denpa song ⚡︎⚡︎

1940s-1950s:

post-war akahon manga aimed at children, paving the way for modern manga to come thanks to creators like Osamu Tezuka who is most notably known for his works 'New Treasure Island' and later 'Astro Boy'; marking the boom of the manga industry
american occupation had a huge impact on the cartooning industry at the time

1960s:

1960s (and the 70s) marked protests by university students and lower-class migrant workers in urban areas against Vietnam War and American imperialism (youth radicalism)
the meeting "Animation Association of Three" (アニメーション三人の会) was founded by manga artist and filmmaker Kuri Youji alongside Yanagihara Ryouhei & Manabe Hiroshi; paving the way for japanese animation to come in the 70s
initial television anime boom in the 1960s
1960s marked the introduction of the mahou shoujo trope through the manga 'The Secret of Akko-chan' written & illustrated by Fujio Akatsuka in July 1962 alongside 'Sally the Witch' written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama in July 1966
'Gekkanmanga Garo' was founded in 1964; a premiere magazine for avant-garde manga; it acted as an outlet for social concern and criticism; anti-establishment themes at the height of antiwar & anti-capitalist protests/demonstration by college students
university campus riots of 1968 to 1970

1970s:

cheap and portable offset printing and photocopying facilities rapidly became available to the public
- paved the way for doujinka and their doujinshi
growth of the commercial manga industry slowly in the 1970s, and then rapidly during the 1980s
microcomputer boom had already established itself in the 70s
mass consumerism of 1970s including televised song contests gave spotlight to idol culture and thus the idol boom
radicals would shift towards manga and anime as a form of self-expression after the student movements had failed
large publishing companies ceased to systematically produce radical and stylistically innovatory manga series around 1972 because they no longer matched sufficiently closely the changed interests of their mass audiences
Space Battleship Yamato started airing in 1974; this marks a period where sci-fi, the space race & technological innovation were thriving
the 'Japanese Manga Convention' (日本漫画大会) was first held on 1972 however tensions arose in 1974 during its third iteration after it received criticism regarding the guidelines & management of the convention and it would eventually fade away in 1981 at its 10th and last iteration; the famous Comiket was formed in response to these tensions
1975 marked the establishment of the 'Manga Research Club' (漫画研究会) in numerous universities
- this marked a shift where otaku began to prioritize introspection and self-discovery over political engagement; an antithesis to the political activism
in the mid 1970s a group of female shoujo manga artists producing high quality manga emerged called the 'The Magnificent 49ers' or also '1949 Group' or 'Year 24 Group' ('nijuyon-nen gumi' / '24年組')
- contributed heavily to the development of shoujo manga
a group of young manga critics (Aniwa Jun, Harada Teruo and Yonezawa Yoshihiro) founded Comic Market (Comiket) in late 1975, giving birth to doujin culture; significant rise in the 1980s; early on it was largely dominated by women
- first instance held 32 amateur manga circles and 600 individuals
- marking the hiragana otaku, the first otaku generation
- the home video revolution arrived, with the VHS being introduced in 1976 and being dominant in the 80s as videotape technology became affordable for home use
  - making it possible to to record, play back, study and share anime which became cultivaed by the first otaku at the time
- Rumiko Takahashi's professional career began with Urusei Yatsura in 1978
- Mobile Suit Gundam began airing in 1979, marking the birth of the gundam mecha series
birth rates continued to decline
Azuma Hideo created the doujinshi manga 'Cybele' in 1979
'Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro' was released in 1979 by Hayao Miyazaki

1980s:

