Kotaku
Previously, we've brought word of criminals hunting Japanese otaku. This time it's the Japanese police who's hunting them. Apparently, police in Shinjuku have been stopping people who look like otaku, aka NERDS, and subjecting them to spot checks. What do Japanese otaku look like? They come in all shapes and sizes, but the above chap does a nice job of playing the stereotype. In these spot checks, the police ask what your occupation is, examine your ID and sometimes go through your stuff.
A supposed police list describes what types of individuals cops should do spot checks on. Those individuals are:
•People wearing camouflage trousers or jackets
•People with chains or keys (hanging off trousers)
•People who look weak
•People wearing a bandana
•People wearing leather
To see if these rumors held water, website Tantei File sent Ozumi-san (above) to Shinjuku dressed accordingly. The note he is holding says "Bummer. Failure." He put that in his backpack as he wandered the Shinjuku streets. Sure enough, he was stopped by two police officers, who were apparently somewhat embarrassed to find that note in Ozumi's backpack.
Tantei and other sites seem to be convinced these inspections are being carried out on specifically otaku fashion. Granted, Ozumi-san is dressed much like a stereotypical otaku. In Japan, otaku are still marginalized figures — though, they have become more mainstream in recent years. And since there have been incidents of otaku being mugged, many have started carrying knives and other weapons to protect themselves. Perhaps the police are searching for those. Or maybe they're looking for suspicious characters. Who knows.
The funny thing: Shinjuku is crawling with organized crime — both Japanese and foreign.
Otaku Fashion [Tantei File via Danny Choo]
Comments
Oktau Hunt confirmed for the DS, Wii, PS3, PS2, PS1, Xbox, Xbox 360, Mac, PC, TI-83 calculators. Using the Unreal 3 engine
... And Keanu said, "Let my otakus go."
Its hard out there for otaku.
oh i forgot it's also a Time exclusive for The Phantom. but if they are actually carring around knifes and start stabing muggers there could be some bully otaku's made out of this and no one wants a bully who's a otaku and might cos-play before kicking your ass and taking your milk money
"People who look weak"
That can't be serious. o.0;
So we stop otaku but we don't stop yanki?
Otaku, serious business.
@FranUnFine: Yes, it's a shock but some otaku are weak.
"People wearing leather"
So was James Dean the alpha nerd?
"NEET sweep! NEET sweep!"
@FranUnFine: Most probably NOT.
@Keanu: I think he's shocked about police using the "weak" criteria to determine who's an otaku and who's not.
Actually Ive seen this happen quite often around the Yodobashi on the west side of Shinjuku.
Thats what happens when you stick out in this society. Hell in any society for that matter.
Maybe the police are searching otakus for some moe to confiscate?
@Keanu: No, he said, "My name is Keanu. I play the pianu."
Let me elaborate....
1. EVERY Otaku I see for some reason or another is ALWAYS wearing khakis. Don't know why, but every single Otaku out there is wearing really really short khaki pants....so much so that literally like 4-5 inches of their socks are showing.
2. Every Otaku out there has a backpack high up on their back.
3. Glasses are (obviously) a must.
4. Otaku more often than not travel in groups.
5. They all have on New Balance (or similar looking) sneakers.
6. A lot of the time they carry bags full of treasures (Games, Manga, Figures, that they just purchased.
No idea why in the hell the cops would crack down on Otaku.....in Shinjuku of all places. Like Ashcraft said, Shinjuku (namely Kabukicho) is famous for its concentration of organized crime. Must districts in Tokyo are defined by something; Akihabara is obviously the game/otaku hub, Ginza is known for its high fashion, Roppongi is the foreigner district....and Shinjuku (at least one part of it) is the 'crime' district.
If it was me......I would be issuing ID checks for all "Gyaru-O" effective immediately.
@Witzbold: What's the point though? Otaku other from being nerds or withdrawn to the point that they may never ever have a relationship are largely harmless, pouring all their money and time into various well noted hobbies.
Do the police wish for them to never leave the house save for work and instead have everything delivered?
"People who look weak"
Whoa, they're stopping everyone on the street in Japan? ZING! Oh yeah, I went there! Now I'm gonna go get Shoryukened by Ryu or elbowed by Akira IRL.
I've been stopped by police twice in Tokyo just for being gaijin. First time I was scared and carefully tried to understand what they were saying. Second time I just played dumb and pretended I couldn't understand Japanese/Jenglish at all. The second time things went much more smoothly.
I actually find this rather ironic though... look for the people who are most likely not to do anything (literally)? Sounds like the opposite of every other police squad in the world.
Err just to add, they do look like "bikers" though.
@Channing:
What's that supposed to mean?
@Sixtail: The cops are very, very bored and need to look busy.
@sumdum_guy: I think hes talking about this type
[www.urbandictionary.com]
And not as a reference to Americans.
@RPGr: Actually though if you look at the criminals and those who have been arrested before for crimes and such, they do rather fit into the "otaku" fashion category. Some of the criminals anyways.
Not to mention otakus are always carrying around those giant backpacks.
