Nur Syafina Binte Imran
Doujin Market, also known as Doujima, took place from May 6-7, 2023, at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre Halls 403 and 404.
So what does “Doujin” mean?
“Doujin”, in Japanese, refers to passionate individuals working individually or collectively as a group to self-publish and showcase their works. With Doujima being Singapore’s largest pop-culture inspired youth arts convention and exhibition, it brings together fan communities of those who create and produce their self-publications, and the supporters.
Hence after the long wait, visitors and vendors who attended the convention previously can finally quench their thirst after the long drought.
This time round, the convention appeared to be on a larger scale compared to previous years. More than 400 vendors from over 11 different countries came to sell their self-published works.
We asked some vendors who attended Doujima previously to share how this year’s convention differs from those held in the past.
“Traditionally Doujima has about 100 booths. I think the most was around 150 in 2018. And now, there’s more than 400 which is about four times the size, and about four times the traffic. So, the local event has already exploded,” shared Keyade, a local artist and recurrent vendor at Doujima.
Others shared their reasons for joining the Doujima community.
Jamie, an artist from Bangkok, Thailand, shared that she signed up to be a vendor after realising she enjoyed drawing fan art featuring the popular anime series, Attack on Titan, back when she worked in Singapore in 2019.
New vendors such as Jamie were what made the event so fresh and fun! However, it did increase the amount of fan merchandise we spotted and bought…
Attendees could also check out items rarely seen on sale outside of Doujima, like Xev Pallet Crafts’s one-of-a-kind Pokeballs.
Creators were not only selling their ready-made works, attendees were also able to watch illustrators create their works live at the event. This allowed the audience to understand the process behind creating digital artwork.
Throughout the event, many attendees dressed up as their favourite anime characters. It was truly a sight to see!
“I like seeing the creativity that people put into their outfits. Like that’s another Loid right there!” Kelly, a first-timer at Doujima and cosplay beginner, hilariously shared while pointing to another cosplayer.
There were many cosplayers who recreated the looks of their favourite characters from scratch. Newbie cosplayer of Doujima, Kai Ling, shared what interests her about Doujima while pointing out to her self-made cosplay outfit.
“The merch! There’s so much here from so many fandoms, so it’s very easy to find what you want. And we can bring our cosplay outfits to wear. It’s quite fun to see!” shared Kai Ling.
Not only that, there were meet-and-greet booths for popular cosplayers where attendees could chat and get to know them.
Canadian and Singapore-based cosplayer, Hikarin, who has over 400 thousand followers on Instagram, was one of the few who came down to interact with her fans. She was truly eye-catching in real life!
With that, we can’t wait to see what exciting adventure awaits us in the next Doujima!