I personally believe why fujoshi tend to shun otaku or, not seeing them as a potential lover, is because yaoi/BL tend to be a beautification of the reality. As my knowledge goes, all of the guys in that genre, seems to be accomplished of something. Be it in looks/personality/intelligence. Thus otaku, especially, as potrayed by the media, sort of shattered their fantasy.

Regarding them being silent about their status of fujoshi, it actually goes both way with otaku. I do have once read, real veteran otaku would never states themselves as one. In fact, some would took it as insult. I guess its because of how the media started to potray otaku in the early `90s and thus creating the negative misconception around the word. Therefore, an undesirable term, due to the importance they place on their standing in the society.

I believe only, the newer generation are starting to accept the term and use it openly. Perhaps its also because of the influence from all over the world.

Regarding the bars, I do belive it could be partly influenced by the Post war era of Japan where there were many bars of women cosplaying (in US sailors uniform/geisha etc)

-I wanted to ask if there are any comparisons between the fujoshi, their stories of “boys love” and the fanbase of Takarazuka?-

Do wiki Takarazuka and read about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

They actually talked about what I called, another probable seed of yaoi/yuri/BL genre. Here I quote it “So while Takarazuka “reinforces the status quo and sublimates women’s desires through its dreamy narratives, there remains some possibility that certain spectators find it empowering simply to watch women play men.”

Few factors that pushed the existance of fujoshi would also be “Rose of versailles” and Kaoru Kurimoto’s “Shōnen Ai Mono” … and perhaps, though tad weird, would be Osamu Tezuka’s “Ribon no Kishi”

And Tezuka’s Ribon no Kishi, actually stemmed from the fact that, he, as a youth, often goes to watch Takarazuka.

(All of this seemed to be sort of factors that affect each other.)

Nevertheless, I personally think that this genre, came from the fact that the women, during that time, felt opressed by the overbearing men and the takarazuka is sort of a fantasy world where we are all equal or women had the same standing as men. Oh and perhaps why BL tend to have the man, pretty and stuff, might have originated from the creation of Takarazuka.

Another factor that I think is quite important to be noted, is that lesbianism/bisexuallity/homosexuality existed from very early japanese history. (Might had been a practice from the mainland. That I am not sure) Often discussed are times during the Bakufu-Shinsengumi era, where homosexuallity (Secretly? Needs confirmation. From my information, its an open relationship.) thrived and accepted as male bonding.

I also read, due to the fact that monk can not marry, they actually have brothel where all their workers are pretty young male who cross dressed as girl. (I need more information regarding this one, do share if you have them.)

Anyhow, the complex system of japanese history, culture and society are perhaps, the one that created this genre.

[Thank you for reading my rambling and all of this are from top of my head and personal opinion. I apologize if I had unconciously insulted anyone.]

Having reread xee’s comment: as far as I can recall, these bars were founded mainly in the early 70s and their fate was heavily intertwined with the ups and downs of the Japanese economy; the vast majority had gone bust by the 80s.

See Mark McLelland’s co-authored book “Queer Voices from Japan: First Person Narratives from Japan’s Sexual Minorities” which contains a chapter on the personal experiences of Maki, the owner of one such bar during the boom years.

Also, I believe the bars were chiefly not concentrated around Ikebukuro but were more widely distributed over the city of Tokyo – although of course likely predominantly situated in and around Kabuki-cho and Ni-chome gay district as part of the ‘water trade’ (mizu-shoubai) – so it not strictly true to say they were founded on “fujoshi turf” (sorry to quibble!).

Lastly, going on what very little information I was able to find after a cursory dig around, it seems likely that these bars (founded mainly by cross-dressing women, often ex Takarazuka otokoyaku) catered to a very different clientele than do current butler cafes, although I would not be surprised if they fulfilled a similar function for their different demographics.

For instance, the bars founded in the 70s (‘onabe bars’) originally catered to a broad audience including, but not limited to, affluent straight women and men, famous actresses, female wrestlers and lesbians and bisexual women, all of whom presumably gained something different from the experience.

On the other hand, I beleive I am not wrong in saying that the customers at modern-day butler cafes in Ikebukuro are mainly fujoshi, in particular, young, school-age fujoshi.

I too am looking forward to whatever researchers like Galbraith are about to produce on these topics. Certainly, this seems to be the next step.

Writing a recent paper that touched on these issues, I found I came up against a wall when it came to these two issues; namely, the America (or non-Japanese) vs Japanese female fans as well as the fujoshi vs Takarazuka fan comparisons. At present there seems to be a dearth of thorough academic research so I look forward to this being corrected in the near future.

Like you, I would stipulate that it be done by someone able to research fluently in both languages and with no angry lesbian-feminist (or any other) chip on his or her shoulder!

>>It’s fairly likely that there’s a girlbutler-cafe-going fujoshi-esque subset among younger Takarazuka fans

In my own personal, albeit anecdotal, experience, there certainly is! Having met a handful of such women working mainly in the butler cafes on Otomo Road, I have a hunch there are many more out there. It would be fascinating to see an investigation into the crossover between such genres of popular culture.

Thanks for a thought-provoking weekend read.

A friend of mine works on Takarazuka – I remember her saying that some ex-otokoyaku started up bars (where they continue to dress otokoyaku-style) in Ikebukuro, on fujoshi turf, which are presumably either for the fujoshi crowd, or in peaceful coexistence with. The various fanbases within Takarazuka seem to be way more diverse than I thought – certain types seem to cluster around certain otokoyaku? It’s fairly likely that there’s a girlbutler-cafe-going fujoshi-esque subset among younger Takarazuka fans.

I agree with you about Tonari no 801-chan (which even addresses the cosplay issue in volume 2 or 3 IIRC). Is admitting to enjoying BL really so socially suicidal, though? I hear this a lot but I’m not convinced, personally…

I found this article thoroughly thought provoking and useful as reference.

With the whole Otaku stereotype exploited and exaggerated by the Media, there is a growing need to sensationalize something new. And unfortunately, the Fujoshi sterotype has been the next target for commercial exploitation.

Having read the Fujoshi Kanojo (both the novels and the manga), I have to point out that Ｙ子 (the fujoshi girlfriend’s pseudonym) did cosplay within the context of the book. She did as a reward for Pentabu, to spice up their relationship. It is also to be noted that she also dressed up as a nurse etc and even made Pentabu play dress up as well.

Thus the publicity material for the Fujoshi Kanojo movie isn’t all that skewed. And I’ll hold my verdict till I’ve seen the movie.

I feel that another title Tonari no 801-chan is a better representation on fujoshi behavior. (http://berribunzstudio.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/fujoshi-kanajo/)

From my own experience, fujoshi prefer not to draw attention and rarely expose their fujioshi nature to those outside of their circles.

There is a need to maintain a ‘normal’ facade and keep the interest for hot boy-on-boy action a secret. This is partly due to a self-awareness that openly admitting to enjoying BL is social suicide.

So as members of the fujoshi culture keep mum about their interest, a general lack of understanding or misinterpretation of the culture is developed.

However, it seems that this characteristic of fujoshi is limited to the scene in Japan. On an international level, the fujoshi culture seems liberal in comparison and share similarities to the Akiba-girls as described in your article.

And poof goes my dream of finding a Japanese lover who would be 1) otaku and 2) supportive of my bisexuality.