Comic Market Symposium presents

THE COMIC MARKET TODAY ANDOVERSEAS PARTICIPANTSbyCOMIC MARKET COMITEE CO-REPRESENTATIVE

Kō-Ichi Ichikawa

Presented at the Tokyo Big Sight on
December 30th, 2009.

PART ONEwww.comiket.co.jp

COMIC MARKET- PAST AND PRESENT2

WHAT IS THE COMIC MARKET?

www.comiket.co.jp- Excluding private industry showcases such as the Tokyo Motor Show, the Comic Market is Japan's largest
indoor public gathering operated by a single private non-governmental group.
- Main attraction: Exhibition and sales of self-published publications (doujinshis) centered around manga, anime,
video games, and other related genres.
- Commercial industry booths housing over 150 corporations accommodated in a separate wing of the exhibition
complex.
- The entire Tokyo Big Sight (an international exhibition complex in Ariake) occupied for three days in bothsummer and winter.
- Often abbreviated as the Comiket and Comike.
■Comic Market 76-Held between August 14th ~ 16th, 2009.
-Over 35000 circles (publishing groups) participating.
-Over 51000 circles (publishing groups) applied toparticipate.
-Total combined attendance over three days: Over
560,000.
-Total combined number of cosplay participants overthree days: Over 16000.
-Total number of staff: Approx. 2900.
-Simplified and unverified statistics-・Total number of copies of books brought in:
12,160,000.
・Total number of copies of books sold:
9,440,000.

■Comic Market 75-Held between December 28th ~ 30th, 2008.
-Over 35000 circles (publishing groups) participating.
-Over 49000 circles (publishing groups) applied toparticipate.
-Total combined attendance over three days: Over510,000.
-Total combined number of cosplay participants over threedays: Over 13000.
-Total number of staff: Approx. 2700.
-Simplified and unverified statistics-・Total number of copies of books brought in:
11,570,000.
・Total number of copies of books sold:
9,200,000.

3THE HISTORY OF THE COMIC MARKET(OVERVIEW)●The Early Years (C1～C30 / 1975～1986)-Started from 32 circles & 700 participants,
grew to 4,000 circles and 35,000 participants.
- Shojo manga, Yamato, Gundam related books
popular in early years.
- Congestion and circle application numbers
increases dramatically from 1979.
- Notable trends: lolicon, Rumiko Takashi works.
- Captain Tsubasa mega-boom breaks out.

www.comiket.co.jp●Years of Further Expansion(C31～C49 / 1986～1995)- 4,400 circles and 40,000 participants,grows to 13,000 circles and 250,000 participants.
- Popular genres: Saint Seiya, Samurai Troopers,
bishojo(cute girls), Slamdunk, Gundam W,
Sailor Moon, Evangelion, Tokimeki Memorial.
- Otaku culture bashing followed by themass murderer Miyazaki Incident, theharmful comics controversy results in theComic Market growing even more well known.
- Incident where doujinshi sold on consignment
at bookstore prosecuted for obscenity results in
Comic Market driven out of Makuhari Messe.
- 2 day format of CM becomes entrenched.
- Doujinshi related peripheral industries expand.
- Local dial-up BBS computer networks surges.

●The 1st Ariake Era（C50～C57／1996～1999）●The 2nd Ariake Era(C58～C71 / 2000～2006)- 18,000 circles and 35,000 participants,grows to 35000 circles and 400,000 participants.
- Female audience aimed genre's popularity wanes.
- Popular genres: Mega-boom over "galgees"(video games for male audience featuring girls),i.e. Sakura Taisen, Shizuku, Kizuato, Pia Carrot,To Heart.
- 3 day format for summer CM entrenched.
- Tax issues and copyright issues arises.
- Firebombing and repeated threats take place.

- 35,000 circles and 430,000 participants,grows to 35,000 circles and 510,000 participants.
- Popular genres: Shonen Jump titles, i.e. Prince ofTennis, Reborn. Also Gundam Seed, Fullmetal
Alchemist.
-Moe (infatuation over girls) boom hits: Key,Type-Moon, Marimite, Nanoha, Haruhi, etc.
-Extreme congestion in the corporate booths
section.
- Increase of doujinshi consignment bookstores.
-Otaku subculture itself becomes a major fad inJapan.
- Increasing CM participants act like store patrons.
-CM and doujinshi activities more linked with theInternet.

●Latest Trends(C72～/ 2007～)- 35,000 circles and 560,000 participants.
- Many CM boom arising from the Internet:
Miku Hatsune, Hetaria, Toho Project, etc.
- Maximum utilization of all facilities of theTokyo Big Sight.
-The need to safely and smoothly guide anEver increasing number of participants tothe CM.

