| There have been numerous comparisons between
the Japanese and US comic book industries. Much has been made of
the relative differences in size, scale, and scope of the two industries.
The Japanese comic book industry is vastly larger than its US companion
and boasts a much wider selection. Comic books are available in any
kiosk on train stations, and most, if not all, everyday bookstores in Japan
stock a couple of bookcases full of comic books in their crowded shelf
space. Today, over 40% of all publication titles distributed in Japan
today are either comic books or are in some way related to comic books.
The scale and diversity of Japanese comic books known as manga has expanded
since the days when Mr. Frederik Schodt wrote "Manga! Manga!: The World
of Japanese Comics"[1] But here we focus our
attention on an aspect of the Japanese comic book industry that can only
be fully appreciated by understanding the differences in structure between
the two industries.
The advent of the Internet has brought Japanese and American fans of anime and manga much closer to one another. American fans have long been fascinated by the fan activities of their Japanese counterparts. They were amazed at the skill of so many fan artists in Japan as their artwork was featured in numerous Japanese animation magazines. There were dazzled by the quality and craftsmanship of the selected numbers of doujinshis that were sporadically being sold at conventions in America. But then American fans started to catch on to the depth and scope of fan publishing in Japan. There was an entire medium of fan creativity that had long active in Japan, but little known in America, that was starting to come into light. They noticed there were a large of books being published in Japan by the fan themselves that were of exceptional quality and enticing subject matter. Interest over doujinshis has been growing steadily among non-Japanese fans of anime and manga, but remarkably little has been written on this subject in a critical and in-depth manor. Much of the information and literature that has been circulating in America and Britain about doujinshi seems to be based mostly on conjecture and speculation. They are not all wrong nor incorrect, but they do not tell the full picture. Much of America can be seen inside American TV programs such as Bonanza and Baywatch, but Bonanza and Baywatch are not America. Likewise fan publishing and fanzines are an important part of doujinshis but you cannot nor should you try to categorize doujinshis as fan publishing. Doujinshi is a media of its own and it's vitality and distinct identity within the context of the Japanese manga industry is testament to the unique structure of the Japanese manga industry. Even if you don't have any interest in comics or cartoons, doujinshis should interest anyone concerned about the corporate domination over the means of expression and the routs of expression available for those that espouse unorthodox messages and/or images. By examining the Japanese relationship between doujinshis and commercial publishing, we can better understand the limits to the freedom of expression we operate under in the US. But what are doujinshis? Is it only fanzine publishing or is it a form of independent publishing? Is it something special to Japan? Who are the people that draw and publish the stuff? How do you get them printed and by whom? Who buys them and where? How does the doujinshi community stack up to Japanese society as a whole? These and many other questions will be addressed as part of this serial essay. In this first and introductory installment, we'll explore the definition of doujinshis, the principles involved in this realm of publishing, and conduct a brief overview of the marketplace where the books are exchanged. As I hope it will become evident to you as you read on, doujinshis make up a world of its own. Their world is diverse, unfathomable in depth, and chaotically active. No single short essay could ever justifiably illustrate the brilliant spectrum of variety the Japanese doujinshi community radiates. This is why this essay will limit itself to be an introductory probe into this subject. Doujinshis, literally translated, means coterie publications in English. In other words, books that are put together by those that share similar interests, distributed privately outside the mainstream commercial distribution system, and are intended to be consumed by those that appreciate and share those interests. Superficially, there is nothing special about this type of publishing in the United States. These types of books have remained an integral part of the youth culture of the US and have been prevalent under different shapes and names. "Zines" fanzines, mini comics, APAs (Amateur Press Associations), and self published journals all belong to this genre of publishing. Numerous community groups and organizations also undertake this form of publishing under various formats as well. But once you sample the manga doujinshis that are being produced in contemporary Japan, these familiar frames of reference seem inadequate. Let me illustrate this point by describing to you some common examples of Japanese manga doujinshi publications and the community that supports this medium. When we refer to doujinshis here, we are actually talking about publications that are either manga doujinshis and/or doujinshis that relates to manga, anime, and other fan generating interests. This is an important distinction to make, as while doujinshis overall have unique attributes that set them aside from commercial publishing, manga doujinshis embody a distinct culture that they can claim to be all their own. Today, the majority of manga doujinshis are 30 to 60 pages thick, they are offset printed, have crisp black and white pages inside, and they either have a full color or a high gloss monochrome cover. The print runs vary widely but few bother to print less then 200 books and some exceptionally popular doujinshi publishers will print as many as 5000. The printing quality is exceptional as professional printing houses are