The Old School Otaku Lounge

I was given my first anime related goods by my Uncle, who had visited Japan after the War, and maintained friendly relations with his contacts there. As I grew older in the 80s, and became more interested in gaming/modeling, I hit the Macross/Robotech bandwagon with the help of some friends in Sheffield (including one of the few shops in the UK to stock any material in the pre-Akira days).

It was at that shop - The Sheffield Space Centre - that we first came into contact with Helen McCarthy and her band of reprobates in 1990.

One thing leads to another and before we know what we are doing, Animeday (first in a short series of four anime/manga conventions) was put together in 1991 - at which series I sat as Secretary, Chair, Dogsbody and Pariah respectively.

By 1994, I was at Uni, on a Japanese studies gig, which led - via a stint on JET - in 1999 enrolling on doctoral course on Japanese theatre.

Since 2007, I have been researching in Japan, focusing on both the traditional stage and the pop culture World, with the assistance of folks such as Chiba Tetsuya, Monkey Punch and Ikehara Yukio.

I am currently head of Japanese Studies at Akita International University.

Welcome to the forum, Robodaz! Great to have you here! I take it you're originally from the UK? We seem to be getting quite a few new UK members! I look forward to seeing what you have to offer us in ways of non-American fandom knowledge!

Welcome! There are a few other members living in Japan, including myself.

Hiya Robodaz Great to see you here!

Welcome to the Lounge.

There are also many of us who visit Japan. Me and a friend will be there in September. Tokyo area.

I still have some promo materials for the Sheffield Space Center and Anime Days I haven't scanned and posted yet.

Welcome to the board!

Good to see where your experiences led.

Aye, it is surprising to see how far things have gone - almost without plan, often in spite of my actions rather than because of them. Swept on, as a mote in the gale to ends of which I could not conceive, eh?

Sad to say I have nothing remaining of the AD days. Not a shred....

Welcome!

こちらの老人ホームへようこそ！

Welcome to the board -- I'm curious -- what is the focus of the "Japanese Studies" department within your university? And what is your department composition like in terms of students?

We've got four main divisions - sociological, anthropological, economic and historical. However, that is more to do with the faculty which I inherited (and the courses they have at their disposal) at the formation of the department rather than a formal decision. Some courses (especially the cultural) are aimed more at short-stay international students (such as Animania, Japanese theatre, Tohoku Culture, etc.) whilst other are aimed at degree seekers (mainly the theoretical) - however, we try to keep things as open as possible.