Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2012

Call them what you will—nerds, uber fans, obsessives, fanatics—but otaku and life in certain areas of the metropolis are synonymous. Former Metropolis contributor and author of The Otaku Encyclopedia, Patrick W. Galbraith, takes a groundbreaking look at the lives and homes of some of these reclusive Japanese collectors. In Otaku Spaces, available next month from Chin Music Press, Galbraith reveals the storage and stories behind their collections of blow-up dolls, comic books, military paraphernalia, anime videos, games and much more. Photographer Androniki Christodoulou brings the interviewees to life, intimately capturing their collections and lifestyles.

Quintessa

[pictured]
Obsession: Trains
Profile: Quintessa is a 24-year-old Japanese man from Osaka. He loves trains and moved to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area to work for Japan Railways after earning a degree in system engineering. He lives alone in a company-provided apartment, which is sparsely furnished. Among the few items he chose to bring with him from Osaka are model trains, a set of conductor uniforms, robot toys and a box of belts worn by various Masked Rider superheroes. In public Quintessa is extremely soft-spoken, but in private he likes to wear his belts and strike transformer poses.
“If you are playing with the toys, that is pretty much how it goes. I am not talking about a long time ago. Most of the series represented here are after 2000. I wasn’t able to buy such toys when I was watching as a kid, but I can buy them now. The old toys are very rare and valuable. I didn’t really go overboard with my hobbies until I could afford to pay for them myself. That was around the time that I was in high school and university. I was able to travel on my own and learn more about these things on the internet. The pace of my buying accelerated the more money I made and the farther I moved away from my parents.”
“With Transformer robot toys, it’s all about how interesting the transformation and shapes are. It is fun to feel the change and be surprised by it. For the Rider belts, I am attracted to the gimmick. Like, is it true to the model seen on TV?”

Nakayasu

Obsession: Anime and tokusatsu
Profile: Nakayasu, 33, is a professional collector. He buys items for his collection and sells them like a business, but also works a part-time job in a call center. He collects toys from Japanese anime and live action special effects (tokusatsu) TV shows, soundtrack CDs, printed materials and video games. At the time of this photograph, he had been collecting for eight years and amassed a collection worth about twenty thousand dollars.

Watanabe Ryosuke

Obsession: Cult groups’ paraphernalia
“I’d met Joyu [Fumihiro] even before the Aum incident [when the group released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in 1995], but I never joined them. Some goods are only sold to members of the group, but I try to buy them, which can mean paying a high price. They were curious about me and said it would be easier if I just joined. But I didn’t. I bought some of Joyu’s used clothing. This is quite an obsession.”

Aki

Obsession: “Boy’s Love” manga
“It’s part of my everyday life transforming things in my mind into characters in BL [boy’s love] stories. Normally, romantic stories are about men and women, but in BL, people don’t love each other just because they are the opposite sex. They fall in love because they see each other as individuals. Additionally, it’s a world that I can never enter. Like, it is a totally male space. I feel more [excitement] because it is forbidden.”

Nidaira Yasuhiko

Obsession: Ayanami Rei (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Profile: Nidaira Yasuhiko, 42, is an electrician from Ibaraki Prefecture. He lives with his family. On his days off he likes to take the two-hour drive with his mother and younger sister to Akihabara in a blue box van decorated in tribute of his favorite character, Ayanami Rei from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. The outside of the van has dozens of images of her, the interior is filled with character merchandise. He even has a life-sized Rei doll in the passenger seat.
“I was really into cars after high school, when I was 18 years old. I was doing auto customization, especially the audio components. I have been doing things like art trucks for about ten years now. I painted waves or bunny girls and customized camper tops. I got into anime a little over a year ago. I came to Akihabara and saw the Ayanami Rei marionette in the window of Liberty on Chuo Street. She was really cute, so I started buying figurines and character goods. I buy nothing else, just Ayanami Rei stuff.”

Ishizaki Yushin

[pictured]
Obsession: 2-D women
“With dating simulator games it is all about the diversity of characters. There is bound to be someone there for you. My favorite is this game, Parfait. [Shows computer desktop, covered in images of the main character.] This software package is called “My Wife,” and I bought it because I just love her so much. I fell hard for her, and I was in a bad place when I first played the game.”

Otaku Spaces by Patrick W. Galbraith (Chin Music Press, 240pp.) is out Mar 15. ¥1,500, available at Kinokuniya, Amazon.jp and http://store.chinmusicpress.com