employed. Naturally the quality of the publications vary widely, but numerous numbers of titles originally released as doujinshis are later re-released in commercial publications. The doujinshi community is one huge incubation room where countless numbers of successful professional manga authors have emerged from, and many of them continue to participate in the doujinshis, long after they have become commercially independent. Commercial publishing houses scour through the doujinshi convention in search of bright new talent and they are handsomely rewarded with artists that have trained in the doujinshi field ready undertake their craft in the commercial field. The diversity of books available is breathtaking. There is no subject matter outside the realm of doujinshis. While many of the books are parodies or adaptations of popular animation shows and mangas, there are countless books devoted to musicians and their music, computer hardware and software, professional athletics, military analysis, American movies, science fiction, auto-racing, fetishism, international travel, critiques of comic books, American comic book characters, and much, much more. But just as active are the original fiction writers. Action adventure, science fiction, love romance, near future fiction, horror, erotica, abstract fantasy, contemporary life, speculative fiction, psychological drama, light hearted comedy, and many others. As the doujinshi community gradually evolved over decades, specialized forms of distribution have come into being. Doujinshis are routinely distributed either at specialized doujinshi conventions, by mail order, or through stores that specialize in new and used doujinshis. This last form of doujinshi distribution is a relatively new development, and is considered controversial for variety reasons that I cannot go into detail at this time. Mail order has been around for decades, made possible by reviews of doujinshis regularly featured in various commercial publications. While mail order is undoubtedly the most versatile form of distribution, even capable of facilitating transactions between foreign nationals and Japanese doujinshi circles, it remains in limited utilization. The process involved is especially cumbersome on the part of the doujinshi publisher and the selection of books available tends to be rather meager when compared to the vast selection regularly offered at large scale doujinshi conventions. By far the bulk of all distribution of doujinshis are conducted through specialized conventions held throughout Japan periodically. A doujinshi convention is a mutual gathering space where numerous individual communities of doujinshis hobbyists can converge, and interact with one another. Most conventions are designed to be a market place for doujinshis and nothing else. Since they are specialized for this function, in some ways they resemble the dealer rooms commonly seen inside science fiction conventions and comic book conventions in America and Europe. But there is one big exception. The doujinshis community revolves around the ideal of avocationalism. Publishing as a hobby first and foremost. Professional printers are the only commercial component that could be considered an integral part of the doujinshi community. Corporate publishers and commercial enterprises are virtually non-existent. Stationary goods manufactures may provide an outlet of their goods and, on occasions, various companies have mounted promotional campaigns of their goods, such as consumer electronics and computers, at large doujinshis conventions. But corporate entities are almost never permitted to sell doujinshis at these conventions. This is because by definition, a doujinshi cannot be published by a commercial enterprise. Doujinshi conventions can be so small that one could fit inside a conference room of a hotel, or can be big enough to occupy an entire national convention center for three days, replacing all the publishers in each day, and still be forced to employ a lottery system in order chose to who makes it in and who does not. One doujinshi convention can attract enough people to equal the population of an entire regional city. The largest doujinshi exhibition and marketplace in Japan by far is the Comic Market. The Comic Market is most likely the world's largest comic book and/or animation related convention held on a semi-annual basis. As of 1997, is boasts an attendance of well over 300,000 with over 22,000 doujinshi publishers participating in a three day period. It has been estimated somewhere between 2 to 3 billion yen ($18-27 million at 110 yen/dollar) exchange hands at a single session of the Comic Market[2], which is held twice a year. The numbers fluctuate between the summer session held in August and the winter session held in December as recently the duration of the convention alternates between 2 to 3 days. But regardless, the Comic Market can easily claim itself to be the largest comic book related convention in the world even though it limits itself primarily to hosting doujinshi publishers. In addition to the Comic Market there is an average of at least two doujinshi conventions held every weekend of the year, every year, in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area and the surrounding prefectures included in the Kanto Plains region. This means there are nearly one hundred doujinshi conventions held every year in a area roughly equal to that of the greater Los Angeles basin. Nationally, there are more doujinshi conventions held in one year then one can keep track of. I estimate the annual aggregate volume of sales conducted by the doujinshi community in Japan exceeds 75 million dollars (by way of comparison, the annual sales of the entire US commercial comic book industry in 1996 was estimated $650 million by Comic Buyer's Guide). And even that figure might be argued as being quite conservative. This is no community that goes unrecognized by its commercial counterpart, the commercial publishing enterprises, or by the society at large. The unconventional, chaotic, and free spirited nature of the doujinshi