Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper analyses media representations of Ikebukuro since emerging as a hub of queer media fandom in the 2000s. I argue that the region reflects the central role of queerness in influencing how fans, corporations and municipalities interact with and drive changes in the Japanese media sphere.

Paper long abstract

‘Transmitting Anime Ikebukuro to the World’ reads the headline of an October 2023 article in the Asahi Shimbun covering the opening of the city funded Anime Tokyo Station, a then newly opened anime exhibition space in Ikebukuro – a region of north-west Tokyo. Anime Tokyo Station is one example of recent efforts by the local municipality, Toshima, to transform Ikebukuro into an ‘anime city’ that can act as a mecca for fans of Japanese animation. These plans build upon the large female-dominated fandoms for queer media that gather in the region and have grown increasingly prominent in media coverage of Ikebukuro since the early 2000s. Such representations of Ikebukuro as a hub of female fandoms stand in stark contrast to longstanding media depictions of the region as a place of danger represented by black markets, gangs and adult entertainment. This paper discusses the shifting representations of Ikebukuro since the 2000s from an area known for danger to an anime city, considering what the region reveals about the role of the queerness in the Japanese media. I draw on the discourse analysis of representations of Ikebukuro in media such as newspapers and online articles; published interviews with stakeholders in the region; and a discussion of how these connect to municipal policies. From this, I highlight how Toshima and its corporate partners have co-opted queer media fandoms for regional rebranding, using them as representatives of Ikebukuro to shift representations of the region. I further suggest that Ikebukuro has also begun to drive changes in how queer media is consumed in Japan as other regions seek to draw on similar approaches to Toshima to anime fandom. More broadly, Ikebukuro is revealing of the key role that queer media plays in driving media consumption in Japan. The shifting representations of Ikebukuro since the 2000s are simply one reflection of this importance, playing an important role in side-lining uncomfortable histories previously central to narratives of the region in favour of the new ‘anime city’ branding. Far from a niche interest, queerness is central to how fans, corporations and municipalities drive changes in the Japanese media.