From Passion to Commercialization: Formation and Growth of Space Battleship Yamato Fandom as a Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24137/raeic.13.26.1Keywords:
fandom, anime, Space Battleship Yamato, Animage, commercialization, merchandise, fanzine, fan club, Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Hideo OgatanAbstract
This is a case study on Space Battleship Yamato (Uchū senkan Yamato) focusing on roles played by fans, producer and mainstream media in establishing its popularity as well as anime as a new genre. The aim of this article is to provide an example of establishment of a genre and roles played by fans, producers and mainstream media in the process of its formation and recognition. The paper examines the process of formation of the fandom to argue that fans played central role, both actively and also as a target of business, in formation of the fandom as well as a genre called anime, which, unlike commonly considered in and outside academia, is only a small part of animation produced in Japan. By examining fan activities, relationship between fans and producers, commercialization of fans and fandoms and discourse on Yamato and its fans in mainstream media, the case study reveals that formation of a genre and its fandom, and more importantly, its growth and survival take place at intersection of the text, fan activity and their passion, the producers, commercialism, and critical discourse in media.
Downloads
References
Anno, H. (2025, July). “Yamato ga nakattara ima no nihon no amimēshon wa nai to omoun desu” (Had there not been for Yamato, I don’t think Japanese animation as it is now wouldn’t exist). Neppū, 6–22.
Arai, H. (2010). Uchūsenkan Yamato to 70 nendai nippon (Space Battleship Yamato and Japan in the 1970s). Shakai hyōron sha.
Ashbaugh, W. (2010). Contesting Traumatic War Narratives: Space Battleship Yamato And Mobile Suit Gundam. In D. Stahl & M. Williams (Eds), Imag(in)ing the war in Japan: Representing and responding to trauma in postwar literature and film (pp. 327–353). Brill.
Azuma, H. (2009). Otaku Japan’s database animals. University of Minnesota Press.
Berndt, J. (2018). Anime in Academia: Representative Object, Media Form, and Japanese Studies. Arts, 7(56), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7040056
Clements, J. (2023). Anime a History. Bloombury.
Denison, R. (2015). Anime: A Critical Introduction. Bloombury.
Galbraith, P. (2019). Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan. Duke University Press.
Hant, N. (2003). The Importance of Trivia: Ownership, Exclusion and Authority in Science Fiction Fandom. In M. Jancovich, A. L. Reboll, J. Stringer, & A. Wills (Eds), Defining Cult Movies: The Cultural Politics of Oppositional Ttaste (pp. 185–201). Manchester University Press.
Haruyasumi anime kessen (Decisive Battle of Anime for the Spring School Holidays). (1981, March 14). Yomiuri Shimbun, (Morning), 23.
Hirose, K. (1977, December). Fushigi na anime (Strange anime). Gekkan Manga Shōnen Rinji Zōkan TV Anime No Sekai (Monthly Manga Boy Special Extra Issue: The World of TV Anime), 28–42.
Itō, M., Okabe, D., & Tsuji, I. (Eds). (2012). Fandom unbound: Otaku culture in a connected world. Yale University Press.
Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. (n.d.). Sengo nihon no inobēshon 100 sen antei seichōki kateiyō bideo (kasetto) (100 innovations in postwar Japan in the steady growth period: Home VCR). Retrieved 30 March 2026, from https://koueki.jiii.or.jp/innovation100/innovation_detail.php?eid=00056&age=stable-growth&page=keii
Kam, T. H., Kamm, B.-O., & Galbraith, P. (Eds). (2017). Debating otaku in contemporary Japan: Historical perspectives and new horizons. Bloomsbury.
Kawaru terebi manga (Changing Cartton on TV). (1971, October 21). Mainichi Shimbun, (Evening), 7.
Makimura, Y., & Yamada, T. (2015). Uchū senkan Yamato o tsukutta otoko Nishizaki Yoshinobu no kyōki (The Man who Created Space Battleship Yamato: Nishizaki Yoshinobu, a Madman). Kōdansha.
Mokuji (Table of Contents). (1977, June). OUT, 1(2), Unpagenated.
Nakatani, T. (1982). Yamato fībā, yomigaeru Uchū senkan Yamato (The Yamato Fever: Space Battleship Yamato Returns). In N. Ikeda (Ed.), Anime daisuki! : Yamato kara Gandamu e (We Love Anime! : From Yamato to Gundam) (pp. 87–120). Tokuma shoten.
