Interview – rentaBLog

Our Renta! BLog has already featured two articles that touch on the origins of BL, but how about a history and theory lesson presented by two amazing, fantastic, intelligent scholars? I’m not saying it because these two are my dear cohorts, but because they’re two of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met—especially when it comes to their field of expertise, popular culture and manga. So, I arranged a group call with this fabulous pair to discuss the deep, intriguing and sometimes complicated origins of BL, its roots in shojo manga and the feminist and sexual liberation movements, and its misunderstood image.

(Disclaimer: portions of the interview were edited after some technical mishaps, but I’ve retained the majority of it as we actually spoke, e.g. occassionally using Japanese surnames first, by habit. Also, I’ll be reusing some pictures from the BL exhibition.)

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!

Category: Interview

Interview: three otaku discuss the origins of BL and sing Keiko Takemiya’s praises

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