Problems with New York Times report on 2-D love in Japan
If you’re a regular reader of Japan news sites, you’ve probably encountered links to a recent story in the New York Times magazine about the “phenomenon” of otaku men who date pillows in Japan. Its author, Lisa Katayama of Tokyo Mango blog, is a writer who has built her career on reporting quirky things about Japan, and most of what she writes isn’t too bad. This article, however, had a few issues.
Those unfamiliar with the facts might think that the “thriving subculture” of ultra-otaku Katayama describes are representative of otaku culture as a whole. Journalist Francesco Fondi wrote the following in a blog post denouncing the article [I've added a link to this quote to explain the Mainichi reference]:
“Nisan is part of a thriving subculture of men and women in Japan who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters. These 2-D lovers, as they are called, are a subset of otaku culture— the obsessive fandom that has surrounded anime, manga and video games in Japan in the last decade. It’s impossible to say exactly what portion of otaku are 2-D lovers, because the distinction between the two can be blurry.”
Are you sure?! If you have been in Akiba or Toyko even once you know that this “new phenomenon” (as they call it) is fake/made up. Have you ever seen otakus dating their Moe pillows?! Me no…
This is an example of why traditional journalism is sinking and why writers outside the Otaku culture should stay out of it and do not write about it…Basically they took a classic WaiWai style “scoop” and presented it as a real and widespread social phenomenon in Japan !!
He also noted that Nisan is well-known within the otaku community as a extreme weirdo, and that some think his pillow love photos are just part of an act aimed at getting attention. He’s been around for a few years now, with some of his ridiculous photos becoming internet memes.
Perhaps the comparison to WaiWai is not out of line. When I noticed that Adamu of Mutantfrog was having trouble believing the “more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins” claim Katayama makes in her article, I was reminded of something I had read in a WaiWai column. Sure enough, some Googling turned up a WaiWai article from 2007 contained a line that stated, “almost one in four Japanese men aged 30 to 34 remains a virgin.”
Adamu did some research on the statistics Katayama uses in the article, digging through Japanese government reports to find that both the WaiWai article and Katayama’s article made the remarkably similar mistake of omitting the fact that the virginity statistics only applied to unmarried Japanese – not the entire population of adults between the age of 30 and 34. He’s written an excellent post summarizing some other problems with the article, which I urge everyone to read.
Lisa Katayama has denied that she used WaiWai as a source, but she has not shared the specific studies from which she got her statistics. She has responded to criticism through Twitter:
That may have applied to some of the early complaints about her article, but now that a well-written piece of criticism is up on the net, it might be time for Katayama to deliver a more serious response to her readers.
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Maybe Lisa Katayama was having a bad day on the journalism scene. She should do what Japanese are good at doing and confess while bowing deeply for her poor article.
Bad boy, James! You’re wagging your finger at an article for supposedly being shoddy like WaiWai, but in your quote of Francesco Fondi, you’ve changed the link on the word WaiWai to go to your blog and not BoingBoing as Francesco has it. That’s exactly what you would expect in a WaiWai column–a distortion of the facts and dishonesty.
I made the first instance of WaiWai in this post lead to a post that explains what WaiWai is and why it ceased to exist. The BoingBoing post explained nothing about WaiWai, so linking to it wouldn’t have been helpful.
I’ve edited the post to make it clear I added the link myself.
her twitter says she’s on holidays until Tuesday.
Thank you for the quote James.
Just a note: in my post I didn’t mean tha Katayama used “WaiWai” as a source (or plagiarized it) but that this “scoop” resembles WaiWai editorial style.
NYT IS SO RONERY…
It sounds like she’s been watching too much anime. There are a few I have seen of late that just RIP on otaku and 2d-love subcultures (Eden no Higashi, Chaos:Head, NHK ni youkouso…).
Most of the otaku I have met are much more sociable and relatively normal, but I probably wouldn’t meet the hardcore shut-in otaku.
