Shopping Guide
From July 5-8, 2012, at the North Paris-Villepinte Exposition Park in Paris, France, Japan Expo 2012 was held. The 2012 expo attracted the largest number of attendees in the history of the expo. In total, 219,164 people attended.
The growth of Japan Expo can be attributed to its assertive expansion plan. In addition to anime, manga, J-Pop, and games that are popular with young people, in recent years, more traditional Japanese culture has been infused into the event. This includes food, traditional arts, culture of different areas of Japan, sightseeing, and travel. These aspects were included into the expo to attract the older generations. This plan was helped by Japanese administrations and businesses. However, more than 80 percent of the expo’s attendees are under the age of 25, meaning there is still a lot of work to be done to attract a wider range of attendees.
This year, the expo will be held from July 4-7 at the same venue as last year’s. Attendees are projected to be around 230 thousand, and roughly 700 businesses and organizations are estimated to participate. There are high hopes for the expo yet again this year.
The expo itself is also being diversified this year. Aside from being held in Paris, the expo will also be held in Marseille in March, Holland in October, and Brussels, Belgium in November. Furthermore, the event will be held for the first time in Los Angeles in August.
Japan Expo is expected to become even larger, so it might be coming to a city near you soon.
Source:
http://animeanime.jp/article/2013/01/20/12738.html (Japanese)