@Jonathan: Yeah, I learned that lesson in China also, even if you know a little bit of the language things always seem to work better when you claim as little understanding of it as possible ;)
I'm very curious about the "crawling with Mafia" comment though. Is the unspoken implication that the police in the area are on the Mafia's/Yakuza's payroll, and they're doing this to justify their existence in the face of all the arrest they're not making as a result?
I was lucky to have been working for NTT when Japanese police stopped me in a sweep. They looked at my Foreigner Registration Card, company badge, said "NTT, mmm, so ndesu, aaahhh" (this 'n' is there on purpose) and let me go immediately.
I felt important.
@DaiMacculate: Well its like any part of the world with organized crime. The cops dont lean on them as long as they dont take the biz "to the streets" if you will.
Down in Kabukicho is where you can find all the yaks and triads. A little bit over in Shin-Okubo is the Koreans.
@Witzbold: That's what I figured, hence the "biker" comment but thanks for confirming it.
I'm glad the fashion police finally stopped screwing around.
@sumdum_guy:
lulz. Yeah, I guess I should've clarified that. I didn't mean respect the emperor, expel the barbarians.
@Witzbold:
Good lord, slow down on the comments Witz. I swear, I looked at my unread friends comments up top and saw over 50, almost all of them from you. I had to remove you because you were drowning out my other friends. :P
Only early 90s rock stars can wear bandanas without looking majorly stupid...
@Sixtail: Otaku are not always "harmless".
a) there are different types of otaku.
b) They're not just "nerds" - that's not the best translation, although I don't know what word would be better.
Otaku are defined in Japan as people who are obsessed with a particular niche subject that's by definition out of the mainstream. That can run all the way up to stalking. It can mean shoplifting things related to their chosen obsession. It can mean a lot of different types of crimes.
Keep in mind Japan is a largely crime-free country. Outside of organized crime and people with mental problems, the general populace basically does not commit crimes. So while it may seem weird to us for them to be focusing on otaku, they probably do commit more crime than other groups.
I wasn't familiar with the term Otaku, so I looked it up; and came to realization probably about 95% of the people (myself included) that read gawker type sites daily would be considered Otaku.
Makes me feel sympathetic to the plight of my nerdy Japanese counterparts. You?
Well then... FEAR THE NERDS!
@VishusBurn:
If you call yourself an "otaku" and you're not Japanese, you're actually a weeaboo.
@VishusBurn: Yeah dude but this the really crazy part: take the word Otaku and add a K to it.... hey wait a minute...
@elevenoverzero: Which is even better than being otaku!
So anyway, what justification do the cops give for this? Or don't they have to give any?
I remember Shinjuku was a mission in Police 911 2, which basically confirms it's loaded with organized crime figures.
I've never got stopped by police in japan, it was only us who stopped them to ask for directions ^^
The cops are probably worried about a new generation of yakuza otaku. Nothing more unsettling than getting shaken down for protection money by a nerd.
as much as i miss Akihabara and Tokyo in general, it's getting suckier and suckier to hang around with crimes and police hassle...
yo, witz...did you get stopped as well?
@icepick314: Nah in my town its just the usual light not on at night with the bike. I show em its broken, which it is damned switch is stuck. And they let me on my merry way.
Other times I just chat with them to see how things are going in the town.
Police dont seem to bother me asides from that being 6`1 might have something to do with it too. ;D
Hey Witzbold, reading through the comments on the criminal otaku hunting I was fairly shocked to find a lot of downright insulting and prejudiced remarks about Otaku.
You apparently don't think very highly of them, but you should probably be keeping that sort of hate out of your comments, especially if you're supposed to be setting an example in the community now.
@RobTheBuilder: I take exception to this statement. Everyone looks dumb in head scarves. Except Grace Kelly.
Interesting to see that even Japanese police are not above the petty discrimination, harassment and profiling that makes up the western police forces.
"A manga store was robbed recently by someone fitting your description. Would you mind accompanying us to the police station?"
Picking on someone because of how they look and what you THINK they MIGHT do because of this is not policing, it's bullying.
Some of you seem to forget that you can be an army, train, car, MC, music, martial arts, etc. otaku, you're branded otaku if you're obsessed with something.
Try not lumping all different kinds of otaku as one.
@brent_w: Well the problem is that a lot of them pretty much get that image stuck upon them basically.
You would have to be here to really understand it. Not to mention the lack of social skills doesnt help their situation here in Japan.
As Badasscat said there are many different types of otakus. You would be quite suprised to find perfectly normal folks who could be labeled as "otakus".
The ones that seem to get into trouble are those who cant seem to "fit in" with society itself. Even more so in Japan where the culture is still against those who "stick out".
Now there would be real hate in my comments if I had said "All otakus need to be locked in a shed and burned to the ground" but I didnt. What I say is my own personal opinions which pretty much everyone is free to state granted it doesnt wind up like my shed burning example.
Man, i would get picked up for wearing my Zeon Jacket with my Zeon keychain hanging out, so i would have that coming.
I wont get far at night if i wear my "light up" nike sneakers either...
this is so wrong.
@Witzbold:Glad to hear you don't want to burn them alive in a shed. :-D
Whoever brought up the giant backpack thing might have a point. Japan has been and still is a target for terrorism so maybe that's what this is about. Random spot checking for weapons/bombs/whatever.
Or maybe they just like harassing nerds.