outside of that subculture uses it, it is usually done in a derogatory manner. That was my experience in Japan at least.
Although it's not really similar I suppose, but I've seen people call themselves geeks with pride in the States. And others have used the word geek as an insult.
People often jokingly refer to themselves as an otaku in Japan when they fall in love suddenly with some new brand of food or beverage.
Yes, otaku in the sense I was referring to is usually written in Katakana.
I'm sure there is some idiomatic phrase in Chinese that has similar connotations, no?
kimiik
April 16, 2009, 06:48 AMHi Changye,
I thought that 御宅族 stigmatized people living in the imperial palace out of the real word. Even as a japanese word, it sounds quite political to me. How many imperial families do you know ?
changye
April 16, 2009, 07:22 AMHi kimiik
I've never heard about such a story. Where did you get the information? As far as I know, the word 御宅族 has nothing to with Japanese imperial families. For the record, they are usually referred to as 皇族(kou-zoku) and 華族 (ka-zoku) depending on their "ranks" in Japan.
honker
April 15, 2009, 06:28 PMThat's very cool. 谢谢 for that resource kimiik!
changye
April 16, 2009, 07:51 AMHi kimiik
I got it. Actually there are some Japanese Imperial parks called "御苑", and in this case the character 御 connotes Emperor, however 御宅 (otaku) is merely a honorific term used when mentioning "your house, family" in modern Japanese. So the word 御宅 is politically neutral. In Japanese, 御 (o) is often added to some nouns just to make it polite, such as 御名前 (o-namae, name) and 御仕事 (o-shigoto, work).
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2009, 09:25 AMkimiik, i was told that everybody in france (which i think means paris) knows what kawaii means and that it's a word you use all the time. true/not true?
honker, i believe otaku has effectively ceased to be an insult in japan (that, or otaku are no longer a minority). actually i am under the impression that it's similar to geek. i wouldn't mind being otaku myself but am really too lame to get that obsessed about anything.
changye, no worries. as you know i can always use a review in basic japanese!
kimiik
April 16, 2009, 09:55 AM@Zhenlijiang, Many french know what kawaii means but I won't say everyone (even in Paris).
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2009, 10:27 AMcould something like 博学之士 work? or just 博士 if you provide context? how about 动脑筋爷爷?
他在超级联赛的方面（里？ never sure what to do here / have actually requested a QingWen on this）是个博学之士。 he's a Premier League otaku.
yes/no/maybe?
kimiik, so presumably kawaii expresses something you didn't already have a word for in french.
kimiik
April 16, 2009, 12:24 PM@Zhenlijiang, Actually kawaii would be an exotic equivalent of the french adjective "mignon".
But did you know that one of the first japanese expressions I learned was "Yatta!" (all right / I did it) ? ;o)
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2009, 03:48 PMomg kimiik--that is otaku material ... the happa-tai members themselves probably don't remember very well or want to talk about it. err ... thanks, i guess, for reminding me.
kimiik
April 16, 2009, 04:37 PMIronically, Yatta is now strongly associated in my brain with the chinese translation of the ivory tower (象牙塔) : 象YATTA! ;D
changye
April 17, 2009, 12:45 AMHi kimiik
I hear the Japanese phrase "yatta" has become well known because of an American film "Heroes". Is the video in your above comment about the movie? I can't see it from the PRC. Youtube is still blocked.
There is a TV anime series titled "Yattaman" (1977) in Japan, which has long been very popular among Japanese young guys. Recently its live-action version was made and has been very successful.
http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/ning_tdc/?action=view¤t=yattaman.flv
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjgwNjIzMTI=.html
kimiik
April 16, 2009, 07:42 AMIn Hangzhou, the 御花园 (different from Shanghai 豫园) is called the Imperial garden.
In fact, there are many imperial gardens in China :
御花园在故宫, Beijing, China
御花园, 新北区, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
长虹大道南段御花园, 涪城区, Mianyang, Sichuan, China
御花园, 谯城区, Bozhou, Anhui, China
进香河路御花园, 玄武区, Nankin, Jiangsu, China
北园大街御花园, 天桥区, Jinan, Shandong, China
三湘花会市场19御花园, 芙蓉区, Changsha, Hunan, China
长江中路御花园, 合肥市市辖区, Hefei, Anhui, China
南环中路御花园, 运河区, Cangzhou, Hebei, China
梅山南路御花园, 六安市, Lu'an, Anhui, China
西城路御花园, Yiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China
kimiik
April 15, 2009, 06:17 PM@honker,
Nowadays, instead of japanese students you can use Wikipedia or online dictionaries to translate a word.
For Otaku Wikipedia gives the word 御宅族 which sounds too political to me (same thing with 哈日一族). But I think that 御宅族 could also describe people who live in an ivory tower (象牙塔 aka tooth tower).
I prefer 沉迷于动画的 which only covers Manga enthusiasts.