Don’t pretend like you guys never thought about putting a blanket with an anime girl over a womans head while doing her, thats perfectly normal!
She posted this also on BoingBoing, and got 68 comments so far. New York Times doing the Mainichi Waiwai thingy. Glad to see people are calling her bluff.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/23/love-in-2d.html
Of course, what do you really expect form the New York Times, receding hallmark of the old-guard media? They’re often proven to be poorly researched, when not outright wrong.
Although the description you provide me of “Nisan” kinda reminds me of “Bondage Bob” of the furry community… one of the more extreme fans that the casual fans tend to avoid, and long-standing members of a fandom are continuously clashing with.
Still, you can go to Otakon and find a lot of body pillow covers…
I’ve seen one of Niisan’s pictures before. He takes those pictures to draw attention to himself and get a reaction.
I think the picture of the people on the train sitting as far away from him as they can says it all about how extreme otaku like him are really regarded in mainstream Japanese society, but of course, some people don’t realize this. -_-
You and Adamu both took apart that article well. Yet another case of fail from the NYT (I still remember that stupid “vending machine suit” story that totally ignored that it was an art piece and not a real product -_-).
Sure, after reading about cross-dressing up-skirt perv’s, towns building huge comic book robot statues, and various amazing clips like the dog with painted on eyebrows who could EVER believe that some Japanese are kooky enough to shag a cartoon pillow?
I don’t see how you can equate the influence of posts on a site called “Japan Probe” to articles put out by what is supposed to be one of the world’s most trusted newspapers.
In any case, I don’t try to make claims about dogs with eyebrows and cross-dressing weirdos representing thriving subcultures or trends in Japanese society. As Adamu wrote, “Japan is interesting enough without having to resort to exaggeration.”
VonSkippy does have a point.
There are crazy people everywhere, but Japan Probe does not present fringe freaks as the norm in Japan.
Yeah – Japan Probe posts are nothing like these sorts of reports.
And in the case of some of the weird clips like the dog with eyebrows, they came from a Japanese TV show that’s all about showing weird things.
Japan Probe: Look at this weird person/thing in Japan.
NYT: Japan is weird – look at this person/thing.
I have to admit, it’s kind of amazing to see a paper like the NYT run something like this. It’s a bit of an integrity blow. A failure to accurately list references in her article as well as then her attitude towards it afterwards just goes to show she’s still got a way to go before being a serious journalist.
For the time being, she’s just another blogger using fairly inane tripe and fluff posts who is out trying to sell her book of common tips. Overall, she doesn’t have quite the clout of other JP related bloggers, such as, while niche, Danny Choo.
Not to mention she insinuated that all otaku who engage with dakimakuras choose only “pubescent” characters. Very dangerous. Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.
“Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.”
Zing!
After reading the comments on the NYT online article, people are really buying it and shunning Japan for being backwards and perverted. Somehow I dealt with the Reuters and CNN reports, but a wacky Japan story of this caliber going into the print version of the NYT is unacceptable.
“Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.”
I wish more journalists agreed with you, but unfortunately it’s more about what sells than what’s true.
She’s not a “journalist”, she’s a “blogger” who got printed in a once reputable newspaper.
Apologies to other bloggers out there….
Oddly enough, she references herself as a journalist on her twitter.
http://twitter.com/tokyomango
Fellow journalists: Should I answer readers’ Qs about sourcing if they ask me on Twitter? Or only if the source asks?
9:04 AM Jul 23rd from Tweetie
*ahem* Yes, and I could reference myself as “Emperor of the Realm” on twitter or anywhere else, doesn’t make it so.
Yes, because I am. Kneel before my might…not be telling the truth.
Well, people can be both bloggers and journalists, like vowe.
It would be interesting to know whether she’s had any professional training in journalism.
It was never easier than today to get a book published or have an article printed in a newspaper. When you’ve seen the internals of a newspaper, you’re not surprised anymore about such articles getting published in the NYT.