It becomes an interesting indisputable fact that usually most widely used subculture is cooked up by somebody that seeks profit only, then is fed to a hungry young crowd of fans. This is simply not always true in Japan, though. The skill is good for the art’s sake is what comic market followers are probing for.
Yoshishiro Yonezawa, a novelist, critic along with a passionate supporter of popular manga subculture, came up with a solid idea of founding an enterprise, an industry that is open for all your non-professional manga artists who form their very own circles called doujinshis to generate manga mimic artwork and magazines (which can be called doujinshis, too). The idea became popular as Comiket, the most important comic market in the world, takes place in Japan twice a year for three days in a row each and every time in the winter months plus summer. There are other than 35 thousand circles taking part and also more than half millions of attendees.
It is just a space where freedom of expression is preached with a large, and organizers never dreamed of so large profitable with their creation. Before Comiket, the younger generation who studied in high school graduation or university, taken part in comic markets as amateurs, and ceased to participate in after graduation. But also in mid-seventies this changed drastically. It had become not just a hobby, however a lifetime passion, as numerous artists got appreciation and followers because of growing popularity of doujinshi phenomenon. There are other than two thousand doujinshi markets occurring in Japan each and every year, and Comiket is in no way the most popular one.
Currently the idea have spread beyond Japan as comic markets opened in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, China as well as Usa. The volume of doujinshi circles mushroomed as markets provided great opportunities to get a large numbers of amateur artists and mangakas (manga artists).
First the predominant section of doujinshis creators were women, about 80 %. Within the 1980s more males became interested, now the ratio appears to favor female artists only slightly.
We conclude that doujinshi is really a visual cultural phenomenon that’s shaped mostly by youth, yet its meaning and consequences are of global importance.
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