Dōjin shop
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A is a store that specializes in '' doujinshi'', self-published works. They exist mainly in Japan. ''Doujin'' shops can be both brick and mortar as well as online stores. Some sell only second-hand ''doujinshi'', but particularly larger chain stores also sell new ''doujinshi''. Many ''doujin'' shops also handle other kinds of ''
doujin In Japan, 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 b ...
'' works, such as ''doujin'' music or ''doujin'' games, or commercially published popular media such as
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
and
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
.


Summary

''Doujin'' shops are either independent or part of a larger ''doujin'' shop chain. ''Doujin'' shop chain outlets can be found in many large cities in Japan. They often cluster together in areas that are seen as gathering places for pop culture fans, such as
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
's
Akihabara is a common name for the area around Akihabara Station in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, the area called Akihabara mainly belongs to the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts in Chiyoda. There exists an administrative district ca ...
and
Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...
neighborhoods, or the Nipponbashi area of Osaka. Outlets can be very large and often have multiple floors dedicated to ''doujinshi'' for different audiences, or to new and second-hand ''doujinshi''. Together with ''doujinshi'' conventions, ''doujin'' shops are the main distribution outlets for ''doujinshi''. ''Doujin'' shops fill a need that ''doujinshi'' conventions cannot meet: making ''doujinshi'' accessible to buyers who, for whatever reason, cannot attend conventions. While some regular bookstores very occasionally carry some ''doujinshi'', ''doujinshi'' are usually excluded from regular book distribution channels. This is partly because they are per definition self-published, but also because most ''doujinshi'' are fanworks, meaning that they exist in a legal gray area of Japanese copyright law. Tolerance towards ''doujinshi'' on the part of copyright holders means that ''doujin'' shops can continue to operate. Some ''doujin'' shops also have online stores through which they sell print ''doujinshi'', and sometimes also downloadable digital ''doujinshi'', ''doujin'' games, and so on. Stores that sell digital ''doujin'' works are called "download stores". Some download stores operate purely online and do not have a physical store attached to them. The largest of these is DLsite. Additionally, some fan creators operate their own online shops.


History

The first ''doujin'' shops emerged in the early 1980s and were located mostly in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. As ''doujinshi'' creation became more popular in the middle of the 1980s because of the boom in such new genres as ''
lolicon In Japanese popular culture, is a genre of fictional media in which young (or young-looking) girl characters appear in romantic or sexual contexts. The term, a portmanteau of the English phrase "Lolita complex", also refers to desire and a ...
'' and especially ''
yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...
'', ''doujin'' shops expanded as well and began to sell not just second-hand ''doujinshi'' but also new ''doujinshi'' on commission. Some developed into large chain stores that continued to expand throughout the 1990s, along with the rising number of participants in
Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-ru ...
and other ''doujinshi'' conventions. The commercial impact of ''doujin'' shops grew considerably, as expressed in the growing number of outlets and growing sales. The proceeds of K-BOOKS, for instance, grew from 350 million yen in 1995 to 3 billion and 950 million yen in 2008. The proceeds of Toranoana grew from 390 million yen in 1994 to 14 billion and 850 million yen in 2006.


How it works

When it comes to sale of second-hand ''doujinshi'', ''doujin'' shops function exactly like regular
used bookstore Used bookstores (usually called "second-hand bookshops" in Great Britain) buy and sell used books and out-of-print books. A range of titles is available in used bookstores, including in print and out-of-print books. Book collectors tend to frequent ...
s. Customers bring ''doujinshi'' to the store, which buys some or all of them and then sells them again to new customers. Whether a store will buy old ''doujinshi'', and at what price, depends on a number of factors mostly related to the marketability of the ''doujinshi'': rating, fame of the ''doujinshi'' circle that authored the work, fandom popularity, printing method, use of color, paper size, the newness of the ''doujinshi'', and its content. Many ''doujin'' shops have sections of ''doujinshi'' made by creators who are also professional manga artist, or who created ''doujinshi'' before they became professional manga artist. Sale of new ''doujinshi'' in ''doujin'' shops works mostly on a system of consignment sale. Circles (individuals or groups who create ''doujinshi'') apply for the store to carry their works on its shelves. Depending again on the marketability of the ''doujinshi'', the store may agree or decline. If it agrees, the circle and the store conclude an agreement that the store will exhibit the ''doujinshi'' for a set amount of time. Proceeds go to the circle after the store has taken a commission.


Examples

Some ''doujin'' shop chains include: * Mandarake, founded in 1987. Mandarake has 12 outlets throughout Japan, as well as an online store. It had 365 employees in 2011. The store is well known for carrying a large variety of other popular media besides ''doujinshi'', including many older collector's items. * Toranoana, founded in 1996. Toranoana has 25 outlets throughout Japan, as well as an online store and a separate download store for digital works. It has about 1000 employees'. *, founded in 1998. Melon Books has 24 outlets throughout Japan, as well as an online store. It had 391 employees in 2011. *
K-Books is a chain of used goods stores in Japan. It specializes in otaku- and hobbyist-related items, including anime goods, manga, ''dōjinshi'' (self-published works), and voice actor and idol goods. History K-Books was founded in 1992 originally as ...
, founded in 1992. K-BOOKS has 5 outlets that carry ''doujinshi'' throughout Japan, besides several other outlets that carry other goods, as well as an online store. It had 380 employees in 2013. *
Animate Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
, founded in 1987. Animate has 114 outlets throughout Japan, as well as an online store.Animate. 2014. "Zenkoku Tenpo Ichiran 全国店舗一覧." Animate. Accessed May 7. http://www.animate.co.jp/shop/. Animate's core business is the sale of professionally published media and pop culture merchandise, and its ''doujinshi'' section is small and highly selective.


See also

*''
Denkigai no Honya-san , also known by the abbreviation , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Asato Mizu. It depicts slice of life stories about a group of characters who work in a fictional ''doujin'' shop called , a reference to the real-life '' ...
'' * ''Doujin'' soft * ''Doujinshi'' printer


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dojinshi Anime and manga terminology Anime and manga fandom Fan fiction Retailers by type of merchandise sold