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, the world’s largest garage kit festival, was held at the Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex on Feb. 8.)
Wonder Festival 2015 [Winter] (WonFes), the world’s largest garage kit festival, was held at the Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex on Feb. 8. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the festival, and roughly 1,800 dealers participated. The newest figures were on display and for sale throughout the event hall.
The very first WonFes was held in 1985. At the time, the event had a paltry 2,000 participants in total and is said to have been 1/25 the scale it is now. However, otaku culture has seen rapid growth in recent years, and WonFes has matured into a big event that brings in 50,000 visitors in a day. The event this year as well was jam packed from the very start with people hurrying to buy figures that caught their eye and people carrying cameras taking as many pictures as they could of the detailed figures.
Regarding WonFes reaching its 30th year, Shuichi Miyawaki––CEO of Kaiyodo, the event’s sponsor, and the event’s executive committee representative––commented in the event guidebook’s preface, saying, “WonFes persists in the idea of being a ‘sculpture festival’ and has continued to make way for wholehearted and determined craftsmanship.” Miyawaki also touched on the upcoming 20th anniversary of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion with the following high praise: “An unprecedented ‘incident’ occurred when Eva stole the show at a past WonFes right after the broadcast began. This special title is ‘extraordinarily special’ even in the modeling world.”
WonFes continues to grow year after year, and it’s likely to contribute greatly to the further expansion of the garage kit world.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
