The Makings of a Doujin Convention: Singapore's Doujin Market
Interviewed, Written and Translated by Pinosuke , English Version Edited by Angelo Wong Images provied by interviewee.
Intro
Founded in 2014, Doujin Market – Doujima – is the largest doujin event in Singapore. It is one of the first few events in Singapore that mostly consists of artist booths. Founded with the aim of providing a space for local creators to promote their work, the event only had 22 booths and 1,000 visitors in the beginning, but by its 5th year, it had surged in size to having over 300 booths and 20,000+ participants. As fellow members of the I.O.E.A. (International Otaku Expo Association), we had the chance to speak with the founders of Doujima, Jason & Charlotte.
( J﹕Jason、C﹕Charlotte )
Q: Can you introduce yourselves to the Hong Kong community?
J&C: Hello everyone!We’re Jason and Charlotte from Neo Tokyo Project, and we’re the event organizers of Doujima. Aside from Doujima, we also hold other events, such as Cosplay events, as well as tabletop gaming events like Dungeons and Dragons conventions.
Starting Point
Q: What was your motivation for founding Doujima?
J: Several years ago, there was a writers’ festival where reputable creators were invited as guest speakers. In one of the sessions that I attended, one of these speakers was asked about their thoughts on doujin creation. To my surprise, this supposedly reputable speaker defined doujin creation as an act of plagiarism, and further accused doujin creators of being “unskilled” creators.
C: Another thing that was concerning was that art schools, where a lot of the younger doujin creators were studying, discouraged people from making fan art, saying that it was an artistic sell-out and was the “easy thing” to do. I don’t believe that is necessarily true.
J&C: These misconceptions were really saddening. Not only was a wrong image of the culture being put into the public’s minds, but also young doujin creators were being discouraged from doing what they were passionate about. Not to mention that certain doujin creators’ works were even more successful than some of the mainstream publications at the time. With the intention to dispel such misconceptions and to provide a place where creators can feel safe and feel a sense of belonging, we decided to go all in on this project. Our thoughts were to“Make it Big! And Show these People!”
Difficulties and Challenges as Organizers
Q: What difficulties and challenges did you and your team face since you first started organizing Doujima? How did you and your team tackle these problems?
J&C: First and foremost, dealing with finances will always be the biggest challenge. Though it might not be as expensive as places like the U.S. or Europe, rents for venue spaces are still quite pricey in Singapore. Another money-related challenge would be finding suitable sponsors. Not all sponsors are here just to support the art, and they usually are more concerned with what value it brings to them as opposed to what value it brings to the doujin community. Which is totally understandable. I would say that we are blessed to see a growing trend in potential sponsors being accepting and supportive of the community and the artform.
J: When it comes to the question of “how are things paid?” I always tell people that I use my hobbies to fund my shows, like my Magic: the Gathering collections, or our work with corporate sponsors, which includes multiple things, like prop creation and cosplay talent management services…
C: And throwing our own savings into the show! Up to our most recent show, we are still set on “free to enter,” as we hope for the event to be more accessible to the general public. There is also this problem where we have become the victims of our own success. In how rapidly our event has grown over the past several years, from having a little bit more than a thousand people to over 20k, the workload of allocating staff and teaching volunteers to deal with the crowds and congestion has been a task we continuously faced.
J: Not only does a bigger crowd create congestion problems, but also there is the issue of the conduct of each participating individual. For our events, we post out notices and guidelines on social media and at the venue itself with codes of conduct and reminders of the things they should not be doing. We do it in the hope of reaching a point of mutual respect between all participants, so all can enjoy their time at the event.
An Ideal Environment for Events? Singapore and Hong Kong
Q: What are your thoughts on the events in Singapore / Hong Kong compared to that of other regions?
J&C: The environment for events in the West, like the U.S. or Australia, is very much different than that in Singapore. Situations like having to take long train rides, booking your own car to reach the convention centers or even finding a suitable hotel close by the venue are something that the Singaporean community can hardly imagine. I believe that would be a similar case for those in Hong Kong.
