Doujinshi are self-published works, usually manga, made by fan circles or independent creators rather than commercial publishers. The term covers fan works based on existing series and original amateur publications alike.
Doujinshi are the fandom's printing press. The word doujin means a circle of people sharing an interest, and doujinshi are the magazines such circles publish themselves: fan fiction in comic form, parodies, original stories, and critical essays, sold at events rather than through bookstores. Japan's Comic Market, Comiket, is the movement's capital, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees to buy work printed in runs of dozens.
The institution matters to the industry it imitates. Many professional mangaka began in doujin circles, publishers scout at doujin events, and rights holders generally tolerate the ecosystem as the amateur league of their own medium. Some doujinshi are transformative criticism, some are romance between characters who never met, and some are entirely original works that simply use the amateur channel.
This site acknowledges doujinshi as a documented institution of fandom and builds nothing on it. Fan works are not canon, never feed quiz facts, and derivative romantic content is outside our content entirely; the glossary entry exists because the word is unavoidable in any serious account of how manga culture works.
In use"A circle prints two hundred copies of its comic for one convention weekend: that is a doujinshi run."