The Obsessed

What we talk about when we talk about Japan? As one of the main cultural output country in today’s world, it isn’t really hard to spot bits of Japanese culture in our quotidian life, whether traditional or modern. While traditional Japanese culture is deemed as profound and sophisticated, Japanese pop culture and its spinoffs are often the most playful, diverse, and probably, ubiquitous ones.

Aside from a variety of mainstream pop culture, the subculture that ramifies under also has an impactful presence; amongst them are the anime, manga and games. Often regarded as esoteric from outsiders, the revenue that these “Nijigen” (Two-dimension in Japanese, used to describe the virtual world in anime, manga and games) works generate is substantial. The term Otaku is coined accordingly to describe the die-hard fanatics with interests in anime and manga. Their passion is all-consuming, whether it be cosplay, Lolita, gothic or maid café, and their obsessions towards it is beyond fathomable.

Mesmerized by this distinctive social phenomenon, Australian photographer Irwin Wong turned his insightful observation on it into his latest publication. Living in Japan for more than 15 years, Irwin documented these eerie yet intriguing moments through his lens and compiled them to his new book “The Obsessed”. Accompany with on-the-ground interviews and cultural essays, “The Obsessed”, created in collaboration with gestalten, showcases a kaleidoscope of scenes and individuals drawn from Japan’s many countercultural group, pinpointing their place within Japanese society and global popular culture. As a thorough discovery unfolds, Irwin invites us to an in-depth gaze into the essence of these Japanese subcultures, and the lives of people who dedicate their passion and obsession to them.