Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009

Although we are not big fans of anime (actually, I hate to admit that I don’t really know much about it, so don’t ask), my son and I attended the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009 in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan, while my wife went shopping nearby (will blog about Odaiba at a future post).

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It was held in the Tokyo Big Sight, with an admission of 1,000 yen (about US$10) for adults and 500 yen (US$5) for those under 18 – good thing my son brought his student id because they didn’t believe he was under 18 (he is very tall for a 13 year old).

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Some 255 companies from Japan and overseas introduced their latest anime items at 759 booths, with attendance expected at 120,000 – yes, it was very crowded (and hot)!

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There were lots of figures …

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… some cute ones and not so cute ones.

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You can also find lots of cute characters …

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… and not so cute ones.

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Finally, there were many people working in the booths dressed up in anime characters (don’t ask me who these characters are, no idea – but I do see a samurai though, so Japanese).

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Anime (short for Japanese animation), in addition to manga (Japanese comics), is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world.

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Do you like anime?

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14 thoughts on “Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009”

  1. Looks like fun. I would like to go, but I’m afraid of all of the stinky otaku in tight quarters. Kind of like riding the train during rush hour after a really hot summer day.

    Reply ↓

  3. Eric – Few stinky otaku. More stinky babies. This was a big family event that attracted an extremely wide variety of people, not just hard-core fans.

    Bartman905 – Very nice photos. Thanks for letting me know about this entry.

    Anime isn’t really about subculture or culture – it’s a media for telling stories. It just happens to be based on single-frame artwork rather than live action performance. It’d be like saying that you don’t like television. As such, it’s the stories that are presented that are either worth watching, or not, that are part of the culture or subculture. I like Kitaro and Soul Eater, but I’m more interested in specific manga titles than anime in general.

    Reply ↓

    • Thanks for the comments.

      I’ll really show my ignorance (which is quite easy for me) … what is the basic difference between manga and anime (and I probably have interchanged or mistaken these two concepts)?

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      • Actually, a lot of Japanese use manga and anime interchangeably to mean “cartoons”. Strictly speaking, “manga” is comic books, and “anime” is cartoons. From an American viewpoint, “anime” is defined as cartoons made by Japanese studios for a Japanese audience. The thing is, the Japanese don’t view cartoons as being only for children, so you’ll get animated stories aimed at adults as well, which can include mahjong, pachinko, combat, cooking, golf and fishing titles. Some anime and manga titles have been turned into live action TV dramas, but the reverse rarely happens.

        What most westerners think of when they hear the word “anime” is Pokemon, Dragonball and Sailor Moon – the titles aimed at young children both in Japan and the U.S. Unfortunately, the U.S. voice acting is so bad, it really doesn’t matter how good the original title was made – what you see released in the U.S. is going to turn off most viewers regardless.

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    • Thank you for visiting my blog and more importantly for leaving a comment – much appreciated. Japan is certainly the place for anime and manga. Did you know that the Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2009 is being held in Singapore now – looks like another good event for anime.

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