Doujin
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In Japan, doujin (Japanese: 同人, Hepburn: dōjin) 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 by these groups are also called doujin, including manga, magazines, novels, music (doujin music), anime, and video games (doujin soft). Print doujin works are collectively called doujinshi.
Doujin works are typically amateur and derivative in nature, though some professional artists participate in doujin culture as a way to publish material outside the regular publishing industry.
Annual research by the research agency Media Create indicated that of the US$1.65 billion of the otaku industry in 2007, doujin sales made up 48% (US$792 million).[1][irrelevant citation]
Literary societies
Literary circles first appeared in the
Manga circles
After World War II, manga doujin started to appear in Japan.
Today
Avid fans of doujin attend regular doujin conventions, the largest of which is called
Over the last decade, the practice of creating doujin has expanded significantly, attracting thousands of creators and fans alike. Advances in personal publishing technology have also fueled this expansion by making it easier for doujin creators to write, draw, promote, publish, and distribute their works.
Western perception
In Western cultures, doujin are often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous to fan fiction. To an extent, this is true: many doujin are based on popular manga, anime, or video game series. However, many doujin consisting of original content also exist. Among the numerous doujin categories, doujinshi (同人誌) are the ones getting the most exposure outside Japan, as well as within Japan, where doujinshi are by tradition the most popular and numerous doujin products.[citation needed]
Types
- Doujinshi: Printed works such as comics, novels, and magazines.
- Dōjin soft / dōjin game(同人ソフト / 同人ゲーム, dōjin sofuto / dōjin gēmu): games, software
- Dōjin music(同人音楽, dōjin ongaku): music
- ero dōjin (エロ同人), is a form of doujin which is sexually explicit in nature and even pornographic (hentai).
Notes
External links
- The Doujinshi & Manga Lexicon Archived 2022-07-07 at the Wayback Machine: user-submitted database of doujinshi artists/circles/books, including name translations