Touhou Project : A Case Study of Fandom Commercialisation

Abstract

The 21st century sees the commercialisation of fan practices within the Japanese doujin culture in which doujinshi is used for the corporate economy through distribution and development. This could potentially give more power to the media industries rather than the participants within doujin culture as industries take on more interest in elements of doujin culture, intervening in the participatory culture. To understand this phenomenon, there must be an understanding of how doujin culture functions on conventions and how companies could integrate into doujin fan practices. This research answered the key “What shifts can be observed on the infrastructure of doujin conventions in Japan from the early 2000s until 2019 through the commercialisation of fan practices?” This research examined the ways in which the fan practices surrounding the video game series Touhou Project get commercialised on the doujin convention Reitaisai, and how this shifts the convention from fan practices to a commercial culture. To answer the question, this research performed historical internet analysis using the Reitaisai website to analyse the number of attendees, their activities, and company attendance to map how the convention is slowly commercialising over the years through the concept of the infrastructure. The text by Hiroaki Tamagawa on the development of the doujin convention Comiket provided key in the analysis of Reitaisai and its commercialisation. Conducting the research, it became apparent that the Touhou doujin culture started as fan focussed on offline sites in 2004, but quickly started to make use of distribution companies in-and outside of Reitaisai. Gaming companies started to engage with Reitaisai around the 2010s by letting fans play their games, but in 2019 the commercial game Cannonball illustrated how fan practice and commercial culture can meet through promotion and collaboration. Here Reitaisai functions not only as a place for distribution, but also as a place for commercial and fan practice to meet. It illustrated how doujin units and commercial culture are not mutually exclusive but can work together on conventions. The commercialisation of doujin culture on Reitaisai indicates a shift from fan practices to a more commercial culture where both companies and fans make use of each other’s spheres.