Saiko ! Japan

The Animate Girl Festival, which started in 2010, is a big event bringing several major companies together. It takes place once a year at fall in Sunshine City, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

It features a great variety of contents that girls can enjoy: anime, manga, video games, and costumes.

Last year, AGF attracted 62,894 attendees, a record audience. This year, the Animate Girl Festival is introducing a few companies that took part in the event and their products at Japan Expo.

BFB Champions: Global Kick-Off is a free football mobile game, made by football fans for football fans. It is the sequel to the popular football game BFB 2016, with over 3.5 million downloads in Japan. You play the coach of a football club entering championships and managing footballers from all over the world.

Collect and train your players, choose your line-up and strategy, and try to be number 1.

Among the football players available in the game, you can choose the legendary manga and anime character Captain Tsubasa, a major fiction football player who really inspired a whole generation of actual football players from Zidane to Özil.

If you’re ready to enter the competition, come to BFB Champions booth to know more about the game and get exclusive Captain Tsubasa goodies!  And follow the news on Twitter, at @BFBChampionsFR, to keep updated with the latest news.

This year, CREATORS TOKYO’s booth is presenting Yukihero Pro-wrestling (Yukihiro Puroresu), a brand of "clothes that make you a hero". The brand will exhibit its own versions of Ultraman and Kinnikuman, as well as costumes realized in collaboration with the wrestler Antonio Inoki! And don’t miss the brand on the catwalk.

Echo Tech is presenting for the first time in France various tools, and especially an ultrasound cutter, to improve the making of figurines and models. Kirika, the character embodying a cutter, is also making his debut in France. A figurine of Kirika is on sale at the booth. Don’t miss Echo Tech and try the ultrasound cutter, a tool that has already seduced model makers all over Japan.

Cosmoweb (Japan Art Business Association) is a foundation that sells original artworks by Japanese artists. iPhone cases and fans are exhibited, decorated with original illustrations by Yoshitaka AMANO, Final Fantasy designer, and many more artists who are getting more and more popular in Japan. Discover many creations that are only available in Japan, and many rare items, rare even in Japan. Manga, anime and video game fans should not miss this booth! 

The Department of Character Design (Kyalabo) of Kyoto University of Art and Design takes part in professional projects such as the creation of characters for companies and products, the making of animation films, the illustration of novels in collaboration with a major electronic publisher, and the creation of picture books. This department considers that those experiences will help the students to be creative in varied fields later. At Japan Expo, they hope to discover new communication possibilities, means of communications beyond boundaries and languages. 

A magic Japanese cherry tree that blossoms within 12 hours!

It’s a huge success in Japan: it is a mysterious paper cherry tree that blossoms within 12 hours when watered with magic water. Just like with a real cherry tree, you’ll enjoy seeing it blossom and feel the fleeting sensation of it fading. It’s a tree that will make you want to share your happiness. A hint of spring just for you!

Shigeru MIZUKI (GeGeGe no Kitarô), Jiro TANIGUCHI (A Distant Neighborhood), and Gosho AOYAMA (Case Closed). What those 3 major mangaka have in common is the place where they were born: Tottori prefecture. Tottori is the kingdom of manga in Japan. The booth has been attending Japan Expo since 2014 as MANGA KINGDOM TOTTORI, and this year’s is a kind of best of the previous years. As a warmup for the 5th International Manga Contest set up this year, an International Manga Contest at Japan Expo is organized on July 9. The past winners’ works are exhibited on the booth.

Few people know about this but Monchhichi was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974. Created by SEKIGUCHI San to teach love and respect to children, Monchhichi gets his name from the combination of the French "mon petit", the English pronunciation of "monkey," and the Japanese onomatopoeia of the sound "chu-chu" that babies make when sucking at their dummy.

The character got successful at once in Japan and soon spread to Europe, especially German-speaking countries and France, and then to the US. In the 80s, the stuffed doll became a world icon. To this day, Monchhichi has sold over 70 million de pieces since it was invented, and keeps on making everyone happy. It has also become a phenomenon in Asia, especially Hong-Kong and China, where it was only recently introduced and already has many derived products.

Both a classic for the little ones and an item to collect for fans, the little fur monkey that you can dress however you like is a unique product, cult and beyond generations!

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON proposes an interactive booth in collaboration with various companies, including AEON.

On the booth, you can play a lottery and get a picture of you with Japanese models! If you want to try the lottery and win some gift, go to MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON’s website.

Welcome to Mico Castle, the home of the merry Princess Sakura! Have you heard of the Japanese princess known as Sakura? She is a very kawaii princess. On the other side of the cherry blossom decorated torii (sakura in Japanese), you’ll find the enchanted world of Japanese art (kimono and artworks).

The pink torii is your landmark: when you pass the threshold, you become a princess!

The Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF) is a must event of Japanese summer. This year, the festival, which is the biggest event of this kind in the world, will celebrate its 7th edition.

For 3 days, from August 5 to 7, many popular idols from all over Japan will be part of the show.

Come attend the TIF and experience its dream universe, full of splendor, enthusiasm, and joy, in Odaiba.

This booth proposes traditional Japanese products and is introduced by Japan Promotion, the organization in charge of the WABI-SABI area, dedicated to traditional culture, and the Sakura stage.

Like every year, Japan Promotion proposes authentic arts and crafts as well as unique artworks. No doubt you’ll find items to keep as souvenirs of Japan Expo or to offer to your friends and family during the summer vacation.