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CHRONOLOGY OF GENERAL ATTENDEES AND
PARTICIPATING CIRCLES STATISTICS.

www.comiket.co.jp
Tokyo Big Sight
Three Day Operation
Attendee Peak Number
560,000 (at C76)

1975 / 1980 / 1985 / 1990 / 1995 / 2000 / 2005
Red - Participating Circles
Blue - General Attendees

19751980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

40,000Participating Circles

万50

General Attendees

35,00030,00040

25,000

30
一般参加者

サークル

20,000

Captain Tsubasa,
Saint Seiya,
Samurai Troopers
boom years

15,00010,00020

Comic Market 1
Circles Participating - 32
Total Attendees - roughly
7,000

Winter session duration fluctuates
between 2 and 3 days depending onthe timing of the weekend.

105,000050

INSIDE THE COMIC MARKET PART I

www.comiket.co.jp

6- A bird's eye view of the East Halls 1 ~ 3.

INSIDE OF THE COMIC MARKET - PART II
GENERAL ATTENDEES AWATING ENTRY.

- Prior to the 10:00 a.m. opening of the Comic Market,
tens of thousands of general attendees must beorganized into lines and guided within nearby
parking lot grounds, parks, and other open spaces.
- To help cope with the massive influx of people, nearby
mass transit--such as the Yurikamome elevated trainline, the Rinkaisen train line, Tokyo Metropolitan
Bus lines--change their operating schedule andincrease service to accommodate the crowds.
- No charge for admission (but purchasing of the catalog
is strongly encouraged.)www.comiket.co.jp

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INSIDE OF THE COMIC MARKET - PART III
LINES INSIDE THE COMIC MARKET

www.comiket.co.jp- Long lines may form at doujinshi circles that areparticularly popular.
- Circles that are very popular are positioned near theloading bays so the lines can be arranged to beextended out into the truck yards.
- Some circles will sell a 1,000 copies and more oftheir books at a single session of the Comic Market.

8COSPLAY

www.comiket.co.jp- Participants enjoy dressing up to appear like theirfavorite anime, manga, and/or game characters.
- A dedicated dressing room just for cosplay issetup at the 4th floor of the West Wing, separate
room for the two sexes, cost -- 800 yen (roughly$9) per person for registration, et al.
- Because of congestion, regulations regarding
cosplay is more restrictive at the Comic Market
compared to other events.
- Ratio of cosplay participants by gender -- Male 1 :9Female 4~5.

A PROFILE OF COMIC MARKET
PARTICIPANTS - PART I

www.comiket.co.jp

Comparison of data from the 30TH Annual survey (2004) and CM77 (winter of 2009).
In contrast to popular belief, most participants are female, but male participants are increasing.
Average age of fans of genres popular among youth: Toho - 24.8 yrs., Hetalia - 26.6 yrs.
Participating circles gender & age
breakdown(30TH Annual research):

Women
７１％

Age demographics of circleorganizer(Comic Market 77 research):

Average age of circle organizer:
Overall - 28.4 years oldAmong men -- 28.6 years old
Among women -- 28.3 years old

Women
６０％

Average age of circle organizer:
Overall - 30.3 years old
Among men -- 29.6 years old
Among women -- 30.7 years old

Men
４０％

Men
２９％
人人

Category

Men

Female10000

19 and under

4.1％

4.6%

8000

6000

20-24

4000
2000
0Woman

Man

22.1%

23.2%

25-29

30.5%

33.4%

30-34

27.6%

23.5%

35-39

11.6%

11.2%

40 and above

4.1%

4.1%

Excerpt from Comic Market 30 year anniversary retrospective Comic Market 30's File.

4000
2000
0Men

Female19 and under1.6%

1.0%

20-24

27.9%

18.9%

25-29

24.0%

27.0%

30-34

20.2%

25.6%

35-39

16.5%

40 and above

9.8%

16.6%
1011.0%Category

6000

歳
以20 下-2
425 歳
-2
9歳
30-3
4歳
35-3
9歳
40
歳
以
上

8000

Woman
Man

1910000

A PROFILE OF COMIC MARKET
PARTICIPANTS - PART II

www.comiket.co.jp

The average age of the general participant is about 2～3 years younger than that of theparticipating circles.
The greater Kanto region accounts for roughly 60% of total aggregate CM attendance.
General participant gender breakdown(30th Annual research):

Men 43％The best guess is that the ratioof female / male among
general participants is roughly
50:50 at this time.

Women 57％
General Participants(30th Annual research):
KYUSHUSHIKOKU
100%
CHUGOKU
80%
KINKI
CHUBU
60%
KITAKANTO40%TOHOKU
20%
HOKKAIDOCHIBA
0%CIRCLESSAITAMA
GENERAL PARTICIPANTS
KANAGAWATOKYO
Excerpt from Comic Market 30 year anniversary retrospective Comic Market 30's File.

