Doujinshi

The term doujinshi is derived from doujin (同人, literally "same person", used to refer to a person or people with whom one shares a common goal or interest) and shi (誌, a suffix generally meaning "periodical publication").

The pioneer among doujinshi was Meiroku Zasshi (明六雑誌), published in the early Meiji period (since 1874). Not a literary magazine in fact, Meiroku Zasshi nevertheless played a big role in spreading the idea of doujinshi. The first magazine to publish doujinshi novels was Garakuta Bunko (我楽多文庫), founded in 1885 by writers Ozaki Kōyō and Yamada Bimyo.[1] Doujinshi publication reached its peak in the early Shōwa period, and doujinshi became a mouthpiece for the creative youth of that time. Created and distributed in small circles of authors or close friends, doujinshi contributed significantly to the emergence and development of the shishōsetsu genre. During the postwar years, doujinshi gradually decreased in importance as outlets for different literary schools and new authors. Their role was taken over by literary journals such as Gunzo, Bungakukai and others. One notable exception was Bungei Shuto (文芸首都, lit. Literary Capital), which was published from 1933 until 1969. Few doujinshi magazines survived with the help of official literary journals. Haiku and tanka magazines are still published today.

It has been suggested that technological advances in the field of photocopying during the 1970s contributed to an increase in publishing doujinshi. During this time, manga editors were encouraging manga authors to appeal to a mass market, which may have also contributed to an increase in the popularity of writing doujinshi.[2]

During the 1980s, the content of doujinshi shifted from being predominantly original content to being mostly parodic of existing series.[3] Often called aniparo, this was often an excuse to feature certain characters in romantic relationships. Male authors focused on series like Urusei Yatsura, and female authors focused on series like Captain Tsubasa.[2] This coincided with the rise in popularity of Comiket, the first event dedicated specifically to the distribution of doujinshi, which had been founded in 1975.

As of February 1991, there were some doujinshi creators who sold their work through supportive comic book stores. This practice came to light when three managers of such shops were arrested for having a lolicon doujinshi for sale.[4]

Symbol of the Doujin Mark License

Over the last decade, the practice of creating doujinshi has expanded significantly, attracting thousands of creators and fans alike. Advances in personal publishing technology have also fueled this expansion by making it easier for doujinshi creators to write, draw, promote, publish, and distribute their works. For example, some doujinshi are now published on digital media. Furthermore, many doujinshi creators are moving to online download and print-on-demand services, while others are beginning to distribute their works through American channels such as anime shop websites and specialized online direct distribution sites. In 2008, a white paper on the otaku industry was published, this estimated that gross revenue from sales of doujinshi in 2007 were 27.73 billion yen, or 14.9% of total otaku expenditure on their hobby.[5]

To avoid legal problems, the dōjin mark (同人マーク) was created. A license format inspired by Creative Commons licenses,[6] the first author to authorize the license was Ken Akamatsu in the manga UQ Holder!, released on August 28, 2013, in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine.[7]

Page from the doujinshi manga about Wikipe-tan, Commons-tan and Wikiquote-tan

Like their mainstream counterparts, doujinshi are published in a variety of genres and types. However, due to the target audience, certain themes are more prevalent, and there are a few major division points by which the publications can be classified. It can be broadly divided into original works and aniparo—works which parody existing anime and manga franchises.[11]

As in fanfics, a very popular theme to explore is non-canonical pairings of characters in a given show (for doujinshi based on mainstream publications). Many such publications contain yaoi or yuri (stories containing same-sex romance) themes, either as a part of non-canon pairings, or as a more direct statement of what can be hinted by the main show.

Another category of doujinshi is furry or kemono, often depicting homosexual male pairings of anthropomorphic animal characters and, less often, lesbian pairings. Furry doujinshi shares some characteristics with the yaoi and yuri genres, with many furry doujinshi depicting characters in erotic settings or circumstances, or incorporating elements typical of anime and manga, such as exaggerated drawings of eyes or facial expressions.

A major part of doujinshi, whether based on mainstream publications or original, contains sexually explicit material, due to both the large demand for such publications and absence of restrictions official publishing houses have to follow. Indeed, often the main point of a given doujinshi is to present an explicit version of a popular show's characters. Such works may be known to English speakers as "H-doujinshi", in line with the former Japanese use of letter H to denote erotic material. The Japanese usage, however, has since moved towards the word ero,[12] and so ero manga (エロ漫画) is the term almost exclusively used to mark doujinshi with adult themes. Sometimes they will also be termed "for adults" (成人向け, seijin muke) or 18-kin (18禁) (an abbreviation of "forbidden to minors less than 18 years of age" (18歳未満禁止, 18-sai-miman kinshi)). To differentiate, ippan (一般, , "general", from the general public it is suitable for) is the term used for publications absent of such content.

Most doujinshi are commercially bound and published by doujinshi-ka (doujinshi authors) who self-publish through various printing services. Copybooks, however, are self-made using xerox machines or other copying methods. Few are copied by drawing by hand.

Not all category terms used by English-language fans of doujinshi are derived from Japanese. For example, an AU doujinshi is one set in an alternate universe.[13]

Many doujinshi are derivative works that are produced without the permission of the original creator, a practice that has existed since the early 1980s.[14] Doujinshi are considered shinkokuzai under Japanese copyright law, meaning that doujinshi creators cannot be prosecuted unless a complaint is made by the holders of the copyrights they have violated.[15] In 2016, then-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe affirmed that doujinshi "don't compete in the market with the original works and don't damage the original creators' profits, so they are shinkokuzai."[15] Copyright holders take an unofficial policy of non-enforcement towards the doujinshi market, as it is seen as having a beneficial impact on the commercial manga market: it creates an avenue for aspiring manga artists to practice,[16] and talented doujinshi creators are often recruited by publishers.[17] Salil K. Mehra, a law professor at Temple University, hypothesizes that doujinshi market causes the manga market to be more productive, and that strict enforcement of copyright law would cause the industry to suffer.[16]

John Oppliger of AnimeNation stated in 2005 that creating doujinshi is largely popular with Japanese fans, but not with Western fans. Oppliger claimed that because Japanese natives grow up with anime and manga "as a constant companion", Japanese fans "are more intuitively inclined" to create or expand on existing manga and anime in the form of doujinshi.[22] Since Western fans experience a "more purely" visual experience as most Western fans cannot understand the Japanese language, the original language of most anime, and are "encouraged by social pressure to grow out of cartoons and comics during the onset of adolescence", most of them usually participate in utilizing and rearranging existing work into anime music videos.[23]

In most Western cultures, doujinshi is often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous to fan fiction and almost completely pornographic.[24] This is partly true: doujinshi are often, though not always, parodies or alternative storylines involving the worlds of popular manga, game or anime series, and can often feature overtly sexual material. However, there are also many non sexually explicit doujinshi being created as well. The Touhou Project series for example, is known to be notable for the large amount of doujinshi being produced for it that are not pornographic in nature.[25][26] Some groups releasing adults-only themed materials during the annual Touhou only event Reitaisai in 2008 were only estimated at 10%.[26]

• Dōjin music
• Dōjin soft
• Niigata Comic Market
• Otaku
• Hentai

• Passion: Popular doujinshi fanlisting site
• Doujinshi DB Archived 2017-12-18 at the Wayback Machine: Huge user-submitted database of doujinshi artists, circles, and books, including name translations
• Nippon Fanifesto! A Tribute to DIY Manga—an illustrated essay explaining doujinshi and their diversity