japanese bubble economy emerged in 1980s
lolicon/bishoujo boom took place in the early 80s
video game boom in the 80s (Space Invaders, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, ...)
the anime market was booming as studios had funding; miyazaki hayao would co-found studio ghibli in 1985
parody series became popular among doujin audience in the early 80s
Nanako SOS by Hideo Azuma starting in April 1980
moe elements gradually appeared as early as the 80s but would start to peak in the 2000s;
- followed by a smaller lolicon boom
rise of japanese BBS (bulletin board system) in the early 1980s
PC-8800 series ("Lolita: Yakyuuken", "100円ディスク", ..)
Fujitsu FM-7
the opening animation to Daicon III was released in 1981
the magazine 'Lemon People' begun in 1981 carrying lolicon images
amassing a large enough quantity of software provided a hedge against risk through economies of scale
- selling hardware while simultaneously purchasing used software from enthusiasts and reselling it under their own store brands
- rise to the business model characteristic of early computer shops
bishoujo magazine Lemon People starting in February 1982 (- Magical Princess Minky Momo (anime series, 1982)) (- Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel (anime series, 1983))
Fukagawa Street Murders (深川通り魔殺人事件) had occured
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) protocol introduced in 1983
slang 'Otaku' was spotted (though not coined) in "『おたく』の研究" (Otaku Research) in the pages of the bishoujo magazine Manga Burikko in 1983 by Akio Nakamori and thus set the naming convention; prior to that, the social demographic would refer to this folk as mania ("maniacs"), otaku-zoku, nekura-zoku ("the gloomy tribe") & even byōki (a play on the word "sick")
the opening animation to Daicon IV was released in 1983
Comitia was founded in 1984
cosplays became widespread in the 1980s and onwards
idols (like Lemon Angel, formed 1987) provided music for Cream Lemon & OVA adaptations of bishoujo manga like Outlanders (1986)
three of the biggest and most costly animated movies arrived toward the end of the 1980s: 'Wings of Honneamise' by Gainax in 1987, 'My Neighbor Totoro' by Hayao Miyazaki & 'Akira' by Otomo Katsuhiro; this would also mark a period where the anime market would implode and go into recession; studios turned towards the production of computer games, figures & idol singers
NES games (Nintendo’s Famicom); Idol Hakkenden (1989)
chiptune soundtracks (Idol Hakkenden, 1989)
- could not contain both graphic data and recorded sound due to storage limitations
Tsutomu Miyazaki incident had occured, causing a huge moral panic
- marking the katakana otaku from here on out
おたくの本 (Otaku no Hon) released in 1989, a bestselling book edited by Tomohiro Machiyama
until the late 1980s, approximately 80% of dojinshi artists attending Comic Market were female
- universities began to boast not only manga clubs, but also, girls' manga clubs for men
Osamu Tezuka passed away in 1989

1990s:

