POP JAPAN TRAVEL RELEASES MIND OVER MANGA DOJINSHI PRINTING DETAILS
APPLY BY MONDAY, JUNE 2 FOR A $100 DISCOUNT!
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Pop Japan Travel’s Mind Over Manga tour this Aug. 21 to 27 offers guests the unprecedented chance to print their own comic in Japanese and sell it directly to Japanese customers at Comitia, one of Tokyo’s most respected dojinshi (indie comics) events. Several artists have already taken us up on this offer, but now, with the tour deadline rapidly approaching (and the $100 early discount available only until this Monday!), PJT has released complete details of the dojinshi option, including printing, translation and lettering costs.
The PJT printing package includes black-and-white printing at B5 size (182×257 mm) with superpost 220kg full-color covers using clear or matte PP printing. Page counts are available in multiples of four, with copy counts in increments of 50. See http://www.popjapantravel.com/updates/41/Manga+Printing+Details for complete price table.
Translation from English to Japanese and lettering are available for $8 per page plus 6 cents per word (you won’t be charged for pages with no text).
Your comic remains 100% owned by you, and the translation is considered work for hire, which means you also own the Japanese version we produce and can use it however you like. Digital Manga retains no rights to the work and must ask your permission to use it. You also may set your own price for selling the book at the convention, and you may keep 100% of the money you make.
Even if you don’t choose to sell your own book, you’ll get an up-close look at the way Japan’s manga market operates. The tour will also include the chance to meet and pick the brains of some Japan’s most important manga and dojinshi artists, plus a visit to a cutting-edge anime studio and Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli Museum, and lots of exclusive privileges and discounts at Japanese otaku retailers like Kotobukiya and Mandarake. Of course, we’ll also include our tried-and-true tour of Tokyo, providing a mind-blowing look at the world’s most populous urban area, plus a few excursions outside the city and optional tours of Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima.
The tour, including round-trip airfare from LAX to Tokyo, full hotel accommodations, transport in Japan, entry fees, bilingual guides and customized guidebook, is $2,198 plus a $235* fuel surcharge. But if you sign up and send us your $300 deposit before Monday, June 2, you’ll receive a special $100 off, making your price just $2,098.
*-Subject to change.
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DIGITAL MANGA’S POP JAPAN TRAVEL is the original and premiere provider of pop culture themed tours of Japan. Since 2003, PJT has operated more than 15 tours with themes focused on Japanese anime, manga, games and more. Pop Japan tours offer a careful balance of the hyper-modern world of J-pop culture and the rich traditions of ancient Japan, and PJT is the ONLY tour agency to provide exclusive experiences such as visits to anime and game studios, meetings with manga artists, and more. Pop Japan Travel tours are organized in cooperation with IACE Travel, one of Japan’s largest travel agencies.
COMITIA has since 1984 been one of Tokyo’s most popular dojinshi events. Run four times a year, it focuses on original, creative art rather than fan fiction. That has made it a launchpad for new manga artists, with thousands of circles participating each year. It takes place at Tokyo Big Sight, which otaku will recognize from Comic Party, Genshiken and many other anime and manga series.
May 28, 2008 at 5:17 pm
You know as tempting as that sounds the price is absolutely ridiculous. Also it doesn’t look like they even give you the option to translate the damn thing yourself, like why should I pay them money when I can do it for free? And $2000 for a 5 day trip PLUS those of us not in LA need to pay extra just to fly to California in August. For $3000 I can take me and my fiance to Japan not $3000 a person. They’re really trying to get gullible otaku on their little boat here >_>
May 28, 2008 at 5:58 pm
[...] this post got erased and I had to retype it twice. So I noticed this post and it seemed like the ultimate dream for me but when I saw the pricing my eyeballs crawled to the [...]
May 28, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Hi, Ben Applegate at Pop Japan Travel here.You can actually translate and letter the book yourself. You can even print it in English if you’d like, and in either case we won’t charge for translation/lettering — please consult the printing FAQ for more: http://www.popjapantravel.com/updates/41/Manga+Printing+Details .I truly am sorry that the price came out so high, but the dollar exchange rate keeps getting worse and oil costs keep getting higher, which drives everything up.The tour includes roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles because that’s where we’re based — as a small company we can’t afford to fly guides out of multiple cities yet, unfortunately. But the tour fees include hotel accommodations, transportation, bilingual guides to help you around Tokyo, a customized guidebook, entry fees and of course all of the exclusives like anime studio visits and manga artist meetings, which you’ll find nowhere else. (In the past we have visited Gonzo, Pierrot, Production I.G., Madhouse and others, and the manga artists we are lining up for this tour will blow your mind.) We also offer a land-only option for this tour as well.Our customers aren’t gullible, they’re simply paying a little more for a planned and guided experience with special extras, just like with any package tour.If you have any questions, I’m always happy to answer them. My e-mail’s travel@popjapantravel.com .
May 29, 2008 at 5:25 am
Hinano & Ben – I wanted to thank both of you for commenting. I understand both points of view regarding the tours. Yes, they can be expensive, but if you can’t speak Japanese or feel uncomfortable trying to navigate around an large city like Tokyo, the tour is the way to go. Plus, there are those exclusive studio visits to look forward to.
However, if you can speak Japanese, and/or you feel confident that you can get around by yourself, the extra cost for the guides, etc, would just not be worth it.
May 29, 2008 at 7:21 am
[...] a trip to the Ghibli Museum but also printing and translation services for your very own doujinhsi. Details, including a clarification from Pop Japan Travel, at the Manga Maniac [...]