.jpg)
Adoujin shop (同人ショップ,dōjin shoppu) is a store that specializes indoujinshi, self-published works. They exist mainly in Japan.Doujin shops can be both brick and mortar as well as online stores.[1] Some sell only second-handdoujinshi, but particularly larger chain stores also sell newdoujinshi. Manydoujin shops also handle other kinds ofdoujin works, such asdoujin music ordoujin games,[2] or commercially published popular media such asmanga andanime.
Doujin shops are either independent or part of a largerdoujin 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 asTokyo'sAkihabara andIkebukuro neighborhoods, or theNipponbashi area of Osaka. Outlets can be very large and often have multiple floors dedicated todoujinshi for different audiences, or to new and second-handdoujinshi.
Together withdoujinshi conventions,doujin shops are the main distribution outlets fordoujinshi.[3]Doujin shops fill a need thatdoujinshi conventions cannot meet: makingdoujinshi accessible to buyers who, for whatever reason, cannot attend conventions. While some regular bookstores very occasionally carry somedoujinshi,doujinshi are usually excluded from regular book distribution channels. This is partly because they are per definition self-published, but also because mostdoujinshi arefanworks, meaning that they exist in a legal gray area of Japanesecopyright law.[4] Tolerance towardsdoujinshi on the part of copyright holders means thatdoujin shops can continue to operate.
Somedoujin shops also have online stores through which they sell printdoujinshi, and sometimes also downloadable digitaldoujinshi,doujin games, and so on. Stores that sell digitaldoujin 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 isDLsite. Additionally, some fan creators operate their own online shops.
The firstdoujin shops emerged in the early 1980s and were located mostly inTokyo. Asdoujinshi creation became more popular in the middle of the 1980s because of the boom in such new genres aslolicon and especiallyyaoi,doujin shops expanded as well and began to sell not just second-handdoujinshi but also newdoujinshi on commission.[5] Some developed into large chain stores that continued to expand throughout the 1990s, along with the rising number of participants inComiket and otherdoujinshi conventions.[6] The commercial impact ofdoujin 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.[1]
When it comes to sale of second-handdoujinshi,doujin shops function exactly like regularused bookstores. Customers bringdoujinshi to the store, which buys some or all of them and then sells them again to new customers. Whether a store will buy olddoujinshi, and at what price, depends on a number of factors mostly related to the marketability of thedoujinshi: rating, fame of thedoujinshi circle that authored the work, fandom popularity, printing method, use of color, paper size, the newness of thedoujinshi, and its content. Manydoujin shops have sections ofdoujinshi made by creators who are also professional manga artist, or who createddoujinshi before they became professional manga artist.
Sale of newdoujinshi indoujin shops works mostly on a system of consignment sale.[1] Circles (individuals or groups who createdoujinshi) apply for the store to carry their works on its shelves. Depending again on the marketability of thedoujinshi, the store may agree or decline. If it agrees, the circle and the store conclude an agreement that the store will exhibit thedoujinshi for a set amount of time. Proceeds go to the circle after the store has taken a commission.
Somedoujin shop chains include:
