The city of Kyoto will host the first Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair in September. The three day event will be held at the Miyako Messe complex and is aimed at encouraging anime and manga businesses, nurturing creators and attracting fans to the city.
The first day of the show, September 21, will be dedicated to business related events with an audience of 2,000 visitors before opening to the public for a further two days on September 22 and 23. The event will also utilise the Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto, built in 1895 to commemorate the 1,100th year since the Heian Capital was founded by Emperor Kammu and to deify him as the ancestral god of Kyoto, which will be used to host live events.
For business visitors, the event will include exhibitors, meetings and seminars with a focus on connecting companies and organisations from the rest of the country with those based in the Kansai region. Toei Uzumasa Movie Studios, a member of the Kyoto Convention Bureau, is heavily involved in the production of the event, providing support for the cinema and cross media section of the event. The company is also developing anime and manga theme parties for business visitors to the city.
Anime is a style of animation originating in Japan, while manga, primarily used in English-speaking countries, are comics created in Japan or by Japanese creators in the Japanese language. The industry has a high concentration of business located in Kyoto. The city is home to the world’s first International Manga Museum and the Kyoto Seika University has a Faculty of Manga. Organisers have chosen to hold the event in Kyoto because of its rich heritage and links to the art form of manga and anime. It is hoped that the combination of traditional Kyoto culture and anime will make the city and surrounding region a hub for its associated businesses.
James Kent, international marketing manager at Kyoto Convention Bureau, explains: “The Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair will help promote the city as a centre for doing business as it will bring together organisations from around the country and establish a market for companies to expand. Manga and anime are popular worldwide and will allow us to not only showcase Kyoto’s links with the modern art form but also its rich culture and heritage. Kyoto continues to grow as a business destination and we welcome any event, such as the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair, which widens the city’s appeal to an international audience.”
