Comiket
Encyclopedia
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book
fair, held twice a year in Tokyo
, Japan
. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people. It is a grassroots, DIY
effort for selling dōjinshi
, self-published Japanese works. As items sold in Comiket are considered very rare (because dōjinshi are seldom reprinted), some items sold at Comiket can be found in shops or on the Internet at prices up to 10 times the item's original price.
The continuing operation of Comiket is the responsibility of the Comic Market Preparatory Committee (ComiketPC).
and a circle of friends, including Teruo Harada and Jun Aniwa, while they were studying at Meiji University
. They wished to study manga and explore its potential, as commercial offerings were unchallenging and mainstream, following the closure of COM
. Comiket was also founded as a freer form of the SF Taikai
convention.
convention center near Ariake
, in Odaiba
, Kōtō, Tokyo
. The major part of the convention runs from 10AM to 4PM, though the company booths run all the way until 5PM. On the last day of the convention, the company booths and Cosplay Square close an hour earlier, at 4PM and 3PM respectively. Due to the popularity of the event, the official Comic Market website advises first-time attendees to arrive in the afternoon to avoid having to wait in line. Those arriving at 10AM can expect to wait in line for about an hour before being able to enter. Attendees who arrive on the first train, can expect to wait about five hours before entering at roughly 10 or 10:30AM.
The last Comiket, Comiket 80, was held on August 12, 13 and 14, 2011.
The catalog is not required for admittance, but without it the event is nearly impossible to navigate. Catalogs are often sold at tents in and around the event for the benefit of latecomers.
The CD-ROM edition of the catalog includes the following features:
To date, there is no English edition of the catalog available.
The Comiket website usually has a list of stores (by prefecture) where you can order the catalog. Please be aware that not all stores have the CD-ROM version and some may not have the print version. This is also on the list of stores on the Comiket homepage. Catalogs can be ordered from overseas, depending on the store. The catalog typically comes out two weeks before the convention, up until the first day of Comiket.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
fair, held twice a year in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people. It is a grassroots, DIY
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
effort for selling dōjinshi
Dojinshi
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. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
, self-published Japanese works. As items sold in Comiket are considered very rare (because dōjinshi are seldom reprinted), some items sold at Comiket can be found in shops or on the Internet at prices up to 10 times the item's original price.
The continuing operation of Comiket is the responsibility of the Comic Market Preparatory Committee (ComiketPC).
Origins
Comiket was founded in 1975 by Yoshihiro YonezawaYoshihiro Yonezawa
was a Japanese manga critic and author. He is also known for being Comiket's co-founder and president. He died of lung cancer at 53...
and a circle of friends, including Teruo Harada and Jun Aniwa, while they were studying at Meiji University
Meiji University
is a private university in Tokyo and Kawasaki, founded in 1881 by three lawyers of the Meiji era, Kishimoto Tatsuo, Miyagi Kōzō, and Yashiro Misao. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities in Tokyo, Japan....
. They wished to study manga and explore its potential, as commercial offerings were unchallenging and mainstream, following the closure of COM
COM (manga magazine)
was a manga magazine started in January 1967 by Osamu Tezuka. It was started in response to the success of Garo , and as a way for Tezuka and other artists to showcase more avant-garde and experimental works in manga...
. Comiket was also founded as a freer form of the SF Taikai
Nihon SF Taikai
The is an annual science fiction convention held in Japan. Each of these conventions is officially the , but they are more popularly known by the official nicknames given to them based on their locations, e.g. TOKON or DAICON .Each year the Nihon SF Taikai attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 science...
convention.
Time, date, and location
Comic Market is held twice a year; once in August, and once in December. These are typically referred to as and (contractions of Summer and Winter Comiket) respectively. NatsuComi is three days long, and usually is held during the weekend around August 15. FuyuComi is two to three days long, and usually is held between December 28 and 31. The current convention location is the Tokyo Big SightTokyo Big Sight
is the popular nickname for the , a Japanese convention center that opened in April 1996. Located in Odaiba, Tokyo Bay, the center is one of the largest convention venues within the city, and its most iconic representation is the visually distinctive Conference Tower.-Construction:Contracted by the...
convention center near Ariake
Ariake
Ariake is the name of several places in Japan.*Ariake, Kagoshima, a former town in Kagoshima Prefecture*Ariake, Kumamoto, a former town in Kumamoto Prefecture*Ariake, Saga, a former town in Saga Prefecture*Ariake, Tokyo, a district within Kōtō, Tokyo...