world, combined with the youthful culture of the Japanese commercial erotic comic book industry, has at times run into conflict with the values and expectations of a more restrictive and older Japanese society. The subsequent clash of interests has created a firestorm of controversy once in 1991 as it is now chillingly remembered by some as the great "hazardous comics" purge. Currently, the two counterparts of the comic book publishing world coexist with one another fairly comfortably. The two are inextricably tied together as the popularity of authors and trends in art styles in one realm transfer and influence the other with relative ease. The bond between the two also continues to strengthen as the number of authors that are active in both forms of self-expression grows with each passing year. As it so happens, nearly every manga author currently being published in America has at one time been an author within the doujinshi community. Many of them remain active in both worlds to this date. The doujinshi community has been described by many knowledgeable authorities as being a microcosm of the aggregate commercial publishing community. They are authors, editors, producers, printers, distributors, regulators of a marketplace, and buyers all within the world of doujinshis and they are all bound together by one defining principle of the medium itself. That one defining principle of doujinshi is that it is a hobby. This single most cardinal and imperative principle of doujinshis cannot be over-stressed. Most features that characterize what is involved in and what constitutes a doujinshi today are logical and empirical extensions of this one principle. As these elements of the Japanese doujinshi community illustrate, it would be careless to classify Japanese doujinshi publishing as small, fan sponsored, fringe publishing. At this point many Americans are drawn to compare the Japanese doujinshi community with US independent publishing. Naturally the quality and the quantity of books that the two fields of publishing produce appear to be similar in format and philosophy. Many books in America are independently published because their subject matter is either too obscure, too experimental, or too provocative to be commercially appealing. The authors feel compelled enough to self-publish their books to put out their own material. Some times these books fall into the range of fan publications, devoting itself exclusively to a specific issue or material. At first hand, this association between American independent publishing and Japanese doujinshi publishing appear valid, but this association misses an important point. Many people undertake independent publishing as part of a hobby, but others undertake independent publishing as the means to break into the field of mass produced commercial publishing. Many independent publishers try their best to have their books be incorporated into the wider commercial distribution system. The books themselves are ready to be adopted into the commercial system at any time, and it's up to the commercial market if the book is accepted in or not. Many American independent books are in the gray zone between professional publishing and hobby publishing. They are commercial publications that are successful enough to compel the publisher to keep going, but are not successful enough to prompt major book distributors to adopt their titles. Here is where the distinction between doujinshis and independent publishing comes into light. While independent publishing is essentially a commercial enterprise (setting aside how successful it is), doujinshis are by their nature non-commercial. It would be better to conceptualize the Japanese manga publishing industry as two distinct spheres. One is commercial and the other is non-commercial. Doujinshis are in the non-commercial sphere. Today we refer to any publication with a limited distribution (i.e. not sold in retail stores nation wide) and is published and financed by the authors (and/or their associates) to be a doujinshi. Doujinshis and commercial publications are on the opposite sides of the same coin. Doujinshis are primarily not sold in stores, have an extremely limited distribution, are most likely to remain relatively obscure, and their print runs are comparably smaller, implying a non-commercial, personal hobby like nature in their operation. The commercial books are widely available in stores, they are nationally distributed, possibly advertised lavishly, and boasts large print runs that would only be possible by the commercial, and profit searching nature of the enterprise. I hope the previous paragraphs help illustrate the difficulty in finding a close and accurate equivalent to the Japanese doujinshi within the context of American publishing and comic books. We are all compelled to recognize concepts and objects in terms of categories that our culture, education, and experience has equipped us with. When we encounter concepts that do not neatly fit into these categories, many of us tend to disregard the elements of the concept that don't fit with our category and emphasize the elements that do. This is the reason why many who claim that Japanese doujinshis are nothing more then elaborate fanzines tend to disregard the large amounts of original material that does not count as fan material in doujinshis. Likewise, those that recognize doujinshi as independent publishing tend to down play the fan aspect of doujinshis. When pre-existing categories within our minds are no longer valid in explaining something and instead contribute to misconceptions, it is time for new categories to be created and assimilated. This is the reason why I have refused translate the word doujinshi into these most commonly used terms in America. Simply put, the doujinshi is a non-commercial medium of self-expression that does not impose any limits regarding subject matter. The Japanese manga doujinshi community is one of the most vibrant forums of self expression available to young people in Japan today. It is very difficult to estimate just how many people are part of the aggregate Japanese doujinshi world, but conservative estimates project over 40,000 groups of doujinshi publishers[3], known as circles, to be currently active. Over a million individuals are believed to regularly purchase doujinshis in Japan today.