Rin's Easy Guide To Japan: Comiket Part 1

What is doujinshi:

Doujinshi can be classified as fan made items or self published work. Most of these work are self made or group made called circles. Most of the work circles released are either in book form, CD form or in game form. An example of a doujin game would be the extremely popular 2D shooter Touhou by Team Shanghai Alice (A.K.A. ZUN). An example of a CD form doujin is C-Clays music CD. CD doujin music are basically music that are similar or remixed of popular music like such music from Touhou.

Example of what doujinshi are and also what you can get at Comiket too. All these products above are self published items. They can either be obtained in special events like Comiket, stores such as Mandarake or Melonbooks.

Doujin books can be either a small illustration book such as the book above.

Another form is a small comic/ manga.

Most doujinshi are original works to original art works featuring characters from anime and manga. Also doujin ranges from all ages to 18+.

What you need:

Comiket Catalog:

(Using my Comic Market 76 Catalog from my past Japan trip)

The Comic Market Catalog is extremely needed to go to this convention. Unlike it’s figure counterpart Wonder Festival which requires you to have the catalog, Comiket doesn’t as it’s a free convention. Still, I do recommend getting the catalog due to the fact it helps you find your favorite doujin circles or tell you where the official retailers store is. The catalog contains maps of the doujin halls and a map of the official dealers. The catalog lists the location of every circle that attends Comiket and also a small thumbnail picture of their work.

Example of what the inside of the catalog looks like. All circles are organized and shown in small thumbnail like pictures. It’s somewhat of a phone book for Comiket.

Example of a map of one of the halls in Comiket.

The catalog cost around 2400yen. It comes in either book form like above or in CD form for the computer. I recommend the book due to the fact you can bring it along with you when you are at Comiket.

Note: Knowledge of Japanese is needed to look for your circle and location. Also, buy checking your circles website, you can also find out which day and where your circle is going to be.

Backpack:

This helps you carry your stuff in. If you buy a doujin, it’s better to put it in the bag. Also helps you hold your camera, water bottle and Comiket catalog and so on. It’s a must when heading into a convention.

Water:

This is extremely needed, especially if you go during the summer due to the hot weather. Bring a large bottle of water will refresh you during your doujin hunt. You can either bring it along with you or buy it at a AM PM or a 7/11 near the line. A large bottle of water doesn’t cost a lot (around 100yen to 200yen) and it is better to buy it before Comiket starts. There are vending machines inside but the main problem is a lot of drinks tend to sell out quickly.

Money (Japanese Yen):

The major need when going to Comiket. If you intend on buying goods, I say bring only Japanese Yen. Comiket only accepts cash. There are bank machines in which you can go withdraw money from but I do recommend to do that before Comiket starts as there is always long lines at the ATM inside Tokyo Big Sight.

Planning:

I can’t say this enough. Planning is extremely needed when heading into Comiket. Sure you can go in blind and buy what you see, but you might not get what you what at times as the item you might want. By planning on what you want, you can carefully lay out how to get these items. So prioritize on which to get first and which item is more important. Also by knowing where the things you want is also needed.

Note: It’s impossible for one guy to get a lot of stuff from multiple places. I say bring friends with good directional sense to help you get the stuff you want or help you get stuff for friends. Trust me, I know this first hand.

Optional Items – (These items are optional, you can survive without it but I do recommend to bring it)

Small portable folding chair:

Something to sit on. Instead of setting on the concrete floor.

A fan: (For summer Comiket only)

You can bring a fan to summer Comiket as it gets hot in the summer. It somewhat helps cool you down. A normal fan to a small electric fan can be useful.

Camera:

If your like me, you love to take pictures for memory sake. So you can bring a camera if you want but I do say that you’re not allowed to take video or take pictures inside of Comiket. You can take pictures at the cosplay square which is where cosplayers go and people take pictures of their cosplays.

Cosplays:

For cosplayers who would love to cosplay at conventions. If you love to cosplay, then bring your cosplay along to Comiket. I do say that it’s a rule that you have to change at Comiket cause you’re not allowed to wear it there. Also props like a sword or staff or any weapon like items are not allowed at Comiket, so don’t bring them.

I hope you all enjoy part 1 of my easy guide to Japan Comiket. I’ll have more info about Comiket later on. I also plan on expanding on what is doujinshi in a future post. More easy guide to Japan to come in the future.

For more on Easy Guide to Japan, please head over to by blog.