Doujin

Not to be confused withDouyin.

In Japan,doujin(Japanese:Đồng nghiệp,Hepburn:dōjin)is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as "clique","fandom","coterie "," society ", or" circle "(as in"sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced by these groups are also calleddoujin,includingmanga,magazines, novels, music (doujinmusic),anime,merch, and video games (doujinsoft). Printdoujinworks are collectively calleddoujinshi.

Manga for sale at Comic City, a regulardoujinevent held at venues around Japan

Doujinworks are typically amateur and derivative in nature, though some professional artists participate indoujinculture as a way to publish material outside the regular publishing industry.

Annual research by the research agencyMedia Createindicated that, of the 186¥ billion (US$1.66 billion) in revenue seen by theotakuindustry in 2007,doujinsales made up 14.9% (US$274 million).

Literary societies

Literary circles first appeared in theMeiji periodwhen groups of like-mindedwakawriters,poets and novelists met and published literary magazines (many of which are still publishing today). Many modern writers in Japan came from these literary circles. One famous example isOzaki Koyo,who led theKenyushasociety of literary writers that first published collected works in magazine form in 1885.

Manga circles

Comiket,pictured here in 2002, is the largest venue for the sale ofdoujinworks.

After World War II, mangadoujinstarted to appear in Japan.Manga artistslikeShotaro Ishinomori(Kamen Rider,Cyborg 009) andFujio Fujiko(Doraemon) formeddoujingroups such as Fujiko's New Manga Party(Tân truyện tranh đảng,Shin Manga-to).At this time,doujingroups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades withdoujingroups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 withComiketin Tokyo.

Today

Avid fans ofdoujinattend regulardoujinconventions, the largest of which is calledComiket(aportmanteauof "Comic Market" ) held in the summer and winter atTokyo Big Sight.Here, over 20 acres (81,000 m²) ofdoujinmaterials are bought, sold, and traded by attendees.Doujincreators who base 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 products 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 creatingdoujinhas expanded significantly, attracting thousands of creators and fans alike. Advances in personal publishing technology have also fueled this expansion by making it easier fordoujincreators to write, draw, promote, publish, and distribute their works.

Western perception

In Western cultures,doujinare often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous tofan fiction.To an extent, this is true: manydoujinare based on popular manga, anime, or video game series. However, manydoujinconsisting of original content also exist. Among the numerousdoujincategories,doujinshi(Đồng nghiệp chí)are the ones getting the most exposure outside Japan, as well as within Japan, wheredoujinshiare by tradition the most popular and numerousdoujinproducts.

Types

• Doujinshi:Printed works such as comics, novels, and magazines.
• Dōjinsoft /dōjingame(Đồng nghiệp ソフト / đồng nghiệp ゲーム,dōjin sofuto / dōjin gēmu):games, software
• Dōjinmusic(Đồng nghiệp âm lặc,dōjin ongaku):music
• Dōjingoods(Đồng nghiệp グッズ,dōjin guzzu):goods
• ero dōjin(エロ đồng nghiệp),is a form ofdoujinwhich is sexually explicit in nature and even pornographic (hentai).

External links

• The Doujinshi & Manga LexiconArchived2022-07-07 at theWayback Machine:user-submitted database ofdoujinshiartists/circles/books, including name translations