For better or for worse, some of contemporary Japan's most recognizable cultural products come from the ever-ebullient world of pop culture. If this country's heroes in the 1950s and '60s were such intellectuals as film director Akira Kurosawa and author Yukio Mishima, today Japan's calling cards — especially among younger fans — are manga and anime.
Since Frederik L. Schodt first tackled the subject with his seminal "Manga! Manga!" in 1983, scores of writers have tried to explain the intricacies of Japanese comics and animation to foreign fans. Most recently, American Patrick W. Galbraith has explored the complex mass of ideas, people and trends variously connected to the otaku universe. The 30-year-old graduate from the University of Tokyo has a Ph.D. in information studies, and is currently enrolled at Duke University, where he is majoring in anthropology.
The author of "Otaku Encyclopedia," published in 2009, gave an interview at Granvania, a maid cafe near JR Akihabara Station in Tokyo. "I like this place because from the window seats I can check all the action outside," he says.