is a district of Tokyo located about five minutes away from Tokyo Station. Over the

是一個距離東京車站五分鐘遠的區域

past 140 years Akihabara has developed into a nexus of electronic, computer, anime, games

在過去140年，秋葉原已經發展成電器、電腦、動畫、遊戲，

and otaku culture, but if you were to travel back about 100 years in Akihabara's history,

以及御宅族文化的核心，但是如果回到100年前的秋葉原，

you're more likely to find fruits and vegetables than anything else as Akihabara was, for several decades, a produce market.

你會發現秋葉原是一個農產品市場，到處都在賣水果蔬菜，持續好幾十年。

Following a devastating fire in 1869, the 30,000 square meters of what would later become

在1869年發生了一場可怕的火災後，3萬平方公尺的區域被清空

Akihabara was cleared in an effort to prevent future fires from reaching the inner part of the city.

以避免火災影響到更裡面的都市，這區域就是現今的秋葉原

At that time, it was actually pretty common for Edo, or modern day Tokyo,

在當時的江戶，也就是現今的東京，

to completely be leveled by fire about once every 20-25 years.

大約每20~25年就被大火夷為平地一次。

Following the fire, the 'Chinka-sha' shrine was constructed on the cleared site and was wholeheartedly

在那場大火之後，被夷平的地方蓋了一座鎮火神社，並且大受當地居民的喜愛，

embraced by the local citizens, who got it completely wrong! Many residents of Downtown Tokyo

但是居民們卻搞錯方向了! 大多數的東京居民

completely misunderstood the shrine and thought it enshrined the most popular fire-controlling deity

完全誤解鎮火神社，並且認為這座神社祭祀著當時最有名的火災預防神祇

at the time, Akiba or Akiha. They even went a step further and decided to call the land around

"秋葉"。他們甚至決定要稱圍繞著神社的區域為

the shrine 'Akiba ga Hara' or 'Square of Akiba'. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

'秋葉的原' 或 '秋葉區'。 我想你知道這是怎麼回事了。

It wasn't until post-World War II however, that Akihabara began to take the form it resembles

然而直到第二次世界大戰後，秋葉原才開始變成現在的模樣

today. Centered around the first school of electrical manufacturing, now the Tokyo Denki

圍繞著第一所電器製造學校，也就是現今的東京電機大學，

University, black market vacuum tubes and radio related electronic shops began to sprout up.

黑市、真空管以及收音機相關的電器商店開始林立。

This continued until computers and console gaming started to enter mainstream culture

這些一直到電腦和遊戲機開始變成主流文化

with devices like the 'famikon' driving the sales of videogames. The subsequent Windows

像是機器'famikon'驅動著電視遊戲的銷售。隨後在1994年，個人電腦的出現

PC boom in 1994 cemented Akihabara's reputation as a technological mecca as vendors began

鞏固了秋葉原的名聲，包含技術的聖地以及廠商開始

carrying computer related products.

販售電腦相關產品。

But don't think the evolution ends there! With computer sales slowing somewhat in the

但不要以為發展到此為止! 隨著過去十年電腦銷售的趨緩，

past decade, Akihabara has shifted it's focus toward 'otaku' subculture and the transition

秋葉原已逐漸將重心無縫接軌的放在 '御宅族' 子文化上了。

has been seamless.

If you were to translated the modern usage of the word 'otaku' into English, you'd probably

若你想將'御宅族'翻譯成英文的話，

end up with 'geek' or 'nerd'. That being said, this word applies to anyone who is a fan of

意思最貼近的字就是'geek'或者'nerd'。話雖如此，"御宅族"可以適用於任何人包含

a particular theme, hobby, topic or form of entertainment. While there are connotations

特定主題、嗜好、話題以及娛樂形式的愛好者。雖然

of social awkwardness and a somewhat obsessive nature, the word has started to be reclaimed

有對社交的羞澀以及對某事物狂熱的涵義，這個詞已經開始被御宅族們重新定義

by the 'otaku' population as a positive descriptor.

為正面的詞彙!

The word 'otaku' as it's used in Japanese subculture comes from the Japanese word of

"御宅族"這個日本子文化的字，來自於相同發音的日文字-

the same pronunciation that is the honorific term for a person's house but is used metaphorically

"你/妳家"的敬語說法，也被隱喻為

as a second-person pronoun meaning 'you'. Although there is a bit of dispute regarding

第二人稱的代名詞"你/妳"。儘管有一些關於"御宅族"這個詞起源的爭議，

the origin of the word, most attribute it Akio Nakamori's series titled 'An Investigation

最推波助瀾的就是中森明夫的系列作 - "御宅族的研究"

of Otaku' printed in the lolicon magazing Manga Burikko in 1983.

被出版在1983年的蘿莉控雜誌 Manga Burikko。

The terms was used to describe fans who inappropriately used the word 'otaku' well past

這個詞常常用來形容那些關係密切卻不當使用"御宅族(敬語)"的粉絲，

the point in their relationship in which they would have been OK to use a more casual word.

他們甚至可以對彼此使用更隨便的一個字詞。

The word continued to gain popularity but was catapulted into the mainstream with the

"御宅族"慢慢地提升知名度，卻因為謀殺幼童案-宮崎勤事件而躍為主流廣為人知，

murder trial of Tsutomu Miyazaki who was branded 'The Otaku Murderer' after being convicted

而宮崎勤在多樁恐怖殺人案被定罪後，也被貼標籤為"御宅族兇手"。

in a series of gruesome deaths. While this notorious murderer cast the title in a negative

儘管這個知名的兇手導致社會對御宅族負面的觀感，

light, as enthusiasts around the world have begun to embrace the word, 'otaku' has become

世界各地的御宅族狂熱者仍然喜愛著這個用詞，

somewhat more positively received in recent years.

"御宅族"在最近幾年也漸漸被良性地接受了。

Whether you're into anime, manga, video games, computers, trains, characters, maid cafes,

不管你是熱愛動畫、漫畫、電視遊戲、電腦、火車、演員、女僕咖啡廳、

music idols, cooking, insects, pop stars, etc... it's probably safe to call yourself

音樂偶像、烹飪、昆蟲、流行音樂明星等等，你都可以稱自己為"御宅族"。

an 'otaku'. Wear your badge of 'otakuness' with pride!

驕傲地戴著你的"御宅族"標籤吧!

Thanks for watching this episode of The Japan Show, if you have any questions or suggestions

感謝觀看這一期的The Japan Show，若你有任何問題或對未來主題的建議，

for future topics, be sure to leave a comment below, and if you want to see more episodes

請務必在下方留下您的評論! 如果你想看更多類似這樣的故事，

like this one, head over to youtube.com/watchthejapanshow and subscribe!

請前往 youtube.com/watchthejapanshow 並訂閱吧!