, in Odaiba
Odaiba
is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential...
, Kōtō, Tokyo
Koto, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 442,271 and a population density of 11,070 persons per km². The total area is 39.48 km². The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English....
. The major part of the convention runs from 10AM to 4PM, though the company booths run all the way until 5PM. On the last day of the convention, the company booths and Cosplay Square close an hour earlier, at 4PM and 3PM respectively. Due to the popularity of the event, the official Comic Market website advises first-time attendees to arrive in the afternoon to avoid having to wait in line. Those arriving at 10AM can expect to wait in line for about an hour before being able to enter. Attendees who arrive on the first train, can expect to wait about five hours before entering at roughly 10 or 10:30AM.
The last Comiket, Comiket 80, was held on August 12, 13 and 14, 2011.
Size
By 1982, there were less than 10,000 attendees at Comiket, however, by 1989, there were over 100,000 attendees. Approximately 35,000 sellers, known as circles, participated in Comiket . An estimated 510,000 attendees converge in the course of three days, but this number continues to increase. Because of the extreme number of people gathering in a single place, mobile phone companies set up temporary antennas that are usually employed when stationary antennas are out of service. Area hotels, trains, and bus services also make special arrangements to accommodate the large crowds. Comiket 76 from August 14–16, 2009 attracted an estimated 560,000 attendees.Catalog
The Comiket Catalog contains information about the buyers and sellers at Comiket and other general event information. It is available in print and CD-ROM format. The print version is roughly the size of an average phone book. It contains lists of all the participating circles, maps of the convention layout, maps and directions to get to and from the convention, rules for the convention, and one to two pictures for every participating circle.The catalog is not required for admittance, but without it the event is nearly impossible to navigate. Catalogs are often sold at tents in and around the event for the benefit of latecomers.
The CD-ROM edition of the catalog includes the following features:
- Advanced search functions by day, location, circle, title, genre, etc.
- Custom color coded checklist creation
- Customized map and list printing with customizeable lists and fields
- Clickable layout map for navigation
- Importing and exporting circle and image data (presumably for new versions)
- Saving lists as .csv files for use in a spreadsheet program
To date, there is no English edition of the catalog available.
The Comiket website usually has a list of stores (by prefecture) where you can order the catalog. Please be aware that not all stores have the CD-ROM version and some may not have the print version. This is also on the list of stores on the Comiket homepage. Catalogs can be ordered from overseas, depending on the store. The catalog typically comes out two weeks before the convention, up until the first day of Comiket.
Problems related to Comiket
As the number of circles participating and number of participants increase rapidly, the event has become very crowded. In order to buy their favorite items (and especially famous items, such as dōjinshi from famous authors or special limited-edition items), thousands of people line up outside the Tokyo Big Sight convention center days before the event starts, causing serious security problems. Hence, in recent years lining up before the day Comiket is held on has been prohibited.External links
- The official Comic Market website
- The official Comic Market website
- "What is Comic Market?", "A presentation by the Comic Market Preparations Committee", February 2008
- The Japan Comic Market FAQ: A Gaijin's Guide to Comike via the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
Wayback MachineWayback MachineThe Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three... - How to Comiket, Part I: Intelligence, Part II: Strategy, and The Road to Comiket at Heisei Democracy via the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
Wayback MachineWayback MachineThe Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three... - Ticktank's English Guide to the Comiket—A comprehensive list of articles on how to plan and navigate the Comiket.
- Behind the Scenes of Winter Comiket 29-30 December 1998
- The Fragile Heart of Moé- Trailer—An 8 minute clip from a feature length documentary about dojinshi and Comiket, 2010.