lost decades kicking in starting in the early 1990s as the asset price bubble bursted
household electronics stores were going bankrupt, and stores began to shift away from consumer electronics to personal computers alongside relocating from akihabara to the suburbs or other chain stores such as 'Yodobashi Camera', 'Sakuraya' & 'Bic Camera' around Shinjuku, Shibuya & Ikebukuro
- therefore mainstream culture would fade away from this town and otaku-loathing women would gradually shift away too; families would stop coming; specialists & hobbyists remained; usually young males interested in computers, anime & games
Moore's Law started showing its true colors in the early 1990s; key ingredients for the eroge/visual-novel boom established
katakana otaku (オタク) emerged roughly after tsutumo miyazaki incident that replaced the hiragana otaku (おたく)
anime figurines began to take off in the 90s though anime-related figures such as garage kits in the 80s and shokugan in the 60s existed prior to bishoujo figurines
the "Seinen Comics" mark (an 18+ sticker) was adopted in january 1991 to properly mark manga featuring adult content within the manga industry and all genitals were required to be blurred out
- those obscenity/waisetsu inspections expanded onto doujinshi
in february 1991 police arrested the managers of five specialist manga book shops (including the manager & 2 staff at 'Shosen Book Mark', the manager of 'Comic Takaoka' & the manager of 'Manga no Mori Shinjuku')
- two more managers were arrested in march alongside sixty seven more taken into custody for questioning#
in march, the Chiba Police went to question organizers of comiket after having been informed that there were obscene materials
- Makuhari Messe refused to host Comiket in August 1991 (they have hosted Comiket in the previous year) however the organizers of comiket managed to convince the harumi fairgrounds to host the event under the condition that all content must be screened, mosaics imposed & obscene works censored before authorities would get involved
AnimeCon '91 is the first anime event to break the 1000-person mark in the US, marking the beginnings of mass otaku & convention culture in the US; this convention was the predecessor to the famous 'Anime Expo'
Anime Expo was founded in 1992
in 1993, guidance about the appropriate contents of dojinshi were distributed at Comic Market for the first time
- prohibiting the sale of sexually explicit published materials to minors of 18 years and under despite the fact that a large proportion of amateur manga is produced and sold by minors
since 1993, 16000 separate doujin circles participated in every instance of comiket, with over 30000 applications in total (Harumi Trade Centre)
Tokyo subway sarin attack by the japanese cult 'Aum Shinrikyo' in march 1995
nerdcore techno emerged in the mid 1990s; precursor to j-core music
1995's Tokimeki Memorial & 1997's To Heart are successful examples & paved the way for bishoujo games
PC-98 games (NEC’s PC-9800 series); visual novels were being produced (more games: "Sostugyou ~Graduation~")
- Shizuku (Leaf)
  - followed by "big three" denpa games (3大電波ゲーム): Tsui no Sora, Sayonara Wo Oshiete, Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou
    - followed by Saya no Uta, Chaos;Head, Subarashiki Hibi, Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi
    - (CROSS†CHANNEL, SSSS.Gridman)
    - popular denpa vn authors SCA-DI & Tanaka Romeo
rise of moe songs (akiba-idol, theme songs, eroge songs) in the mid 1990s (inspired by idol culture, mahou shoujo genre, bishoujo & internet technology)
Neon Genesis Evangelion had aired starting in 1995, inspiring this period nicknamed by 'Evangelion Boom' & kicking off the anime bubble
- inspiring "Serial Experiments Lain", "Paranoia Agent", "Perfect Blue"
- starting the real akiba transformation, causing shops selling figurines and doujinshi to boom
- evangelion eventually ran out of funds towards the end of the 26-episode run, with the last two episodes being filled by "The End of Evangelion" with the last two episodes serving as an alternate ending
anime became increasingly popular overseas in the mid-late 90s, eventually leading to the government taking notice & rolling out the 'Cool Japan' initiative in the upcoming decade
the 'Sakakibara' incident had occured in 1997, caused by a juvenile murderer whose name cannot be released but is often called "Shonen A."; he murdered a ten year old girl & beheaded an eleven year old boy, leaving the mutilated head in front of his school; the press called him a hikikomori; parallels were made to other "otaku" criminals such as miyazaki tsutomu and aum shinrikyo once they discovred ero-manga, anime & pornography in his room
Haruko Momoi, one of the earliest akiba-idols, debuted with her song 'GURA GURA', recorded in the center of akihabara in 1997
figure maker Kaiyodo moved from Shibuya to Akihabara, and other otaku-oriented stores followed
Beatmania released in December 1997, sparking the boom of music games in 1998
Dance Dance Revolution released in in 1998, finding huge success outside of japan as well
Windows PC (x86, Windows 95/98/2000)
- introducing bishoujo games
a bombing incident occured at Comiket 54 in 1998 in response to the hatred for otaku
mega-BBS 2channel (2ch) launched 30 May 1999
Japan Expo first took place in Paris, France in 1999
in 1999, Japan ruled out the "Act on Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children" which was Japan's first dedicated child pornography law which criminalized the production, distribution, prostitution, sale, import & export of child pornography. the possession was also criminalized BUT only if it were for the purpose of distribution; simple possession for one's own consumption (personal use) was not yet illegal
- prior to this new law, there was no dedicated child pornography law and japan primarily relied on Article 175 of the Japanese Penal Code which was also known as the obscenity law or more specifically 'Waisetsu Butsu Hanpu To' where obscenity translates to 'waisetsu'
- under this new law, lolicon remained legal as this act was to target material involving real child victims

2000s:

