Dōjinshi fair

Dōjinshi (同人誌, often transliterated doujinshi) is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, Manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. Dōjinshi are part of a wider category of dōjin including art collections, anime, hentai and games. Groups of dōjinshi artists refer to themselves as a sākuru (サークル, circle). A number of such groups actually consist of a single artist: they are sometimes called kojin sākuru (個人サークル, personal circles).

Since the 1980s, the main method of distribution has been through 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. At the convention, over 20 acres (81,000 m²) of dōjinshi are bought, sold, and traded by attendees. Dōjinshi creators who base their materials on other creators' works normally publish in small numbers to maintain a low profile so as to protect themselves against 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.

The term dōjinshi is derived from dōjin (同人, literally "same person", used to refer to a person or people with whom one shares a common goal or interest) and shi (誌, a suffix generally meaning "periodical publication").

The pioneer among dōjinshi was Meiroku Zasshi (明六雑誌), published in the early Meiji period (since 1874). Not a literary magazine in fact, Meiroku Zasshi nevertheless played a big role in spreading the idea of dōjinshi. The first magazine to publish dōjinshi novels was Garakuta Bunko (我楽多文庫), founded in 1885 by writers Ozaki Kōyō and Yamada Bimyo. Dōjinshi publication reached its peak in the early Shōwa period, and dōjinshi became a mouthpiece for the creative youth of that time. Created and distributed in small circles of authors or close friends, dōjinshi contributed significantly to the emergence and development of the shishōsetsu genre. During the postwar years, dōjinshi gradually decreased in importance as outlets for different literary schools and new authors. Their role was taken over by literary journals such as Gunzo, Bungakukai and others. One notable exception was Bungei Shuto (文芸首都 lit. Literary Capital), which was published from 1933 until 1969. Few dōjinshi magazines survived with the help of official literary journals. Haiku and tanka magazines are still published today.

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