J.GARDEN: the importance of doujin events on the BL ecosystem

J.GARDEN was this past Sunday here in Tokyo, and our boss was kind enough to let us go as a work exploration!

What is J.GARDEN, you ask? Often shortened to J庭, or J-niwa—the Japanese word for garden, unsurprisingly—J.GARDEN is the twice-yearly original-only BL doujinshi event! It happens in the fall and spring, and has grown out of its original hall to house over 1000 tables. According to the J.GARDEN website, the event started in 1996 and has been going strong ever since, with this past Sunday’s being the 54th event, and the 55th already deep into the planning stages. (If you’re a long-time fan of BL manga and its deep lore, I highly recommend checking out all the past flyer and pamphlet art on the J.GARDEN history page. Truly stunning testament to the popular mangaka and art styles of the different time periods.)

J.GARDEN used to take place in the exhibition hall at Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City. For those who don’t know, Ikebukuro is a very important place to fujoshi, as it’s also the home of Otome Road. We hope to do a long-form explanation of Otome Road at some point, but until then, here‘s the Wikipedia article explaining it. The tl;dr is that there are many stores, restaurants, event halls, etc. in a very small stretch of Tokyo dedicated to female otaku, and is often seen as “Akihabara ~for her~” (though there are actually many male BL and otome fans who openly visit these places as well). In more recent years, however, J.GARDEN has been held exclusively at Tokyo Big Sight—an incredibly important otaku landmark some of you may know from tales of Comiket.

J.GARDEN is interesting because it’s a mix of old and new, big names and small fish, from all walks of life. There may be artists as huge and famous as Fumi Yoshinaga, but your favorite book purchased at the event may well be by someone you’ve never heard of before that you bought on a whim. It’s a chance for fans and creators to meet, and just be in a huge hall with others who sincerely love original BL.

While we plan on releasing a full report on our J.GARDEN experience later in the week, for now I interviewed a friend who has attended and participated in multiple J.GARDEN events and hopes to break into the original BL market. For those interested in the indie sector of BL, and what it’s like as a fan and a foreigner to make moves in the Japanese BL industry, please read on!

First, some info on Furukimi Merry (古卿めり)!

Merry has been living and working in Japan since graduating university. While working full-time, she taught herself high-level Japanese, and worked hard to reach out to Japanese fandoms and make friends, which helped open her world even more to Japanese otaku culture. She’s been drawing and releasing nijisousaku (parody) doujinshi for more than seven years for a multitude of fandoms, and has recently been working toward channeling more time into creating original commercial works.

(Ames’s note: shout-out to Merry, who actually helped me extensively with my deep-dive on oshikatsu slang. She is my senpai and taught me much of Baby’s First Otaku Culture after my move to Japan, and I am eternally grateful. Also, she draws beautiful hands. )

==============================

1) What was your first experience with going to an event as an attendee? How about as a participant? How many events do you think you’ve been to since coming to Japan?

The first event I attended in Japan was NatsuComi 90 (or Summer Comiket 2016)! It’s on a much larger scale than the more niche events that are geared largely more towards female/fujoshi audiences like Comic City or J.GARDEN, so it was pretty overwhelming, but fascinating. My first event as a circle participant was Good Comic City 23 in September that same year, and I’ve tabled at 13 other events since then.

2) What are some things that surprised you or that you found interesting about attending doujinshi events? Was it different from what you imagined? Is there a big difference from attending conventions in the States?

There is definitely a huge difference from events back in the U.S., which are on a much grander scale.

If you go to an event like Anime Expo and check out the artist alley you’ll see booths with huge PVC displays around 6 feet high with a collage of prints from all different fandoms, and every possible type of merch covering the table. Profit is also a huge point of these events, as people will charge $10 or more for a print that probably cost about 70 cents to make. Not to say western artists don’t also make their prints and merch with love, but there is definitely a financial aspect that is not as present—or at the very least heavily frowned upon—in the Japanese fanart community. Though it’s kind of understandable, since events like Anime Expo literally charge artists hundreds of dollars just to secure a table.

(Ames’s note: participation in J.GARDEN costs 5500 yen, or around roughly $37 at the time of publication, which gets you three entry tickets in case you want to bring friends or helpers, the table, and one chair.)

At doujinshi events here, people typically only bring books (or merch) for one specific fandom (or in the case of events like J.GARDEN, original works) and it’s discouraged to make too much profit. A 40 page doujinshi typically will be sold for 500 yen, which comes out to less than $5 U.S. dollars. Artists who anticipate a profit will usually make “novelty” goods such as acrylic stands or keychains or hand towels, etc. to give away as a free gift with their book to offset any major profits.

I remember being so surprised walking in to Comiket and seeing most artists with nothing more than a tablecloth and a stack of books on their table, and maybe a poster to promote their art and that was it. It’s honestly so refreshing, though, as a participant to just show up, arrange your books on the table, and be ready to go! Another thing is that while events like Anime Expo last several days, most doujinshi events only last a few short hours.

3) Could you explain the general process of applying to an event?

