"Dōjinshi" and the Comic Market

What is the Comic Market? (1/4)
One of the largest in the world

Comic Market (called Comiket or Comike for short) is an exhibition and marketplace for manga, anime, game, and other related genres of dōjinshi, normally held twice a year in summer and winter over three days using the entire Tokyo Big Sight exhibition complex. Each Comiket features 35,000 circles (publishing groups), where each circle exhibits for only one day. The cumulative attendance number is just over half a million people at every Comiket. The Comic Market Committee is composed of over 3,000 volunteer staff who run the event. About 10 million dōjinshi created by circles are brought in, of which about eight million are distributed through the event, making it one of the world’s largest marketplaces for dōjinshi, as well as an event for manga, anime, and games.

What is the Comic Market? (3/4)
An individual is also a “circle”

A “circle” is a group of people formed to produce and publish a dōjinshi. Even while individuals doing self-publishing on their own has become the norm, the term “circle” continues to be used as a unit for these activities. At typical dōjinshi conventions, including Comiket, each circle is allotted half a conference desk (90 cm wide by 45 cm deep) and one or two chairs. Circles set up various decorative displays to exhibit and distribute their dōjinshi, which are fruits of their labor in self-expression.

Through the cost of exhibiting varies by difference marketplaces, it usually falls in the range of several to 10,000 yen per space. Factoring in other expenses such as dōjinshi printing costs and transportation fees, about 70 percent of participating circles end up at a deficit after the event. Despite this, many are drawn to dōjinshi because there is a certain magic involved in the process of self-publishing a book and distributing it while communicating directly with like-minded people. About 60 to 70 percent of the circles participating Comiket are comprised of women.

The history of “dōjinshi” and Comiket (1/3)
Early days amid the manga and anime boom (late 1960s to early 1980s)

The Comic Market was started when, out of dissatisfaction with the status quo, a group of people who disagreed with the Japan Manga Convention came together to start their own dōjinshi convention in December 1975. At that time, exchange between dōjin (same-interest) circles across Japan had been largely promoted by the “Grand Companion” reader contribution section of the manga magazine COM, which was published regularly from 1967 to 1971, and sales of fanzines (dōjinshi) were gaining in popularity at the Japan Manga Convention, which began in 1972.

As the mini-comic magazine boom of the early 1970s was also behind this trend, it can be said that young people were choosing dōjinshi as a medium for self-expression. The shōjo (girls’) manga and anime boom occurred around the same time, and Comiket further helped to expand its base of manga and anime fans.

The history of “dōjinshi” and Comiket (3/3)
Maturation period under the influence of digitalization (2000s onward)

As interest in manga, anime, and games increased among the general public through the so-called “Akihabara boom” and moe boom, recognition of Comiket and dōjinshi spread further. The digitization of the creative production environment and diversification of media that progressed rapidly since the 2000s, coupled with the emergence of online services such as Nico Nico Douga in 2006 and pixiv in 2007, significantly impacted dōjin culture and forms of expression. That being said, however, consumer-generated media (CGM) and user-generated content (UGC), which have been much hailed in the online world, have long been commonplace at Comiket and in dōjinshi, and they are extremely well suited for each other.

A “space” supported by “participants”
Comiket’s mission

In its statement of ideals, Comiket defines itself as “a ‘space’ that functions to expand the possibilities of self-expression, where the aim is to accept creators of “dōjinshi” and all other types of creative endeavors and maintain continuity.” On top of this, the people who gather at this “space” are not considered to be customers, but “participants” who are expected to actively commit to establishing and maintaining this “space” from their respective positions.

This stance, in addition to being a key factor in the management of what has grown into a huge event through the autonomous support of participants, also describes how each participant’s thoughts on the “space” are realized as a shared fantasy at Comiket.