Dōjinshi (同人誌? Dōjinshi, often transliterated as Doujinshi) are self-published Japanese works, usually manga or novels. They are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from dōjin (同人? dōjin, literally "same person", used to refer to a person or persons with whom one shares a common goal or interest) and shi (誌? , a contraction of zasshi, meaning "magazine"). Dōjinshi are part of a wider category of dōjin including but not limited to art collections, anime, hentai and games. Groups of dōjinshi artists refer to themselves as a circle (サークル sākuru?). A number of such groups actually consist of a single artist: they are sometimes called kojin circles (個人サークル? personal circles).
Dōjinshi are made by artists or writers who prefer to publish their own materials. Avid fans of dōjinshi attend regular dōjinshi conventions, the largest of which is called Comiket (short for "Comic Market") held in the summer and winter in Tokyo's Big Sight. Here, over 20 acres (81,000 m2) of dōjinshi are bought, sold, and traded by attendees. Dōjinshi creators who based their materials on other creators' works normally publish in small numbers to maintain a low profile from litigation. This makes a talented creator's or circle's dōjinshi a coveted commodity as only the fast or the lucky will be able to get them before they sell out.
Over the last decade, the practice of creating dōjinshi 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 dōjinshi creators to write, draw, promote, publish, and distribute their works. For example, some dōjinshi are now published on digital media. Furthermore, many dōjinshi 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.
During the 1980s, the content of dōjinshi shifted from being predominantly original content to being mostly parodic of existing series.[1]
The practice of doujinshi can be beneficial to the commercial manga market by creating an avenue for aspiring mangaka to practice.[2]
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In Western cultures, dōjinshi is often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous to fan fiction and almost completely pornographic. This is partly true: dōjinshi are often, though not always, parodies or alternative storylines involving the worlds of popular manga or anime series, and many of them feature overtly sexual material.
Like their mainstream counterparts, dōjinshi 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.[3]
As in fanfics, a very popular theme to explore is non-canonical pairings of characters in a given show (for dōjinshi based on mainstream publications). Many such publications contain yaoi or yuri (that is, homosexual) motives, either as a part of non-canon pairings, or as a more direct statement of what can be hinted by the main show.
A major part of dōjinshi, 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 dōjinshi is to present an explicit version of a popular show's characters. Such works may be known to English speakers as "H-dōjinshi", 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 [4], and so ero manga (エロ漫画?) is the term almost exclusively used to mark dōjinshi 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 18歳未満禁止 "forbidden to minors less than 18 years of age"). To differentiate, ippan (一般? , "general", from the general public it is suitable for) is the term used for publications absent of such content.
Comiket is the world's largest comic convention. It is held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first CM was held in December 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. About 80% of these were female, but male participation in Comiket increased later.[1] Attendance has since swelled to over a quarter of a million people. Many attendants come to exchange and/or sell their dōjinshi.