“Walkman”, “Karaoke”, “Anime”, and “Manga”... There are words exported from Japanese entertainment culture to the rest of the world. Of course, the word "Otaku" is recognized outside of Japan as a word for fans of Japanese Anime and Manga.
 
However in Japan, the meaning of "Otaku" is "people who get deeply into a kitschy hobby." It's quite different from simply being a "fan". More often, many Japanese people think a REAL otaku is a guy who plays simulation love games of featuring anime-looking character. "Otaku" has a feeling of "can't be so proud to have this kind of hobby."

And now a new word has emerged from otaku culture. It is called "Moe."

To help you understand what it means, let me translate the brilliant explanation from "Learning from Akihabara: The Birth of a Personaopolis" by architectural
theorist Kaichiro Morikawa.

"What do you think of when you hear the word 'moe?'
You could split a group of people under thirty's in half based on their answer to this question. The first group are the people who think of plants sprouting the conventional meaning of the word. These are the people who don't know the new meaning of 'moe.' Then there are those who think of an anime or game character. They are the second group, and very roughly speaking, they are otaku or people who have a relation to otaku-like pursuits. Most people in the first group have no idea 'moe' has gained a new otaku-nuanced meaning."

"The new meaning of 'moe' is entirely caught up in issues surrounding hobbies and taste. Specifically, 'moe' means be attracted to a specific character or its specific partial element and to have a favor feeling toward it. 'Moe' suggests the condition of being infatuated with one character or thing and implies an image of someone burning with desire.

"The picture becomes clearer when we hear the frequent use of 'moe' referring to specific elements or characteristics, such as 'weak girl moe,' 'young lady moe,' and 'glasses moe.' The meaning of 'glasses moe' refers to a taste that is taken with a character who wears glasses; furthermore, this taste fetishizes the feature itself of glasses-wearing. In this case, glasses are the 'moe' element."


Also, here is a note written by Tomohiro Machiyama. (Although, please keep in mind that this is from a frank conversation, and is not his official statement on "moe.")

"In the 80's I knew everything about 'otaku' since I, myself, was the one. However, this case about 'moe' is not the same. First, this word started to appear after I moved to the USA, so I can't sense the situation clearly. Also, due to my age, I can only be attracted to woman over 30 and see women under 20 as daughters. When I told this to my friend Yanashita, he told me 'That's called "Moe", when you feel girl a girl is adorable without having sexual desire.'
What? Is that true?!. Anyway, I have to study more about this 'moe.' "

Being Otaku is a very indoor hobby and usually it happens in your room by yourself (reading manga, watching anime, playing games). You don't need someone else. In another sense, it's similar to masturbation. Also Japan prefers visuals instead of written words. Japanese prefer the essence of something rather than a logical explanation.
There are many fuuzoku (legal sex industry) in Japan, that offer paying customers everything from "peeping" "touch only" "cosplay" and so on.
Sure enough, most people enjoy actual sex. However, the sex industry in Japan can successfully run businesses to offer mental sexual stimulation.

This is similar to forms of sexual fetishism such as S&M and Bondage. The purpose of real fetishism is not intercourse. They are the for the sake of foreplay and mental orgasm.

The sex industry comparison is just an example to introduce the fetish side of the "moe" feeling. However then, why do people enjoy Anime look character to be even falling in love?

Please imagine the feeling when you first liked somebody. The passion pops up inside of your brain and heart. This is not logical and unexplainable. And "moe" is a feeling very similar to this specific moment.

Otaku culture, which produced the word "moe" entertains this type of special intangible feeling, such as anime, dojinshi and love simulation games.

Actually, this "moe" feeling you can find in pop culture is nothing new. Every teenager experiences it. For boys it was becoming an idol fan, while the girls screamed fir rock and roll stars. You fantasize about the star, longing for a person whom you can never touch or have an actual conversation with.

Another explanation about "moe" is that girls have already been using this language for a long time, like the word "Kawaii! (cute!)". Girls love cute things. And now, for the first time, boys have found the feeling and a way to express it. This explains clearly what Yanashita said. "Moe" doesn't always points to a sexual object and includes the feeling of "how cute!!"

Just as platonic love requires a kind of mental satisfaction, anime and manga fits right in with the inner world of virtual love.

Usually when you become an adult, you become busy and too logical to surrender to adolescent fantasy. However, otaku continues to have (and wanting to have) "moe" no matter how old they become.

Today, because of technological development, 2-D characters started to react more complex and show unique behavior. Therefore, Gal-Ge (love simulation games) have had a huge boom among many otaku. Then due to the necessity of expressing their joy, "moe" has become a common word.

-J.Tack 

Dengeki MOEOH
A monthly magazine of MOE world from Media Works