Like with any language, the meanings of certain Japanese words change over time. Take the word “otaku,” which is originally a polite way of saying “you.” It’s so polite that overusing it can make a person sound a little wishy-washy, giving the impression that he’s not really comfortable with interpersonal relationships in general. Of course, if someone isn’t spending his time interacting with other people, then what does he fill his days with? Presumably, his solitary, or at least niche, hobbies such as watching anime. And so otaku picked up a second meaning of “obsessive nerd.” That was 30 years ago though, so a recent survey sought to answer this question: What do Japanese people imagine when they hear “otaku?”

日语同其他语言一样，日语里一些词汇的含义也会随着时代的变化而变化。以“御宅”（otaku）这个词为例，这个词原本在日语中是‘你’的礼貌说法。不过‘御宅’这个词过于谦敬以至于使用次数太多会给人一种轻浮不善交际的感觉。当然，如果有人每天都不和别人打交道，那么他拿什么来打发时间呢？也许只能是他的兴趣爱好了吧，就比如说看动漫。所以‘御宅’这个词又有了第二个意思，它指的就是那些宅人们。御宅这个词在日本已经有了30多年的历史了。最近的一个调查就研究了如下课题：“日本人听到‘御宅’的时候，会想到什么”。

15. Pants with a lot of pockets – 4.8 percent
15. 穿有许多口袋的裤子 4.8％

We start off with a bit of a surprise, as cargo pants have become pretty ubiquitous in Japan. Still, when you’re lugging around at least one handheld video game system, a cutting edge smartphone, and a fistful of 100-yen coins to drop at the arcade or bank of anime trinket vending machines, it’s nice to have enough pockets to keep everything separated.
这种多袋裤在日本还是很常见的，所以它能榜上有名着实让人有点吃惊。不过当你要左手拿一个游戏机，右手拿一个高端智能机，还要预留一堆硬币用于在动漫饰品贩卖机上购买东西的时候，你就会发现多一些兜将物品分开装真是极好的。

14. A recent jump in stylishness – 6 percent
14. 流行人士 6％

As previously niche hobbies like anime and video games move more and more into the mainstream, the odds of a hot guy or cute girl also being an otaku are climbing higher and higher, with some even arguing they make ideal dating partners.
在日本一些诸如看动漫，玩电子游戏等爱好逐渐成为主流，一个走在街上的帅哥或者是美女很可能就是御宅族，甚至有人觉得他们就是理想的约会对象。

13. Paper shopping bags – 13.7 percent
13. 纸袋 13.7％

Japanese supermarkets only use plastic bags, but anime shops regularly place customers’ purchases in long bags made of thick paper, so that their goodies don’t get bent or scratched on the way home.
日本超市只为客户提供塑料袋，但是动漫店一般都会把顾客买的商品放在厚厚的纸袋里，这样就能确保这些商品在回家的路上不被划伤弄弯。

12. Plaid shirts – 13.9 percent
12. 格子衫 13.9％

Combine one with a pair of multi-pocket pants for double otaku-ness
通常御宅族会将格子衫与多袋裤搭配在一起穿。

11. Bandanas – 14.5 percent
11. 头巾 14.5％

When you spend so much time wrapped up in your hobbies, it’s hard to find the time to go for a haircut, so a bandana or headband to keep your bangs out of your eyes is essential. Extra points if it’s emblazoned with the nickname of your favorite idol singer or voice actress.
当你在你的爱好中投入了全部的时间和精力，你就会发现找个时间去剪头实在有些困难。所以这个时候头巾的重要性就体现出来了，当然，如果这个头巾印有你最喜欢的偶像歌手或者是声优的小名就更好了。

10. An increasing number of girls – 18.9 percent
10. 越来越女性化 18.9％

For most of the '80s and '90s, the otaku world was largely a boys’ club, but the increasing number of anime and video game titles designed for girls, spurred on by their willingness to pay for them, means you’re more likely than ever to find female otaku.
对许多80后90后的人来说，御宅族就是男人的天下，但现在越来越多的动漫和电玩都设计成女性向的，这样可以拉动女性人群的消费能力，这就意味着你将会在日本发现更多的宅女。