Samplings from C77 indicatesvery little deviation from the2004.
Addendum:
The circle application to the C78 included a survey form aspart of a 35 year anniversary research project being
conducted by the Contents Research Team, a group centeredaround researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The
Comic Market Committee is cooperating with this project.
The project is aimed toward revealing a more detailed andclearly picture of the Comic Market participants.

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THE VENUE THAT IS THE COMIKET-

www.comiket.co.jp

Comic Market's self-declared proclamation (reprinted from the ComiketManual)・ We conceptualize doujinshi as the medium through which creators can explore and expand the realms ofmanga, anime, games, novels, and other related peripheral genres. This exploration may even bear fruitin other forms, not limited to doujinshis. Our aim is to maintain a venue and forum at which creators can
showcase these efforts to the public.

・ To encourage creative efforts that break the mold from what is established within the realms ofcommercial publishing and other conventional forms of self-expression, and to support those that
research and celebrate this unique brand of creative efforts, we provide a distinct venue upon which
enthusiasts can congregate and intermingle, and hope that the venue will act as a catalyst to compel
further creative achievement through interaction and discovery among their peers. The goal is maintain asocial forum in the shape of a doujinshi marketplace but also acts a gathering place for manga and anime
enthusiasts.

・ A venue where people who seek new possibilities in self-expression can find numerous such works, aswell as a venue where people who seek to present such works will find a willing audience.

・ Since the goal is to maintain this unique venue and forum, the Comic Market is committed towardattempting to accommodate every circle and people which express an interest toward participating as
best as possible within the physical constraints that limit the scope of the event.
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CHANGES TO THE "VENUE"

www.comiket.co.jp- Transformation of the Comic Market itself.
・ A "festival" that celebrates manga, anime, and games. Its popularity no longer limited to hard core fans.
・ Increasing public exposure of the event.

- An ever increasing number of participants. Rapid increase of overseas
participants.
- Direct word of mouth communication increasingly giving way to indirectcommunication via the Nets.

- Transformation of the creative contents culture and business model.
・ The normalization of the otaku.
・ The increasing ubiquitous nature of information with the advent of the Internet.
・ The overseas exportation of Japanese creative culture.
> Increasing number of overseas hard core fans of Japanese creative culture.

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PART IIwww.comiket.co.jp

COMIC MARKETAND
OVERSEASPARTICIPANTS
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RECEPTION OF JAPANESE COMICS AND
ANIMATION IN NORTH AMERICA (1980～)

www.comiket.co.jp- In 1985, Robotech broadcasted in the United States.
・ Robotech was an American adaptation created by editing together three Japanese animation series,Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber
MOSPEADA.
・ American fans of subculture and alternative entertainment start to take notice of Japanese animation inpart thanks to Robotech. (Popularity of anime preceded manga.)- In mid 1980's, commercial computer communication services such as
CompuServe and GEnie were popular.
・ Animation discussion forums were setup in both services. Information was actively exchanged andcommunication between fans all over the world thrived.

- As home VCRs become more common place, fans gather to have anime viewingsessions.
・ Anime video rooms grow common at established science fiction conventions and fans intermingle.
・ This eventually leads to the creation of dedicated anime conventions. In 1983, the first dedicated anime
convention, YamatoCon is held.
・ In 1990, Project A-Kon begins.
・ In 1991, AnimeCon is launched.
・ In 1992, the first Anime Expo is held.

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COMIC MARKET’S RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE OVERSEAS - 1-

www.comiket.co.jp

Beginning early 1990's, the number of fans of anime and manga increases in
Asia and America, and thus helps bring about the birth of anime conventions.
・ In 1993, the Comic Market was invited to attend Anime America.
・ Since then, the Comic Market has been invited to attend Katsucon, Yaoi-Con, and Romics (Italy).

-In 1993, the movie director Jean-Jacques Beineix arrived to Japan and attended
the Comic and filmed the Comic Market as part of his documentary Otaku: fils
de l'empire du virtuel, released 1993.

-In 2004, the Comic Market participated in the Venice Biennale as part of the 9thInternational Architecture Exhibition, specifically the "OTAKU: persona =space = city" presentation housed in the Japanese Pavilion.

-Starting from the late 1990's, the International Desk, a department devoted tohelping participants from overseas, was created within the Comic MarketCommittee. People from overseas start to participate at the Comic Market as
circle publishers around the same time.

-The Comic Market Catalog begins to include guidance information aimed foroverseas participants.
・ English information page, beginning from C56 of 1999.
・ Four language information page, featuring Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean, beginning from C68of 2005.

