Japan Expo, 20 years of fun facts: 19th Impact
The last days of the year have come and so does the last fun fact celebrating 20 years of Japan Expo, before we fully turn to the 21st Impact. But in the meantime, let’s talk about Maître Gims, a French rapper and a surprising guest whose visit was all but unnoticed at Japan Expo 19th Impact.
In 2018, France and Japan were celebrating an important event: the 160th Anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. Japan Expo, which highlights every year the French passion for Japan and its culture, put this anniversary in the spotlight by honoring traditional culture more than ever.
Another theme had pride of honor, for manga and anime fans: Space Opera. And there was much to celebrate, with the 40th anniversary of Cobra – Buichi TERASAWA’s cult manga –, the 20th anniversary of Cowboy Bebop – an anime as unique as it is inevitable –, and the reboot of Space Battleship Yamato – the first Japanese anime of the Space Opera genre –, STAR BLAZERS 2202 (Yamato). 9 guests came to meet the fans, among whom part of the team of Cowboy Bebop for an exceptional reunion.
A busy visit
Come to promote his manga Devil’s Relics, Maitre Gims, a famous French rapper and hip hop artist, decided to take a walk in the festival aisles, surrounded by a few staff members as bodyguards. An improvised stroll during which some attendees even thought they had come across a cosplayer embodying the singer. If behind his dark glasses the artist got much attention in the aisles, that was definitely not going to happen in the Yuzu Stage backstage where he was led. Yet, eventhough Japan Expo’s staff respected the instructions, leaving the artist alone, all the fire security agents had come to take a selfie with the former member of the French group Sexion d’Assaut.
Japan Expo 19th Impact key figures
4 days · 247,919 attendees · 140,000 sqm · + 900 booths · 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Japan · 16 stages · 48 traditional shows with 210 artists · 752 events · 14 countries in the ECG finals
That’s it for our retrospective of the festival in 19 fun facts! Now, let’s turn to Japan Expo 21st Impact, the Manga Guest of Honor of which has been announced a few days ago: Tsukasa HÔJÔ, the author of City Hunter and Cat’s Eye. Follow our news for more announcements soon and we’ll be back a few days from now, in 2020!
Click the links for a look back over:
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