Nakatani, T., & Kushino, A. (1982). Uchū senkan Yamato hasshin su! (Space Battleship Yamato Lifts Off!). In N. Ikeda (Ed.), Anime daisuki! : Yamato kara Gandamu e (We Love Anime! : From Yamato to Gundam) (pp. 23–56). Tokuma shoten.
Nazo no monogatari ninki no nazo (Mysterious Popularity of a Mysterious Story). (1997, August 16). Asahi Shimbun, (Morning), 18.
Nishizawa, M. (1982, April 11). Ima, naze anime ka (Why so much fuss about anime now?). Yomiuri Shimbun, (Morning), 9.
Ogata, H. (2004). Ano hata o ute: Animēju keppūroku (Shoot that Flag!: A Record on my Bloody Battle at Animage). Ōkura Shuppan.
Ōtsuka, E. (2016). 2kai no jūnin to sono jidai: Tenkanki no sabukaruchā shishi (The residents of the second floor and the time they lived in: A personal account of history of subculture at its turning point). Sekiaisha.
Ōtsuki, T. (1996, November 29). Kotoba ni sarenu “riaru”: ‘Shinseiki evangerion’ no shinshō fūkei (‘Reality’ Turned into Words: Mental Landscape of Neon Genesis Evangelion). Mainichi Shimbun, (Evening), 8.
Retā rūmu. (1978, October). Animage, 105–109.
Sadakane, H. (2021). Sabukaruchā o shōhi suru: 20seiki nihon ni okeru manga anime no rekishishakaigaku (Consuming Subculture: A Historical Sociology on Anime and Manga in the 20th Century Japan). Tamagawa daigaku shuppanbu.
Saitō, J. (1970, September 24). Terebi manga no yukue (Where Cartoon on TV Heading to). Mainichi Shimbun, (Evening), 5.
Seimitsu na sakuga, miseba mo tasai (Elaborate animation with an extensive range of highlights). (1978, August 7). Yomiuri Shimbun, (Evening), 7.
‘Senkan Yamato’ ni yangu kanetsu (Youngsters crazed by ‘battleship Yamato’). (1977, July 18). Yomiuri Shimbun, (Evening), 4.
Seruga atsume ijō na būmu (Craze over collection of celluloid sheets). (1978, July 23). Mainichi Shimbun, 13.
Seya, H. (1978, October 27). Uchū senkan Yamato ni naita kodomo tachi (The Children who Cried Watching Space Battleship Yamato). Asahi Jānaru, 96–100.
Shiraishi, H. (1978, September 5). Naze ukeru Uchū senkan Yamato (Why is Space Battlehip Yamato popular?). Mainichi Shimbun, (Morning), 5.
Shiraki, M. (2015). Kyokō no jidai ni michisuji shimesu (Showing a Path in an Age of Fictions). In Studio Ghibli (Ed.), Jiburi no kyōkasho 10: Mononokehime (Textbook on Ghibli 10: Princess Mononoke) (pp. 176–179).
Takayama, H. (1978, October 27). 10 dai bunka to shite no o saguru (Exploring the ‘Yamato phenomenon’ as a teenage culture). Asahi Jānaru, 100–102.
Takekawa, S. (2013). Fusing nationalisms in postwar Japan: The battleship Yamato and popular culture. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studie, 12(3). https://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol12/iss3/takekawa.html
Terebi anime no ikiru michi (The Way to Live for TV Anime). (1975, April 28). Asahi Shimbun, (Morning), 5.
Thornton, S. (1995). Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Polity.
TV ANIMATION. (1975). Faotoche, 1.
Yoshida, K. (2015). (In)visible women: Gendering of popular war memories through the narrative of the battleship Yamato for six decades in postwar Japan. In M. Kim (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia (pp. 95–108). Routledge.
Yoshida, M. (1978, November). Uchū senkan Yamato no sedai (The Space Battleship Yamato generation). Bungei Shunjū, 214–219.
Yoshioka, S. (2026). Miyazaki Anime” vs. “Miyazaki manga eiga:” Discourse on Miyazaki Hayao and His Works in Anime Magazines, 1978–82. Mechademia Second Arc, 18(2).
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Shiro Yoshioka
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
