Hyper Japan 2013 Report
Date: 2013 August 08 15:30
Posted by Joe
London based Japanese culture event Hyper Japan has become a regular feature the calendar for fans of all things from Japan. Since it first started in 2010, it's organically grown bigger and bigger each year. Last year due to the London Olympics booking out all the large London venues in the summer Hyper Japan decided to run two events, the first in February 2012, and the second in November 2012.
Full Story
This year Hyper Japan returned to London for the summer. It ran from Friday 26th to Sunday 27th July 2013. This time around over 62,000 visitors attended the event!
The event had lots to offer over the 3 days, including:
Foodies were in for a treat, with many Japanese food stalls offering a huge variety of food, such as traditional Japanese street food.
A sake cocktail competition and the 2013 Sushi Awards were also running for those looking for high end treats.
Performing troop SIRO-A were present and doing their own unique blend of music, dance, mime and technology, both on the stage and off the stage getting attendees involved.
Music was well represented with J-Pop artist Yun*Chi, and J-Pop Duo Yankiku. Fans of visual-kei were treated to Vaniru.
They also had a fashion show, plus the now regular feature of a cosplay show.
Nintendo had a massive section of the event's floor, with their display geared up to promote the latest incarnation of Animal Crossing, plus Pikmin 3.
There was also an interesting selection of stalls.
Our friends at the Japanese Gallery were there selling cells used in anime production.
The Japanese Auto Extravaganza was there promoting their latest event, with a selection of Japanese vehicles.
Interactive Japanese fusion restaurant inamo were there demonstrating a futuristic interactive table that allowed you to place orders by pointing and clicking.
Japanese R&D Firm ITK were there impressing people with a new robotic hand. In this instance they've plugged it into a Kinect Camera and it would copy a hands fingers when waved in front of the camera.
You could also buy Japanese puzzle boxes. There were various different models which each required a different sequence to open the compartment. Japan Craft were selling them.
New anime streaming company Daisuki were there handing out goodies to promote their launch.
We then saw a new and unexpected company. Assa Boots a French company selling their own brand of Japanese made Jika Tabi boots. They're aimed at runners, those who do lots of outdoor work and of course ninjas.
NHK World's booth had a cosplay photograph session with a difference, not only did they supply the scenery, but they also supplied the costumes, so you could give cosplay a try. This proved very popular!
Kodansha International were busy promoting their line of manga in the UK. They sold out of all the volumes of Attack on Titan, speaking to the staff there, they reckoned they could have easily sold twice as much of the series!
Hyper Japan has become a regular welcome part of the London Japanese culture scene. It has so much to offer. It always feels a bit different from other events, as it's all about every element of Japanese culture. You get different companies there and everything from anime, culture cosplay and cuisine. We eagerly look forward to the next one.
Source: Otaku News