Introducing A True Otaku: GEISAI#14 Juror Kaiichiro Morikawa

For many of you reading this, the name Kaiichiro Morikawa needs no introduction. He is without a doubt the foremost academic researcher of otaku culture in the world today. However, we thought we’d give you an inside look on just why we selected him as a juror for GEISAI#14.


Kaiichiro Morikawa. This shot was taken inside the preliminary space for the Tokyo International Manga Library.

It has now been seven years since Morikawa published his Akihabara–themed urban theory Learning from Akihabara: The Birth of a Personapolis. The dissertation was an epoch-making work which examined from an academic perspective Akihabara’s transformation into a city defined by hobbies and the subsequent metamorphosis of the people who inhabit the area. It was also published around the time the nickname Akiba was gaining wide recognition among the general public.


Learning from Akihabara: The Birth of a Personapolis （Gentosha）

Mr. Morikawa followed his seminal publication with work as the commissioner of the Japanese Booth at the 9th International Architecture Exhibit of the 2004 Venice Biennale. The exhibition was called OTAKU: personality = space = cities and reproduced Akihabara in the heart of one of art’s most venerated cities, making clear to the whole world just how unique Akihabara really is.



The OTAKU exhibition went on to receive the Freedom Award, one of the 44th Japan Science Fiction Convention’s prestigious Seiun awards.

For those who are interested, a virtual tour of the exhibition is available at the link below. Under the link marked marked “オタクの美意識” you’ll find definitions of terms that are key to understanding the otaku aesthetic. These include words like “wabi,” “sabi,” “moe,” “hetare,” and “puni”.
http://www.jpf.go.jp/venezia-biennale/otaku/j/index.html

The official catalog for the exhibition also contained, as an added bonus, a Shin Yokohama Arina figurine by Yuki Oshima. This original figure was a collaboration with world famous figure modelers Kaiyodo and began after Oshima gained prominence for his Rika Vignette and Weekly Dearest My Brother items. Much of the credit for the discovery of Oshima’s work is owed to Mr. Morikawa’s field work.


The catalog for the OTAKU exhibition with pamphlet and figure packaged together.

These days Mr. Morikawa has been named an associate professor of the School of Global Japanese Studies at Meiji University and has set his sights on building what will surely become the largest archive of manga, anime, and games anywhere in the world: The Tokyo International Manga Library. The library’s predecessor, the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subcultures, opened its doors last Fall.


Here is how preparations looked when we conducted our visit last fall to officially invite Mr. Morikawa as a lecturer at GEISAI University.

The otakuesque research found on Mr. Morikawa’s web page covers an astonishing breadth of material including architecture, Akihabara, the spacing of private rooms, kitsch, manga, and even garbage (!). For those who can read Japanese, have a look. http://homepage1.nifty.com/straylight/main/

In terms of creativity, the otaku world can be considered one of Japanese culture’s singular achievements and noone has spent more time getting to know that world than Kaiichiro Morikawa. He’s also been known to produce his own works for events like Comike and Wonder Festival. How will your works stand up under his critical eye?

The jury review takes place on March 14.
We await your application!