Tokyo International Anime Fair
Many posts ago I mentioned that we went to the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2007, but all of my pictures were lost due to an SD card going bad. For Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010 (東京国際アニメフェア2010) I was more successful as my pictures made it to my computer safely.
The venue was the same place, Tokyo Big Sight (東京ビッグサイト), on Odaiba. The weather was poor, but that didn’t stop tens of thousands from lining up to wait to enter.
Detective Conan (名探偵 コナン and also known as Case Closed in English) is one of Japan’s more famous manga and has been catching on overseas lately too with an English-language translation.
Heroman (ヒーローマン) is a new anime series coming out on Japanese TV in April. They were promoting it by giving away giant bags, big enough to hold all of the other freebies we collected on this day.
After nearly four hours of crowds, anime, manga, and more crowds we headed home. On our way we stopped at Oosaki Station and exited just long enough to eat some ramen. You can see our train through the window in the restaurant.
More photos coming soon…
March 29th, 2010 at 5:51 am
Just wondering, is it common to see people walking around with masks on as seen in the fourth picture? Is that what you do if you have a cough?
March 29th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Masks are very common, especially in the winter. There are many reasons for wearing them I hear. If you are sick, don’t want to get sick, want to keep your face warm, reduce allergies, work in a sanitary environment (restaurant, etc.), haven’t put your make up on yet (a mask and sunglasses do the trick), etc. are all explanations I have heard of for wearing a mask in Japan.
Lots of people wore them in China too, but the primary reason for them there is to breathe in less pollution. Also, they reuse them in China, and the masks aren’t white. There is some design on them. They are more of a fashion statement.
December 28th, 2010 at 9:57 am
I am interested in going to the Tokyo International Anime Fair but I can’t speak, read or write Japanese. I was wondering if you could tell me if it would still be worth my while going?
December 29th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
There are lots of people who don’t understand Japanese at the Tokyo International Anime Fair. I suppose the answer to your question depends mostly on why you want to go.
December 29th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Thanks for answering my question. I’m going to Japan for 3 months to do research on certain popular cultural interests, including anime and manga. So it does seem very relevant that I go to the fair.
December 29th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
No doubt, you should go. Be prepared for an extremely long line. If you don’t need to be there for more than an hour or two, show up a couple hours before it finishes to avoid the line.
December 31st, 2010 at 9:29 pm
OK – thanks for the advice!