“Without prejudice. Collate. This is how we uphold the name of Garakuta Bunko.” — Quoted from the archives of the Garakuta Bunko, the first ever self-published literary magazine in Japan and therefore the first doujinshi to ever exist

The very concept of “Doujin”: These are the works that have appeared in many chapters of Japanese history. While their publication efforts may be small-scaled, these works have resonated with vast numbers of people and eventually caused a profound change within Japanese cultural history itself.

We can look at Nico Nico Douga, an influential web video culture that predates the now lively YouTube scene by ten years, or Comic Market, always on the cutting edge of visual cultures. And if we go back in time, we could also include literature born out of the many iterations of The Tale of Genji… These very works, their creators, the mediums and formats associated with them, and cultural movements have all been passed down through the generations. What originated from this doujin culture is indeed always influencing what is commonly regarded as mainstream culture today.

Such a culture may expand in the future, but it’ll certainly never reduce in size.

Immersed within this context, Touhou Garatakutasoushi is a media outlet dedicated to everything Touhou Project, a series that is brimming with doujin culture. By starting with ZUN (creator of Touhou) and then focusing on creators, their works, and the cultures surrounding them, our first issue aims to stir and provoke while proudly exclaiming the importance of not just Touhou but doujin culture as a whole to the world.

It is our hope that this platform could one day reach to the future of doujin culture — to the lonely students stuck in the corners of classrooms and having difficulties talking about their interests with fellow classmates, to the teenager dreaming up their own creations in a country far from Japan, and to the young girls now scribbling on drawing paper with their crayons. If this task is accomplished, we would be more than grateful.

　Chairperson: Saito Daichi