early 2000s saw the rise of maid cafés across akihabara and elsewhere as the maid boom was in full swing
OS-tan as a branch of moe anthropomorphism in the 2000s to accommodate depiction operating systems as moe characters
Ukagaka emerged alongside OS-tan
"Otaku: Japan's Database Animals" published in 2001
StepMania was initially released in 2001 as an open source clone of Dance Dance Revolution
the Shobunkan Incident (松文館事件) occured in 2002 which was a major japanese waisetsu/obscenity case involving an adult manga called 'Misshitsu' & published by the erotic manga publisher 'Shobunkan'
- it became the first manga to become litigated through the court system & ultimately reach the supreme court
- the incident occured because a father reportedly found a copy of Misshitsu in the son's room & forwarded a complaint
- after the investigtion, the police argued the depictions of genitalia and sexual intercourse were too explicit & that the censorship masking was too insufficient
- the artist 'Yūji Suwa', the Shobunkan president 'Motonori Kishi' & the editor 'Kōichi Takada' were all arrested for distributing obscene material under Article 175 of Japan's Penal Code
Guidebook of funny dempa song released in the jp community in 2003, making denpa song relevant across jp & western BBSes including 2ch, world2ch, 4-ch and more
the "Act on Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children" law was amended (modified) and thus saw partial revision in 2004
- expanding the range of child pornography related acts such as child prostitution, retaining electromagnetic records and other methods (CDs, DVDs, computer files, hard drives, other digital storage media); prior to this revision it had mostly included media like photographs & videotapes
- the previous offenses were broadened to strenghten the prosecutors' ability to pursue those involved in the production and thus was aimed at suppliers and traffickers
- the act was renamed to "Partially Revised Act on Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children"
- lolicon continues to remain legal
Vocaloid was released in January 15, 2004
Densha Otoko published October 22, 2004, alongside its TV drama in 2005
lolicore emerged in the mid 2000s which is more or less the western equivalent & extension of nerdcore techno that incorporates western bulletin board culture, moe/lolicon imagery, weeaboo culture mimicking otaku influence overseas & offensive language intended to gatekeep itself
Denpa Otoko (電波男) (in responde to Densha Otoko) published in May 2005
A study by Nomura Research Institute in 2005 evaluated and estimated that the otaku market in japan at the time was worth 411 billion yen annually, with an estimated 1.72 million otaku involved
itasha boom occured in the 2000s, with the earliest known report of an itasha-decorated car being displayed in Comiket 68
- itansha, itachari & itabags soon followed up
Sakuragawa Himeko made her debut as an akiba-idol in August 2005 in a nekomimi maid outfit
it is said that Akihabara truly peaked in the mid 2000s
nico nico douga was founded in 2006
osu! was released on September 2007
the International Manga Award (Kokusaimangashou) was established in 2007 by special order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Aso Taro to push the image of 'Cool Japan'
Anime Festival Asia first emerged in 2008, bringing southeast asia together to celebrate japanese pop culture in singapore; it has been a regular fixture ever since
utaite have gradually popped up in the late 2000s in relation to nico nico douga
a particular instance of an otaku flashmob took place in the streets of akihabara in 2007 that is most notably known because the police stopped the flashmob right early during the chorus of the song 'Hare Hare Yukai'; it is the ending theme song of 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' and this flashmob instance has been documented on youtube
the 'Sexy Idol' incident had occured on April 21, 2008 where Sawamoto Asuka would flash her panties in public on the streets of akiba, leading to new regulations for public display (e.g. affecting akiba/street idols performing on the streets)
Akihabara incident in June 8, 2008 which was caused by Kato Tomohiro who rented a truck and drove into & stabbed a crowd of visitors walking on Chuo-dori street in Akihabara
- resulting in Chuo-dori being opened to traffic on sundays which would kill public activity as the spot served as a gathering for otaku
- since this event, people would be arrested for posting threatening notices on BBS sites such as 2ch
  - a similar threat, moreso a bomb threat, was announced on 2ch for the summer Comiket in 2008 though the culprit was arrested upon entry
オタクはすでに死んでいる (Otaku wa sudeni shindeiru) released in 2008 by Toshio Okada & it roughly translates to 'You Otaku Are Already Dead'; a manifesto examining the development of otaku & criticizing the modern otaku at that
Dokomi took place for the first time in 2009, initially with ~1800 visitors; at the time, Japan Expo in France was still the largest event devoted to anime, manga & otaku culture in europe (just for comparison; in 2026, dokomi has reached ~230000 visitors and has topped off Japan Expo around post-covid)

2010s:

'Cool Japan' initiative was launched in the 2010s to turn the spot into a tourist destination for pop culture but the initiative was proposed at least a decade prior
the ASMR format gradually emerged in the 2010s and is also found among the otaku/vtuber community prior to the establishment of the vtuber industry
Gamergate occured in 2014 and shaped the landscape of social media & culture across the internet
in 2014, the "Act on Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children" saw yet another revision but this time it was a major one
- simple "voluntary possession" combined with the "purpose of satisfying one's own sexual curiosity" now became illegal
- the maximum penalty is up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to one million yen
- the previous "a pose of a child that arouses sexual desire" category has been revised to narrow down and clarify the sexual body parts:
  - genital organs, surrounding areas, buttocks or breasts to be exhibited or emphasized in a sexually arousing manner
- production of child pornography by secretly photographing or recording a child without their knowledge was also criminalized
- it was renamed to "Act on Regulation and Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children"
- lolicon continues to remain legal
mid-late 2010s introduces virtual youtubers and therefore gives passage to youtube outpacing nico nico douga and the new 'vtuber agency' model emerges

Timeline