The bi-annual Comic Market or Comiket not only attracts anime, manga, video game and doujinshi enthusiasts from all over Japan but also the entire world.
Foreign tourists have been known to drop by the the Tokyo Big Sight to attend the event and buy the merchandise as well as join the event’s various cosplays. So with all this enthusiasm among tourists, why not use the event to promote Japanese tourism?
The Japan Tourism Agency’s website, Visit Japan is collaborating with the bi-annual otaku extravaganza to promote the popularity of anime and manga abroad. The website recently interviewed one of Comiket’s most notable participants, Fullmoon o Sagashiite manga author Arina Tanemura who has received notoriety abroad. The mangaka or manga author has received various fan letters from overseas fans.
“I get lots of letters that blend in Japanese here and there. When I have signing events abroad, many people come up to me and try their best to communicate in my language. It’s very touching for me. When I hear that reading my manga was the inspiration for someone to learn Japanese, it makes me very happy. I also get many pictures from fans dressed in character costumes, which is a lot of fun.”
According to Tanemura, it is always a pleasure in meeting the fans who have read her work. In a message for them, the author said
“While I put the utmost care in my professionally published manga works, writing doujinshi is a great time for me to relax and have some fun, so I’m going to continue that as well.. Please check out both!”
The full interview has been translated in nine different languages from English to Vietnamese and Chinese. This is all to promote the upcoming Comiket 85 which will be held on the Tokyo Big Sight from December 29-31, 2013. You can read the full interview through this link: https://gyw.japan-photocontest.jp/pref13/en/000021.html
The website has also recently announced a contest for foreign visitors visiting the country and they added an otaku category. The category is for specific hobbies, like cosplay, anime, manga, figure, and idols. The other categories include Food, Fashion, Tradition, Nature and Unique which shows off Japan’s uniqueness. Submissions for the photo contest will only be accepted until January 1, 2014.
Anime tourism has been helping to drive tourism in Japan and various anime series like Girls und Panzer, Free! and AnoHana have helped increase the number of visitors for the towns they were based on. One of the biggest examples would be the town of Oarai which was featured in Girls Und Panzer.
SGCafe has also featured several company booths that will be selling their merchandise for Comiket 85. You can view what they will have for sale through this link: http://sgcafe.com/tag/comiket-85/
Read more about Anime here on Sgcafe! You can also read more about anime tourism through this link
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Via Visit Japan 1, 2
Japanese Tourism Authority to use Comiket 85 to attract foreign tourists
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