9. Backpacks – 23.5 percent
9. 背包 23.5％

Because you’ve only got two hands, which means there’s a limit to how many paper bags of gear you can hold.
生来两只手，能力有限提不走。

8. Someone who likes video games – 37.8 percent
8. 喜欢玩电玩的人 37.8％

While more and more cross-promotion and merchandising is blurring the line between video game, manga, and anime series, games remain the least likely of the three to be associated with the word “otaku.”
现在越来越多的商品没有明显的定位特征，一个人物原型可以即在游戏领域上发售，也可以拍成动漫在动漫领域上发售，还可以画成漫画在漫画领域上出售。在这三项当中游戏和御宅关系最疏远。

7. Someone who likes manga – 38.8 percent
7. 喜欢漫画的人 38.8％

Manga just barely hangs onto the second-place spot among the big three otaku hobbies.
漫画在御宅族3大爱好中排名第二。

6. They’re entering their golden age – 41.5 percent
6. 年轻气盛 41.5％

At least some people don’t think being an otaku is anything to be ashamed of.
至少有人不觉得作为一名御宅很羞愧。

5. Akihabara / Akiba – 45.6 percent
5. 秋叶原 45.6％

Akihabara remains the worldwide mecca for all things anime, video game, and maid-related. The neighborhood has gone along wholeheartedly with the perception, and even the nickname Akiba, which started out as strictly a part of otaku parlance, is now widely understood in Japan.
秋叶原可是世界宅男的圣地，整片区域都弥漫着宅文化。以前Akiba(即秋叶原的小名，秋叶原读作akihabara)是御宅族们的内部叫法，现在这个词几乎日本人都知道。

4. Someone with his or her own world – 46.8 percent
4. 活在自己的世界中 46.8％

Whether it’s for better (a well of passion they can go to at any time) or for worse (a delusional refusal to face reality), there’s no denying that otaku are well-versed in escapism.
不论是好(他们任何时候都有极高的热情)还是坏(拒绝面对现实)，毫无疑问宅男都很擅长逃避现实生活。

3. Someone who knows a lot about one thing – 47.9 percent
3. 在某一领域了解很多的人 47.9％

A lot of the things that otaku get so wrapped up in are actually pretty prevalent in society. In Japan, almost everyone rides a train or uses a computer daily, and you can’t watch TV or go into any shopping center without hearing at least a few songs from the most popular idol groups. What makes someone an otaku, though, is a time and energy commitment strong enough to seek out all there is to know about the subject.
许多宅男们都酷爱当今社会的流行元素。在日本，几乎所有人每天都会使用电脑，在没有看到由人气偶像组合代言这个物品之前，你是不会下手去购买的。到底什么是御宅精神？就是在一个领域投入巨大精力和时间渴望了解到全部信息的一种精神。

2. Someone who likes anime – 50.4 percent
2. 喜欢动漫的人 50.4％

This one was bound to come up eventually. Survey participants were far more likely to think of an anime lover than a manga reader or gamer when picturing an otaku in their mind’s eye.
该来的还是会来。在受试者脑海中，御宅更像动漫爱好者，而不是漫画爱好者或者是游戏爱好者。

1. Someone obsessed with his or her hobby – 61.9 percent
1. 沉迷于自己的爱好 61.9％

The top response, though, showed that the most common image of an otaku had less to do with liking something, but more to do with not liking anything else. In the end, it doesn’t seem to matter if you’ve got a bookshelf of manga or line up overnight when a new video game console gets released, as long as those aren’t the only things that get you fired up.
排名第一的回答显示了：宅男形象的产生不是因为喜爱特定的一件事，而恰恰是因为除了这一件事之外对其他的事毫无感觉。你有一书柜的漫画，或者是玩一宿刚发售的游戏都不要紧，只是别只做这两件事就好。

So even if you’d rather not be called an otaku, if you feel like filling up your DVR with the newest anime or your SD card with photos of rare trains, go right ahead. Just make sure those aren’t the only things filling your calendar.
如果你的真的很喜欢宅文化，但却不想被称为御宅族，那就在保持宅爱好的基础上多涉猎一些别的项目吧。