Perfect Area Complete! Hyper Japan Spring 2012

Written by A. H. on 28 Feb 2012

The post-New Year period can be a bit of a depressing one for fans of Japanese culture - after a summer of conventions, the traditional late-October London Expo and so on, all of a sudden we find ourselves in a barren period, shorn of any events where we get to hang out with like-minded individuals.  Thank goodness then for Hyper Japan, which returns for its latest outing in a spring berth, and with a new home at Earl's Court for good measure - a sensible move given the over-crowding and necessity to turn people away from the previous Hyper Japan last October.

After using the wonders of press privileges to beat the crowd gathered to buy tickets on the day outside, what we found within Earl's Court was everything that we've come to expect from attending previous iterations of Hyper Japan - a well-laid out smorgasbord of everything Japanese - clothing and cosplay, anime, gaming, food and drink all vying for your attention and, equally importantly, your money.

With a stand for Suzuki cars and bikes as effectively the first thing you come across, thankfully any demands on your wallet become less marked as we moved around the event, with Nintendo showing off many of their latest titles while Namco Bandai also had plenty of wares on show in association with Toei Animation who continued their tradition of attending Hyper Japan.

Moving further into the exhibition centre, there was a fair amount of anime on sale, with Manga Entertainment present alongside a handful of other sellers, while there were also plenty of figures and other items of merchandise to tempt people with.  For my part, I lost count of the number of US copies of Puella Magi Madoka Magica's first volume were sold in my presence...

Of course, buying stuff is thirsty work, and those inclined to dabble in the alcoholic had a surfeit of beer, liqueur and sake (all of it dangerously delicious) to taste test in the hope of tempting you into parting with your hard-earned cash.  If your budget (or capacity to carry items home) didn't run to bagfuls of bottles, there was no shortage of food available to enjoy... actually, wait a second, there was a shortage of food, with some of the more popular traditional Japanese foods sold out before lunchtime had even rolled around - proof positive that the capacity of the British stomach should never be underestimated.

All in all, Hyper Japan has become something of a familiar face to fans of Japanese culture over the past couple of years - with on-stage events occurring throughout the day from sake awards and elements of traditional Japanese culture through to Japanese pop stars, directors and actresses (more on that over the page), there's plenty to catch the eye during the day when you aren't perusing the stalls, making for a decent day out whether you're a cosplayer or a family with an interest in Japan.  With better organisation and a reasonably well-sized venue, this felt like the most well-crafted Hyper Japan yet, and with the possibility of it becoming a twice-yearly event we'll be keeping a keen eye to see what other elements of Japanese culture it can bring to London in the future.

So, that's our brief thoughts on the event as a whole wrapped up (and you can check out a liberal sprinkling of images from the show floor below), but what of its most notable guests?  Allow us to share our experiences over the following pages...