Mamehon
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | doujinshi, doujinshi printing |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
A mameon (豆本), literally "bean book", is a very small doujinshi no larger than 76 x 76 millimeters. Many mamehon are much like small craft projects, made with great care. Mamehon can also be kopiihon, quickly printed at home and sold very cheaply (for instance for 100 yen) or sometimes given away as extras by doujinshi circles at doujinshi conventions. More rarely, mamehon made by well-known circles and printed by professional companies may be sold more expensively. Outside of fannish circles, "mamehon" can mean any kind of very small-sized book.
Content
Mamehon can be used for the same purposes as regular-sized doujinshi, although their small size and limited page numbers (from about 14 to 36 pages maximum) puts some limits on what a doujinka can do with them. Gags are common.[1]
Like other doujinshi, mamehon frequently have "original" content as well as fannish content.
Physical characteristics
In general, mamehon are made from a single piece of thin A4 paper. Many different varieties of mamehon exist, depending on the binding. COMIKET PRESS has published how-to's for making the following kinds of mamehon at home. (All the details given here should be taken as guidelines, not rules; there will obviously be some variation.)
A "nakatojihon" (中とじ本, "bound in the middle") is a thin mamehon bound with two staples through the folded "spine", generally with 16 pages. An "accordion book" (アコーディオン本) opens like an accordion and has 14 pages. Both of these mamehon measure about 70 x 50 millimeters.[2] A "hiratojihon" (平とじ本, "bound flat") is a mamehon bound with staples through the sides of the spine, sometimes with tape covering the staples. This mamehon measures about 67 x 47 millimeters and has about 36 pages.[3]
A "watoji" (和とじ, "bound Japanese style") mamehon is bound in two different ways that have long been in use for various kinds of Japanese books. In the case of "yotsumetoji" ("bound with four holes"), string is threaded through four holes and over the edges of the book, on top of the covers.[4] "Yamatotoji" mamehon are also bound with four holes through the covers and the pages, but by simply threading a string or ribbon through each set of two holes. Watoji mamehon have about 20 small pages, including the covers, and measure about 64 x 50 millimeters.[5]
Watoji mamehon and hiratojihon have less room on the pages because they can't open all the way to the spine (unlike nakatojihon). Watoji mamehon and hiratojihon are more suited to vertical writing.
Mamehon that are printed by a professional company instead of put together at home may have different characteristics.
References
- ^ An example of a mamehon is "Boku to ojisan", a Tiger & Bunny doujinshi by the circle ブロンドハーレム.
- ^ Shiho Mizuno in Junbikai staff (準備会スタッフ), ed. 2010. COMIKET PRESS 33. Pp18-19.
- ^ Shiho Mizuno in Junbikai staff (準備会スタッフ), ed. 2011. COMIKET PRESS 34. Pp20-21.
- ^ An example of yotsumetoji can be seen here
- ^ Shiho Mizuno in Junbikai staff (準備会スタッフ), ed. 2011. COMIKET PRESS 35. Pp10-11.