Every year, hundreds of thousands of anime, manga, and game fans flock over to Tokyo Big Sight to attend Comiket. Though the event might not be very well known to foreign fans, the biannual gathering stands as Japan’s largest fan convention. Between cosplaying events, corporate booths, and the sale of fan-made comics and artwork referred to as doujinshi, Comiket has something for everyone.

Comiket started out as a grassroots event within the doujin community. Prior to its establishment in 1975, the largest manga and doujin convention was the Nihon Manga Taikai. Instead of prioritizing independent artists, the convention was much more geared towards corporate presenters – similar to something America's San Diego Comic-Con or Anime Expo. Doujinshi was treated as a secondary attraction and, after an incident in which a female fan wasn’t allowed to attend the event after criticizing it, the desire for a fan-oriented convention grew into what would become Comiket as it is now known. The first-ever Comiket was held on December 21st, 1975 in a small conference room, with 32 vendors and roughly 700 attendees, mostly female. The event would steadily grow in size over the years, with multiple venue changes due to the increasing number of circles and attendees.

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The popularity of the event has skyrocketed over the years. Comiket was initially free to attend, but attendance has increased so much that ComiketPC, the event’s organizers, began charging attendees from the summer 2019 event onward. Individual pass prices range from ¥500- ¥540 for one day and ¥2000- ¥2500 for a four-day pass, which is fairly inexpensive. The majority of content distributed at Comiket has to do with manga, anime, or video games. But there’s much more to the event than that. Original content makes up roughly 8% of what’s distributed, while doujin software makes up around 13%. For those unfamiliar, doujin software, or doujin soft, is an independently made game. Some notable examples of doujin soft games are the now very popular Higurashi and Fate series.

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The majority of content found at Comiket is doujinshi. Because of how Japanese law views derivative works, the production and distribution of these items is perfectly legal (unlike in the US), though only in moderation as turning a profit off of these works isn’t kosher. As a result, the groups that produce these works – referred to as circles – make very limited quantities of them. There are around 35,000 circles that participate in every Summer and Winter Comiket, with the majority of these groups losing money throughout the process. The vast majority of circles lose money during the event, and only a tiny fraction of the 35,000 break even. For many circles, their work is a labor of love, created without the goal of ever turning a profit. But, while doujinshi might dominate the Comiket landscape, there are plenty of other interesting fan works available in the form of such as prints, novellas, crafts, and even cosplay photo books for sale as well.

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Though it started out as a way to highlight fan-made content, Comiket would eventually allow corporate booths into the convention. Corporate booths started appearing at the event in the late '90s, and have become a mainstay ever since. However, rather than grouping both corporate and independent stalls together, the CPC separates the two. There are around 190 booths available to 140 corporate participants.

The most common corporations to attend Comiket are game manufacturers, anime production studios, and book publishers. Slightly rarer attendees are TV and radio stations, as well as novelty goods retailers. These booths often hand out exclusive merchandise that tends to sell out quickly, while also holding small events like meet-and-greets, autograph signings, and giveaways. Some of the biggest names in the industry such as Kodansha, Aniplex, Ufotable, and SEGA attend the event every year, among many others. As Comiket gets more popular, interest from various corporations increases every year.

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Cosplaying is an incredibly popular part of the Comiket experience, though the event was initially very restrictive when it came to it. As Comiket got more popular, restrictions were lifted or changed around in order to encourage more cosplayers to attend. Cosplaying is mostly female-dominated, especially considering that the majority of Comiket attendees are women. There are typically more cosplayers in the winter compared to the summer, as the heat makes it difficult to cosplay for long periods of time. Regardless, there are massive crowds of both cosplayers and photographers at both Comikets. For pro cosplayers, it’s one of the biggest events of the year. Enako, often referred to as Japan’s number one cosplayer, made headlines a couple of years back when she claimed to have made around ¥10,000,000 ($93,500 USD) at Comiket 94 from selling her merchandise — at an event where most fail to break even —with her photo album attracting a line of more than 500 people.

Comiket continues to grow with every year, though 2020 has thrown the convention some unusual hurdles. Comiket 98 was initially set to be held during Golden Week to compensate for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. But the event was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Comiket 99 was also canceled due to similar concerns, though organizers hope to organize some sort of event for Golden Week 2021. This marks the first time ever that a Comiket event won't be held since its conception.

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