There are a few different organizations that run doujinshi events, but typically you will have to make an account with them and sign up through their website. The two I have experience with are Akaboo (Comic City) and Circle.ms (J.GARDEN and Comiket). You will need a Japanese phone number and address to apply, but it’s not terribly strict so as long as you have a friend in Japan you trust, it’s not too hard for non-residents to participate. For fanart events you’ll have to select your fandom, and pairing if applicable (top x bottom notation is important here!)

For J.GARDEN, since artists are obviously selling original works and not fanart, you’ll have to specify your genre (e.g. office romance, dom/sub universe, etc.) rather than a fandom. This information is mostly just for placement purposes, as doujinshi events here typically do a thorough job of putting similar spaces in the same area to regulate foot traffic, so while it’s uncommon, it’s not the end of the world if you do change your mind later. You’ll also be prompted to create a circle cut, which is a small area of real-estate, if you will, in the event catalogue. Most artists will draw the characters featured in their doujinshi, but some people don’t care as much and just put their circle name or something. Think of it as ad space for your table.

After you register, you pay the table fee and then a little before the event you’ll get your table assignment and your pass in the mail.

4) Was your first time applying to participate difficult? What was your level of Japanese at the time?

Thankfully I had a Japanese friend who was pretty proficient in English and she walked me through the signup process! It was a little daunting just because of all the random questions they ask up front, like about what fandom and what pairing and how many books you plan on printing and all of that, whereas with events in the States I was used to just winging it and deciding what I was going to draw later on after applying. I was probably at an intermediate level of Japanese where I could understand some stuff but still couldn’t speak very well, but somehow managed to get through it okay with the power of love and BL haha.

5) How has your experience as a foreigner been at these events?

Overwhelmingly positive. No one has ever treated me poorly or weirdly. The most is just some people who assume from my twitter that I was Japanese or I’m half or something, only to be surprised when they see me in person, but never in a negative way. I do think it’s really cute and sweet when people write me fan letters in google-translated English or hiragana because they’re not sure how much kanji I can read and stuff. Everyone is just really, really nice.

6) For those who’d like to participate in an event in Japan someday, do you have any words of advice?

Don’t be scared, and go for it! But also be informed and respectful. I definitely recommend going to an event as an attendee before tabling, just to get a feel for the setting and the energy. There are some cultural and social differences for sure, but overall I think just being respectful is enough. If you are sincere, that will always come across, and I think most Japanese fujoshi are really happy to see how much BL is loved all over the world.

7) Is there any difference between participating in J.GARDEN and participating in any other event? How has your experience tabling at these events differed?

J. GARDEN is kind of the same but also different? Like, as far as the registration process and setup, it feels pretty much the same—like table, books, all of that. But it’s also really nerve-racking (and exciting) to sell something original versus fanart. Like, depending on what pairing I’m drawing for, I can kind of gauge how popular something would be just based on how popular the original IP is, but for original stuff it all comes down to if your art and story and characters are appealing. I’m happy any time someone buys my doujinshi, and I know even with fanart that my story ideas are my own, but for J.GARDEN it really hit me that people actually like me and my work and don’t just buy my stuff for the characters I’m drawing. It was really rewarding to have people buy my original story that I crafted from scratch and bring me letters or treats or come say nice things.

8) Aside from tabling, what are some other things you can do at J.GARDEN as either a fan or as an artist?

Well the obvious thing is buy doujinshi. I like to stay at my table and do the selling so I can talk personally with everyone who comes by, so I usually send my helper (or 売り子, uriko) out to do my shopping for me. Other artists prefer to go shop while their helper handles the sales for them at their table.

(Ames’s note: I have been Merry’s uriko before! 🥰)

Also you can go to the 出張部, which is a section where editors come from publishing companies to give aspiring artists advice on their work, and sometimes even scout them for work. When I went earlier this spring, I had the valuable experience of getting advice on my work from an editor from Shinshokan’s Dear+ BL publishing line.

And this isn’t really something you do at J.GARDEN, but it’s part of the doujin culture nonetheless—the afterparty (or アフター), where you go out with your friends for late lunch or early dinner, and maybe some karaoke, and read all the BL you bought!

9) In your own opinion, how is J.GARDEN important to the BL ecosystem?

J.GARDEN is huge, because not only does it give artists a chance to put themselves out there and be read, but it gives BL lovers a tangible sense of community. There are more and more events out there in the “real world” for fujoshi and like-minded individuals now, like BL manga getting pop-up cafes and such, and it’s generally more acceptable to be a fujoshi out in the open these days, but it wasn’t always like that. Events like J.Garden give fans a safe place to congregate where they know everyone there is someone like them, and they can celebrate who they are and what they love.

As an artist it’s also a way to connect with other artists, as well as build your fanbase in advance if you’re aiming for a pro debut. I think, personally, without the experience of participating in J.GARDEN, I would have been a thousand times more hesitant to seriously aim for my own debut.

==============================

You can also check out Melly’s art and interests on her BL Twitter account: @furukimimerry!

We’ll be posting our full event report later in the week, so please look forward to it! We’re also hoping to discuss stuff like event etiquette and such at a later date, so if you have any questions or curiosities about doujinshi culture or events, let us know!