J: From the perspective of artists and exhibitors, it’s much less worrying when most services are readily accessible and when it is no fuss going around the city. Those services include a developed transportation system like the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore’s metro system), printing shops located in the city, or even ones located next to the convention center that specialize in making doujinshis; and delivery systems to have your products arrive on time safely. This self-contained environment allows creators to focus on creating their works and presenting their works at the convention, which is an advantage when compared to events in the West. Not to mention that being in Asia means close proximity with TaoBao makers, where orders’ delivery fees are much cheaper than for creators in the West, and shipments arrive in less time too. This might be one of the factors why fan art goods can be bought at more affordable prices in Singapore and Hong Kong events. In fact, there have been Hong Kong creators who told us that exhibiting in Singapore felt familiar and like home.
C: You know, MRT and MTR, same thing.
A Word of Advice as Senpais
Q: What advice do you have for people who are interested in organizing events but do not know where to start?
J&C: Number one, remember to memorize the rulebook written by your local government. Be sure that you are familiar with the regulations and have all the documents you need, whether it be a license or permits for the event. Especially be reminded of testing regimes under the COVID situations.
Number two, always have everything pre-planned for the event. For anything that can go wrong in the course of the event, expect it to go wrong. Safety plans, evacuation plans, there are never enough plans for the different possibilities you might come across on the day of the event.
Number three, manage the event’s social media and information properly. Make sure that all the information about your event can be found in one place, so that your visitors can find them at a click of a button. Don’t have one thing on your Facebook and another on your Instagram. Also make sure the information you share amongst the team is consistent. You wouldn’t want your staff spreading wrong info to participants.
Number four, be good with your staff. Train your staff and prepare them for what’s to come. Treat your staff well on the day, give them the rest that they need and deserve, make sure they stay hydrated and are given the time to enjoy the event as well. But being good also means being good in allocating them to the correct task. Make the most use of their skills and personality. As in, you’re not going to want to put a socially awkward introvert at your reception desk, because both the staff and the people asking for help will freak out.
To the Hong Kong Community
Q: What can creators interested in attending Doujima expect from it?
J&C: In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of gaming companies, creative art organizations & entertainment enterprises setting up new headquarters in Singapore. We see this as a great opportunity for both the event and the creators, as there are more sponsors and opportunities for collaboration and even employment. That process can be observed in a section of our event. One of the favorite parts for us and for participating artists is the first night, when creators mingle amongst themselves, exchange art, and network, and where they can moreover promote themselves to sponsors and key industry individuals at the party, leading to possible offers.
Another feature of our event is that the allocation of booths is decided through a random ballot. Although it might be more common to categorize creators into clusters of specific genres, we believe a random ballot provides all creators an equal share of the spotlight, as it would be less likely to have congestion in specific areas. At the same time, it would also motivate visitors to navigate and explore the show more fully.
For foreign exhibitors, we support them through various arrangements, such as specially placing them next to circles from their region so that they can look out for each other, and allocating staff to help them out by explaining things or watching their booth when they need restroom breaks. Please feel free to approach us whenever you need assistance.
Q: Anything you would like to say to the community in Hong Kong?
J&C: Come visit or exhibit at Doujima in the future when the gates are more open! We will be waiting for you guys! We also look forward to being able to visit Hong Kong again soon!
C: I miss the cheong fun~
J: And I miss the dim sum~
Outro
Gratitude towards Jason and Charlotte in sharing their experience and insights as event organizers of Doujima. Also gratitude towards the organizers of Palette Ring for inviting me as a guest journalist and taking this initiative to raise awareness for events in other regions. Kudos to both events’ organizers’ efforts in these difficult times. Whether you are an artist or a participant, when the borders are opened go out there to explore different events and broaden your horizons when given the opportunity!
Special Thanks to Levin, Angelo and Secmoon in the makings of this article.
For those who are interested, the full version of this interview will be posted on Palette Ring’s official website.