The King of Fandom is 'Manga'... Luxury Fandom is 'Idol'

Japan Economic Research Institute 'Otaku Survey'
Many in order of Manga-Anime-Idol-Game

In Japan, the land of manga and animation, a recent survey was conducted on the term 'otaku,' which refers to enthusiasts deeply immersed in specific fields. According to the results, the largest group of otaku in Japan are manga book otaku, while the otaku who spend the most money are idol otaku.

On the 5th, Mainichi Shimbun reported the results of an 'Otaku Survey' conducted by Yano Research Institute targeting 10,000 men and women aged 15 to 69 across Japan. The survey narrowed down respondents to those who answered that they either self-identify as otaku or are recognized as otaku by others, and analyzed their otaku activities across 30 fields to examine characteristics and activity status by category. These fields included animation, manga, light novels, doujinshi, plastic models, railway models, games, maid cosplay-related services (maid cafes), and virtual YouTubers (VTubers). Multiple responses were allowed.

Based on the survey results, the institute estimated the number of otaku in each field within Japan. The field with the most otaku was manga books, with approximately 6.74 million people. The second largest group was animation otaku with 6.57 million, followed by idol otaku at 4.29 million. Next were game otaku, including home console games, smartphone games, and PC games. Light novels, which have recently gained popularity in South Korea as well, ranked 7th with 1.26 million, and figures ranked 8th with 1.15 million.

The most common annual spending on otaku activities was between 10,000 and less than 50,000 yen (approximately 90,000 to 440,000 KRW). The average annual spending per person across all 30 fields was calculated at 44,154 yen (about 390,000 KRW). The field with the highest average spending was PC assembly and electronic crafts, where otaku spent an average of 105,652 yen (940,000 KRW) annually. The second highest was idol otaku, spending 81,085 yen (720,000 KRW), followed by maid and cosplay-related services at 63,533 yen (560,000 KRW) per year.

Mainichi highlighted the characteristics of idol otaku as noteworthy. When analyzing the relationship between activity time and annual spending, idol otaku were identified as the most active, spending the most time and money.

According to the survey, 25.3% of idol otaku reported 'spending 10 hours or more per week on activities and an annual expenditure of 50,000 yen or more.' About 30% said they spend over 100,000 yen (approximately 890,000 KRW) annually, a higher proportion compared to otaku in other fields. However, their average annual income did not differ from that of other fields, making idol otaku the group that spends the largest portion of their disposable income. By age group, those in their teens to 30s accounted for over 70% of the total, and by occupation, students made up the largest share at 25%.

Additionally, the otaku group with the longest average weekly activity time was found to be VTuber and game otaku. Mainichi explained, "VTuber otaku, who use virtual characters to stream videos, spent an average of 15.7 hours per week on fan activities." Following them, PC game, smartphone game, and console game otaku all ranked high among the most active groups.

The term otaku, used in Japan since the 1980s, originally meant a polite way to refer to someone else's home (お宅). In Korean, it can be translated roughly as 'gwidaek' (귀댁). It became established as a term used among enthusiasts in the same field to respectfully address each other. In Japan today, the word is used as a proper noun and is written in katakana instead of the original mixed kanji and hiragana form.