Doujinshi – rentaBLog

A love-letter to fanfic

Fanfiction. Fanart. Fan-works. Fandoms.

A great deal of discussion has been carried out over the cringe-ness and the legitimacy of fan creations, with many voicing discontent. Admittedly, that’s partly why writing this was kinda difficult, since I wasn’t sure what sort of feelings to pour into this; but eventually, I decided I wanted this to be a love-letter to the fans that comprise fandoms and keep the excitement for stories alive through their non-profitable, for-the-love-of-the-game work.

This is especially true when it comes to manga and BL, of course.

A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Doujinshi Events

It’s the end of the year again, and for the hardcore otaku here in Japan, that means another Winter Comiket.

For the uninitiated, Comiket (short for Comic Market, コミックマーケット Komikku Maaketto in Japanese) is known as the largest fan convention worldwide, held twice a year (in the summer and winter) at Tokyo Big Sight. It’s famous for its gargantuan marketplace of doujinshi, or self-published comics — often created as fanart — catering to fans of nearly every side of manga and anime fandom imaginable. But the fun isn’t limited to indie works — you can find established pros and industry giants setting up shop here as well, often putting out exclusive merch just for Comiket attendees. Plus, it’s a major event in the cosplay sphere as well, so you can enjoy seeing your “favorite characters” walking around in real life all day! To learn more, and to get an inside look at the overall vibe of the event, you can check out this official English presentation prepared by the event organizers!

Perhaps you’re planning to attend this upcoming Comiket, or you dream of one day experiencing it for yourself and want to gear up with the essential knowledge beforehand. And so, as one geek lightly seasoned in attending fan events here in Japan, I’ve attempted to put together a little guide to help you out!

By the way, the tips here don’t apply only to Comiket, but smaller doujin events as well. I hope it’ll come in handy if you ever want to dip your toes in this unique part of otaku culture!

J.GARDEN: The Eden of BL

J.GARDEN didn’t start until 11AM, but the thing you learn fast with attending events is that you have to get there early. While the staff try to make it fair by holding lottos and raffles to randomize how and when people enter the venue regardless of when you actually show up, etc. you still get there early. There are more than 13 million people living in Tokyo, and even if just a small fraction of them care enough about original BL to want to attend J.GARDEN, you want to up the odds of getting in and getting the books you want as much as you humanly can.

There’s a reason many otaku refer to event days as “war”—you need to go in with a game plan, or you’re going to lose. And Sou and I were already at a rough start, because we’d missed the chance to pick up a pamphlet on pre-order. They’d sold out within the first four days of release, and we hadn’t been given the okay to attend until the fifth day. So we were kind of screwed. Nonetheless, we did what we could with what we had—which was Twitter’s #J庭54 hashtag, the official J.GARDEN site, and tons of passion for BL—and decided we’d torture ourselves getting up at 5AM day-of, come down early, get a pamphlet, and do our best to plan in the time between obtaining it and when doors opened.

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!