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I think that there is not enough of a doujin culture in the western world, so I'm working on a way to start it up. Anyone else interested in joining the effort? For those who dislike reading long posts, I have sorted this in order of decreasing importance. Only the first paragraph after this is of practical significance, so you can stop reading there if you wish.
On how to start a doujin culture in the U.S./Europe:
As for what I have come up so far: I am so far experimenting with doing illustrations/comics, passing out small amounts to a local anime club (first to just two people, and then three, and so on), and encouraging them to draw as well, through first giving a demonstration where I illustrate in front of them, and then giving a small lesson on the basics of drawing a cartoon human figure, while also trying to become friends with them (one person at a time, though). In this way, I am attempting to gradually expand the number of people who are doing this activity, until perhaps it has enough charm to attract new people around the area to participate in it without my direct contact with them.
Henceforth, my explanations/theories on it:
I believe that doujin culture started in Japan as a historical accident, so I certainly do believe that it is possible to start it here. I am not completely certain about its approach, or I would have done it already. However, I think that it cannot simply be "imported from Japan," or because if it could, it probably would have been here already, along with cosplay and all the other stuff. My guess is that it is because of distance, and cultural distance, which plays a greater factor than for things like cosplay, in that the community is necessary to sustain it, not just the individual act.
I think it needs to be in real life. We have had the internet for some time, and still, no major doujin culture such as on the scale of Japan has started yet. If such a culture could start on the internet, then surely people would have succeeded already. My guess is that it is because we are not at an age where people can "live" on the internet; the internet is only a small part of one's life, and there is something not fulfilling enough about the internet for many people. Even if I am wrong about the fact that it needs to be in real life, there is at least no going wrong with starting in real life.
I think that it would be important to pass out print copies of one's own comics, since it would feel more meaningful than just uploading them online, or simply showing to each other at a meeting. Following the example of Japan, the primary medium would be comics, and also it does seem to be the most practical medium for instant distribution in real life.
I realize that perhaps my own actions have so far been pretty minimal, so I wonder what others think about this, and if there can be any further suggestions for what could be done.
On why to start a doujin culture in the U.S. (The following is pretty long and not as important as the above, so you can stop reading here if you find this boring.)
By "doujin culture," I specifically refer to "derivative works culture." It is doubtless that there is no such derivative works culture in the U.S., or the rest of the western world, or even the rest of the world for that matter (I am not so sure about Taiwan, though). There is fanfiction, fanart, and some remix videos on the internet, and maybe some things at conventions, but the internet can only be a small part of one's life for most people, and the same goes for conventions. At the very least, there is no derivative works culture like there is in Japan.
Some people may say that this is a result of a difference in copyright laws, or a difference in population densities. First, I dismiss the idea that copyright laws have made a difference because Japanese people are more assholes about copyright law than probably any other country, which is why I do not like Japan as much as in the past, so cultural, a doujin culture should have been more improbably in Japan than the U.S. To be more specific about the actual situation, Japanese copyright law is pretty much the same as in the U.S., where derivative works are considered "grey area." There have been several cases in the 1990's where people have been prosecuted for Pokemon doujinshi... and so on. It's just that as long as the copyright holder makes no complaint, nothing happens. Several times, this has happened... there was a big incident where a ton of Yu-gi-oh MADs have been taken off of Nicovideo due to copyright complaints, and things like that. In any case, people who say there is a difference mostly seem not to know of the situation. Even if there is a difference, I would say that it is putting too much emphasis on the impact of law, whereas it is the cultural practice that makes more of the difference. Second, about population density: Several areas in the U.S. and Europe have higher population densities than in Japan. Tokyo is hardly the biggest city in the world. I don't know why this often comes up as a reason.
As for what I do believe the real reason one started in Japan and one didn't start in the U.S., I think it is purely a historical accident. Although I can't really find much written about the start of doujin culture other than the line, "after world war II, manga doujinshi suddenly appeared," I figured that at least some people did something in order to start it; it wasn't simply a product of "the times" or anything like that. Taking a look at the exponential growth of Comic Market in its first years, I conclude that the reason it has grown from that point on is because it is something that can propagate itself, and therefore I am sure that this is not something that can just come about spontaneously.
As for the primary reason why I believe that a doujin culture is beneficial to society, it is because I believe that it can somewhat function as a replacement for religion, or at least, a replacement for the worse parts of religion, and at least certainly a better influence than the Islam that is pervading Egypt and Syria at the moment. Previously, I have always believed that "secularism" and "atheism" was the way for society, but if there is one reason why religion will never die out, it is because of the emotional comfort it serves, and the bonds that it creates between people. I look upon the "otaku" culture of Japan to observe how passionate people can feel about it. Despite my awareness of how "otaku" is used as a disparaging word in Japan, I do believe that using it positively has some merit. It is my belief that derivative works serve as the foundation of this "otaku" culture, and can serve as an alternate to religion that is more beneficial socially than what much of the world's religion is doing today, by emphasizing the value of the people of this world rather than the afterlife.
A secondary reason is because of the freedom it brings. Freedom of expression comes to mind first; whenever I see something like the YouTube video about CNN reporting on Rapelay, I get very angry that things have turned out like this, but I realize that this anger is futile, especially when I read people's comments talking about how Rapelay is evil and such, and recognize that this does partly reflect popular opinion. By creating a culture that is not afraid of anything that might bound the imagination, not only will it not be stopped by any popular opinion or censorship laws (due to its self-published nature), but it can also has the potential to gain popular acceptance over time when people realize why freedom of imagination and freedom of thought has value even if it concerns things that are unquestionably wrong in real life. More importantly, it also gives us freedom from the commercial culture that surrounds us all the time, and gives power to "independent cultures" to influence or popular culture. Or, to say things more simply, by replacing (or at least displacing) the current culture with something like a doujin culture, it takes away power from the interests of the likes of Hollywood and their MPAA and whatnot. This would especially be true if a doujin culture can create a real-life community.
As a final note, I do find it somewhat sad that it is in Japan that this kind of accident happened, and not the U.S./Europe, because if it were in the U.S. or any other western country, it could have perhaps more easily spread to other countries. Furthermore, the doujin culture suits the Western spirit more than the Japanese spirit; Westerners are fundamentally more expressive and less shy than Japanese people, more non-conformist, more individualist, and more valuing of individual liberty. The Western equivalent of the otaku would probably not be as hated as much as in Japan; in fact, perhaps appreciated.
Thank you for reading this if you have read this far. I do hope that this is a subject that many people here are interested in.