[4] Involvement in the production of doujinshis are rapidly becoming common as other extracurricular activities of the youth in Japan today, albeit doujinshis production and sale is not commonly sanctioned by the school system. In many respects the doujinshi medium exemplify the counter-cultural and "Inner" aspects of the Japanese youth culture. This is not to say that there is no manipulation of "Uchi/soto"(inner versus outer) identities within the confines of the doujinshi community. However, the prevailing sentiment among the members of the doujinshi community is that their medium is that of a sanctuary, a place where creative minds with restless hearts may liberate themselves from the confines of the pressure cooker-like Japanese social system. There is no more compelling evidence to this cathartic motivational argument then to sample the contents of the doujinshis. Material that commercial publishers would shy away from are readily embraced by the doujinshi community. The avocational quality of the doujinshi medium allows authors complete control over content, form, style, and timing of their material. There are no editors to impress, no advertisers to appease, no audiences that you must fear of offending, and few social restrictions that regulate the contents of your books. The non-commercial feature of doujinshis allow authors to take full advantage of the freedom of expression permitted under the law. The scale and size of the aggregate fan community promises that even the strangest and most obscure of subject matter have a good chance at finding an receptive audience. Furthermore, the receptive audience need not be large in number, but just large enough to compel the author to continue with his or her creative efforts. There are those who seek to increase their rewards off of publishing doujinshis by designing their publications to match the interests of the doujinshi consumers, but for many it is the prospect of having the final say over the content of the books that entices them to continue to publish. Unless this was so, there would be little incentive on the part of professional manga authors to continue to do doujinshis well after their career was underway. From the vantage point of the readership, those that seek material unavailable within the limitations of commercial publishing are given the opportunity to choose from a diverse and rich selection of publications through the doujinshi market. The most remarkable aspect of the doujinshi world is it's truly bottomless potential for the creative landscape of expression. Barring certain restrictions, you can do anything in a doujinshi. And if you can't find what you are looking for, than you can do it yourself. The startup costs of doing a doujinshi is so low that most high school children could afford to do it alone without pooling resources among friends. Doujinshis provide individuals with the opportunity to associate with like minded individuals regardless of their background, education, occupation, age, or sex. Few interpersonal relationships in Japan are free from the some type of hierarchy, but within the context of the doujinshi community, the importance that hierarchy yields is substantially weaker compared to everyday life. Those that frequent the doujinshi conventions are drawn to it on a basis of their attraction to the medium, where personal discretion takes a higher priority over social pressures. Over all, social pressures against individuals are strong in Japanese society, prompting individuals to set aside their personal interests and respect the interests of the group that he or she belongs in. The individual loyal to the group is rewarded with financial security and social identity. By asserting your association with a member of a prestigious institution, you can expect to be respected regardless of your own personal credentials or merits. Group association make up in integral part of the Japanese individual's identity, but this subservience to the group tends also rob the individual to voice their true opinions and celebrate their personal tastes. The doujinshi community provides individuals with the means to express such personal tastes and preferences, whether that be in the form of distributing their own material outside the confines of the mainstream society, or allowing people to associate with others that share their attributes. In essence the Japanese manga doujinshi culture represents how the creative urges of manga readers intersected with a social demand for personalized interaction between individuals that share similar interests and tastes. The inclination to create and self-expression appear to be near universal tendencies among individuals. Witness the fan activities of Japanese anime and manga across the world. But these universal creative forces were directed and tempered by social structures and cultural circumstances specific to Japan and the manga publishing industry. Manga doujinshis embody a distinct culture separate from mainstream Japanese society. What were the historical circumstances that made this possible? What was the role of the Japanese comic book industry in the development of this distinct culture. How can such a medium that embodies values and ideals that are considerably at odds with the prevailing mainstream culture be tolerated? As we embark upon a comprehensive analysis at attempting to understand a cultural phenomenon that appears to be so unique to Japan, we will have the opportunity to examine beliefs, values, ideals, and circumstances that were instrumental in the explosive growth and prosperity of this medium. Isolating and identifying these core elements will provide us with the key in understanding how this culture will fare in the future and what might be the prospects for the entrenchment of a doujinshi or doujinshi like culture in the United States. Footnotes
|