Comic Market, Japan’s biggest “doujin” (fan/amateur/hobbyist-made content) event, was held for the 101st time at Tokyo Big Sight on 30-31 December 2022.
Official website (ENG): https://www.comiket.co.jp/index_e.html
The event has required participants to purchase tickets in advance ever since Comic Market 99, which has resulted in less participants than pre-COVID days. While Comic Market 97 saw a grand total of 750,000 attendees over four days, making for an average of 187,500 people showing up each day, C99 limited attendees to 55,000 per day, and C100 increased the number to 85,000 which was still less than half C97’s count. C101 saw a slight increase to 90,000 attendees per day. Entry for attendees and cosplayers alike was staggered across the day as well, keeping crowds relatively thin.
Before COVID, Comic Market had chronic problems with people camping outside the venue overnight and over-congestion of public transport, but requiring tickets and having staggered entry has had the side effect of almost completely solving these problems.
While Comic Market is known primarily for its doujin (fan-made content) side, consisting primarily of doujinshi (fan-made comics, books, and magazines) but also including doujin games (not just video games, but analog games like card and board games too), doujin music, and other things like keychains, stickers, and various accessories, the event also has a significant corporate presence including numerous anime and game companies promoting their latest works and selling merchandise, and we compiled an assortment of photographs of the corporate area below.
Another interesting thing done at Comic Market is blood drives by the Japanese Red Cross Society. People who donate 400ml of blood can get exclusive posters of things like anime, games, and Vtubers.
The effect of Comic Market on blood donations is quite significant: In late 2020 the NHK reported on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood drives, and noted that the Red Cross typically brought around 30 blood donation buses to Comic Market yielding 1,500 donors each time previously.
While Comic Market might seem confusing to the point of being impenetrable to foreign visitors, the event does in fact have an international desk that can provide aid in English, Chinese, and Korean, and the official website also has a section to help foreign visitors.
Comic Market is something truly special, and anyone interested in otaku culture, manga, anime, Japanese video games, or cosplay should definitely check it out.
Our cosplay photographer was at Comic Market 101 too: We’ll have an article with his photos up soon!
