.otaku
Is .otaku a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .otaku in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Interlink Systems Innovation Institute K.K. named .otaku as the replacement string of its .neko application.
A fun badge for anime and manga fans and creators, but few serious projects would make it their main web address.
anime, manga and gaming fans, fan-community sites, VTubers and small creators wanting an identity that signals fandom; some Japanese pop-culture shops and events
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet almost exactly: an insider slang word from the Japanese anime fandom itself, sold as a badge of belonging to people who already use the word about themselves, which only works if a dispersed subculture is willing to put its primary identity on a label outsiders don't parse.
A subculture's own name for itself rather than a product category, betting that cultural affiliation is a strong enough identity to anchor an address for artists, fans and scene businesses.
Also an in-group self-name that outsiders rarely use, carrying the same bet that self-identification drives registration, but the identity is diaspora/ethnic rather than an affinity subculture, so the addressable group is defined by birth rather than by taste.
What a .otaku domain is
.otaku is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Culture. Nobody has applied for .otaku in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .otaku domain extension real yet?
.otaku is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .otaku domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .otaku name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .otaku was .moe, delegated on 31 March 2014.
Is .otaku a real TLD?
Not yet. .otaku is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .otaku as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Interlink Systems Innovation Institute K.K. · first recordedICANN
“ISII2617T-T77506 · Interlink Systems Innovation Institute K.K. · replacement string of .neko”ICANN
- Band chosen: 10-29 (vanity/narrow). The string names a passionate, global subculture, so some genuine identity-driven registrations are likely from fan sites, creators and small shops, which keeps it out of the 1-9 band. It is not in the 30-49 band because, by analogy with existing anime-culture and hobby-flavoured TLDs (such as .moe, judged from general knowledge rather than any figure), demand on such strings has tended to be hobbyist, price-sensitive and secondary-identity in nature, with a thin aftermarket and little use by commercial projects as a primary address; the word also carries a mildly self-deprecating connotation in Japanese usage, which limits brand use. Applicant facts on the record: a single standard application by Interlink Systems Innovation Institute K.K., filed as a replacement string for a primary .neko application, with no contention recorded; a Japan-based applicant plausibly understands the home market, which modestly supports adoption likelihood but does not change the string's narrow ceiling. Main market uncertainty: whether creator-economy identity use (VTubers, fan artists, community hubs) grows enough to make the TLD a recognised home for that scene rather than a novelty registration, and whether Japanese registrants embrace a term that outsiders use more freely than insiders do.