What is Doujin?
In Japanese, “doujin” describes passionate individuals working individually or collectively (in groups known as circles) to self-publish and showcase their works. Originally used to describe literary works, modern doujin is often associated with pop-culture, especially in the creation of comics, games, manga, music and stories.
While doujin products may be sold for a nominal sum, creators in the doujin movement often engage in self-publishing for self-expression rather than for commercial gain. Their products are not distributed commercially, and their volume is limited in scope.
What is Doujin Market?
Doujin Market (or Doujima) is Singapore’s largest pop-culture art convention and exhibition, with an aggregate 92,600 visitors over 7 years.
It celebrates doujin – fan communities passionate about creating art, the original and derivative fan works that they produce, and their aspirations for self-publishing, and also supports creators in aligned industries such as design, music, tabletop game and boardgame creation.
The event is curated and managed by Neo Tokyo Project, a creative collective based in Singapore with more than 10 years of experience in organizing and planning community pop-culture events.
Basic Admission to Doujin Market is ticketed ($10) and tickets are available from Eventbrite from April onwards.
What can I expect?
This year, Doujin Market takes place at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre Hall 403/404/405 on 11 – 12 May 2024, and will feature more than 500 doujin circles and independent creators from Singapore and around the region.
To foster a culture of self-publishing and to spur entrepreneurship in the arts, Doujin Market will also feature a section for companies in arts education, animation, gaming, production and publishing to share their expertise, their products, and opportunities for collaboration with participating artists at the event.
In 2019, RPG Day Singapore was merged with Doujin Market to create additional opportunities for analog game designers, hobbyists groups and enthusiasts who love tabletop RPG games to exhibit and showcase their work to an audience of thousands, and 2024 will continue to see this being a component of the show.
Check out our [Event Schedule] and list of [Exhibitors] for more details.