Chinese Equivalent for Japanese Word Otaku

I've heard that 弄蛇人 (Snake Charmer/people playing with snakes) means "weird people doing weird thinks".

But does it cover the otaku ?

Have been reading with interest. I don't know how you can translate something as Japanese as otaku. How do you translate geisha?

Anyways, can I suggest 山寨? It's not more accurate than previous suggestions, and is an adjective rather than a noun, but picks up a few of the nuances that have been missed. Thoughts?

@kimiik, Hey! You're right, it doesn't suit the right otaku definition. Stating what Changye阿叔 had said with his previous post...that China hasn't really embraced the otaku sub-culture. However, from what I've heard from my Korean and HK friends the word "otaku" in Korean and probably HK (宅男/오타쿠) has been given a negative definition, that of being anti-social and "over-dorked". That definition being completely different from the people-with-obsessive-interests(particularly anime, manga, and video games) otaku.I'm not sure though whether the word has is considered positive/negative in Japan. We should ask Changye叔叔. :)

大家好，我来自中国南京 找人合作学习英语和汉语，互相帮助
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/4776

@hitokiri, From the original definition, the otaku are people with obsessive interests. As I checked some chinese blogs about 宅男 (and 宅女), it seems that a 宅男 is just someone who stay alone isolated in the same room all day long to play video games, watch TV, eat and sleep. Then this 宅男 has an obvious antisocial behaviour but not the obsessive interests that defines the otaku.

Btw, I didn't understand the difference between 软宅男 and 硬宅男 ... too subtle for me !

In HK and 台灣, people use 宅男 (zhai2 nan2) for otaku (or more precisely "male university-aged computer nerds").

Speaking of strange behaviour, in Europe we can say that someone is an iriginal or is young (at least in his head). But comments from chinese people are more often negative and may come with a 出洋相 (acting like a westerner / making a fool of oneself).

Then could we translate otaku as 出洋相的博士 ?

Hi zhenlijiang

Actually it's very difficult to find exact Chinese couterparts of "otaku", partly because the PRC society still doesn't have matured "otaku culture". All I can think of are 高手 and 达人, such as 动漫高手 and 电脑达人. The latter one is originated in the Japanese word "達人" (tatsu-jin). The problem is that both usually only carry a positive nuance, unlike "otaku" in Japanese. I love otaku, of course!

changye,  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?

Hi 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&current=yattaman.flv

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjgwNjIzMTI=.html

Ironically, Yatta is now strongly associated in my brain with the chinese translation of the ivory tower (象牙塔) : 象YATTA!  ;D

omg 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.

@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)

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？ 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.

@Zhenlijiang, Many french know what kawaii means but I won't say everyone (even in Paris).

kimiik, 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!

Hi 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).

In 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

Hi 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.

Hi 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 ?

From 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?

Hi zhenlijiang

Sorry, looks like I misinterpreted this sentence in your comment.

it doesn't refer to any of the originals senses of お宅.

changye,  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.

Hi 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

i 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.

Hi 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.

That's very cool. 谢谢 for that resource kimiik!

@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.