For the first time ever at HYPER JAPAN, we had four main zones at this summer’s Festival 2019. HARAJUKU for Fashion & Kawaii, ASAKUSA for Culture, AKIHABARA for Games & Anime and ODAIBA for CosPlay. The four zones were packed with fun and interesting exhibitors and each had its own distinct flavour. They were all very popular with visitors moving around the zones enjoying all that Japan has to offer all weekend.
The HARAJUKU Zone was the HYPER JAPAN hub for all things Fashion & Kawaii and definitely lived up to its name with a huge range of different Japanese-inspired fashions and kawaii goods available throughout the zone from fantastic brands including AOI clothing, Tofu Cute, Tainted Prince and kaomoji.
The brand new Kawaii Photo Studio proved a massive hit with visitors taking photos with cute scenery and props right through the weekend.
The Maids of England also made their home in the HARAJUKU Zone, serving customers with their unique style and welcoming atmosphere.
The finalists of the first HYPER Kawaii Contest were also on display in the HARAJUKU Zone and we were thrilled that so many of you took the time to support your favourite!
Next door in the ASAKUSA Culture Zone, many different aspects of Japan’s wealth of culture were on display and lots of opportunities for visitors to experience it themselves. From beautifully designed and created Japanese ceramics, jewellery and musical instruments to delicious tea and Japanese sweets, there were plenty of things to view and take home as well as rare chances to see stunning Japanese gardens, bonsai and flower arrangements.
For those thinking about or planning a trip to Japan, there was plenty of help and advice available from the experts in the tourism area next as well as our friendly and helpful robot, giving out useful information about Japan to whoever asked. All of this was right next to the centrepiece of the ASAKUSA Zone, the fantastic Yagura Matsuri Tower.
We saw some amazing displays of martial arts and Japanese dance in the J-Culture Showcase along with all kinds of fascinating workshops in the Activity Area where visitors of all ages could create their own arts and crafts to take home and treasure.
BOCCIA gave visitors the chance to have a go at this Paralympic sport and the Aichi Institute of Technology brought their almost magical new ideas to life with the CG Koi Pond and Amazing 3D Sketchbook.
Voting was going on in the ASAKUSA Zone for the finalists of the HYPER Anime Contest, which saw huge support for all the finalists. All this and much more really brought the ASAKUSA Zone to life and filled with excited visitors all weekend.
Over in the AKIHABARA Game & Anime Zone, we were delighted to welcome back Nintendo to HYPER JAPAN. Festival 2019 was the first chance for anyone, anywhere in the UK to have a go at playing Nintendo’s new Switch games Pokemon Sword, Pokemon Shield, Luigi’s Mansion and Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which were all of course very popular.
HYPER JAPAN was also thrilled that Dragon Ball Super was able to join us in the AKIHABARA Zone along with mayamada GamePad and The Brotherhood Games. All of this, as well as the Retro Gaming and Table Top Gaming Areas, kept the AKIHABARA Zone busy from the start of Friday right through to the end of Sunday!
The debut of a dedicated CosPlay zone at HYPER JAPAN Festival 2019 was certainly a popular move, with many CosPlayers enjoying everything the ODAIBA Cosplay Zone had to offer. There were CosPlay panel discussions, repair stations, a CosPlay Fan Space, and HYPER Wall Photo Spaces, designed to provide everything CosPlayers could want at HYPER JAPAN.
The ODAIBA Zone was an inclusive, welcoming space for all Coslayers, from beginners to seasoned veterans and we hope to make it even bigger and better in the future.
The four main zones at HYPER JAPAN Festival 2019 were all fascinating, welcoming, exciting and interesting and filled with people exploring all sides of Japanese culture all weekend. We hope you enjoyed them all and we look forward to seeing you again at more HYPER JAPAN events.