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COMIC MARKET’S RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE OVERSEAS - 2-

www.comiket.co.jp

Cosplay's original birthplace -- America's science fiction conventions andworldcons.
・ Cosplay was a fixture in Japanese science fiction conventions and manga events.
・ Costume players (masqueraders) started appearing the Comic Market starting from Comiket 5 of 1977.
・ As popularity of anime heated up in the 1980's and games became popular in the 1990's, so did cosplay at
the Comic Market.
・ The preferred term the English had been "masquerade," but from 1990's the term "cosplay" become
increasingly used overseas as well. It is believed that the first time the word "cosplay" was used was in anarticle about world con featured in the Japanese SF Magazine of 1984.

-Anime and manga events overseas tend feature numerous activities combined
together rather than focusing on single aspects of fandom and creativity. Cosplay
is a very popular event at numerous overseas conventions.

-

The World Cosplay Summit's popularity.
・ Launched in 2003 where three nations were participating. In 2009, fans from over 15 nations areparticipating.
・ In 2007, the World Cosplay Summit was incorporated as part of the Japanese Government's "Visit Japan"
campaign.

-

Cosplay featured often in YouTube. Many involving overseas fans acting out
various character sequences to camera.
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CURRENT STATE OF OVERSEASPARTICIPANTS - 1-Press coverage.
・・・-

Increasing share of press people have prior knowledge of the Comic Market's characteristics.
> At the 2007 C73, a correspondent for US gay lifestyle magazine came to conduct press coverage at C73,
while a Frenchman cross-dressed as a female character from Lucky Star and also conducted presscoverage.
Some notable press coverage examples.
> At the 2007 C73, press came from the Netherlands, Brazil, and Australia.
> At the 2008 C75, press came from Turky, Qatar (Aljazeera), and Norway.
Publicizing Comic Market to Overseas> At 2007 C73, Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranges for footage of the Comic Market in session to befilmed as part of an video introduction on modern Japanese culture.

General Participants.
・・・-

www.comiket.co.jp

Total number of overseas general participants is unknown. (Primarily because it is virtually impossible todistinguish Asian overseas participants compared to other Japanese participants.) However, subjective
estimation indicate numbers increasing.
At 2006 C70, a group tour of nearly 60 people suddenly appeared. (Comic Market currently cannot provide
Spanish assistance.)
At 2007 C72, a Korean general participant became "lost." (The participant had lost contact with companion
originally befriended on the nets. Participant could no speak Japanese.)

Cosplayers
・・

Total number of overseas general participants is unknown. (Primarily because it is virtually impossible todistinguish Asian overseas participants compared to other Japanese participants.) However, subjective
estimation indicate numbers increasing.
18
From 2005 C68, increasing numbers of Italian and Indian nationals participating as cosplayers.

CURRENT STATE OF OVERSEASPARTICIPANTS - 2-

Rapid increase of overseas circle publishers.
・・-

Many trends among general attendees occur within the ranks of circle participants later on. This holds likely
to be the case with overseas participants as well.
Online communities of creative expression, such as Pixiv and YouTube, many be contributing toward an
influx of overseas circle participants.
> Example: Pixiv access during November to December of 2009.
Total hit numbers: 29,000,000.
> 8% of hits from overseas users. (Mostly Taiwan, United States, China, and Korea.)> In 2008, overseas users constituted 5%. Two years prior, 1.6%.
> Overseas users percentages consistently increasing since Pixiv started operating.

Comic Market has unique restrictions over circle participants.
・・-

www.comiket.co.jp

CM requires application must be filed by an individual with a home address within Japan.
In truth, overseas circle participants are dependent on friends in Japan to be their surrogates.

Some overseas circles are becoming highly popular.

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ISSUES ON ACCEPTING OVERSEASPARTICIPANTS-www.comiket.co.jp

The language problem: An independent division such as the International Desk isincreasingly strained.
・ Languages demanded continues to increase.
> International Desk can currently deal with English, German, Chinese and Korean.
・ Overall increase of participants creating numerous strains everywhere.
> The number of general participants, cosplayers, circle participants dramatically increasing.

-Issues over medium of communication: Comic Market's difficulty instandardizing communication with non-domestic addresses.
・ How can the Internet be utilized?
・ "The language barrier" is a major issue.
> Starting from the C77 application form, a clause was a inserted indicating applicant must be able tointelligently understand the material that is provided by the Comic Market Committee. (In otherwords, they must be able to read Japanese.)> Furthermore, applicants must be able to insure that someone who speaks Japanese must be on hand
while conducting business with the Comic Market Committee during the Comic Market itself.

-Intercultural issues.
・ Rating guideline difference between nations.
・ Japanese doujinshi culture is heavily influenced by traits unique to the Japanese publishing industry. Someof these traits are overt and codified, while others are difficult to discern.
> Characteristics of the manga publishing industry, Japanese resale price maintenance scheme in thepublishing industry.
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THANK YOU!

www.comiket.co.jp■Photographs by:– Kaichiro Morikawa– Comic Market Committee Records Office Group■English Translation:– Dan Kanemitsu■Special Thanks– Tokyo Big Sight– Pixiv Inc.

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