The highly anticipated "Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan" is set to kick off this month (April 13), running for a full six months. With massive crowds expected, the event promises not only international pavilions but also a strong presence of Japanese IPs, showcasing the nation's cultural prowess.
However, a recent on-site event, the "Cool Japan Showcase Anime Manga Tourism Festival," has been making waves online due to its incredibly lavish content. The catch? The festival wrapped up yesterday (May 2), and a glaring lack of widespread promotion has left many scratching their heads: "Why on earth did the Expo organizers not promote this?!"
Spearheaded by the Cabinet Office of Japan, this event aimed to leverage anime and manga culture to attract more international tourists and encourage travel to real-world locations featured in popular works. The festival brought together 26 anime and manga-related regions from across Japan, held at the EXPO Messe "WASSE" within the Expo grounds, and ran only until yesterday.
The absolute showstopper was the "Manga Artist Message Board Area," which displayed approximately 100 specially drawn shikishi (signed art boards) by popular manga artists for the Expo. Each piece was incredibly precious, with even the official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, making an appearance in some of the artwork.
Once fans discovered the event, their social media feeds exploded with photos and excited posts: "Hirohiko Araki's original art at the Expo?!", "Gege Akutami's shikishi is here!!", "The two manga artists behind 'The Apothecary Diaries' drew a collab shikishi…?!", "I need to go see Ken Wakui's shikishi!", "So many manga artists' signed boards at the Expo… is this a dream!?" The sheer surprise and disappointment over the lack of promotion were palpable among fans.
Yet, a field report by Japanese media outlet ORICON NEWS revealed that not only was there zero promotion on the official Expo website, but even the event's dedicated page failed to detail the shikishi exhibition. This created a "you wouldn't know unless you were there" situation. Many fans were left utterly gutted: "Seriously, this lineup, and all you needed was an Expo ticket to see it and take photos? That's insane! They should have promoted it way earlier!", "The lineup is unbelievably strong, but the promotion was absolutely terrible," "This event ends in just a few days? Is the Expo's PR department just chilling?"
Indeed, an exhibition featuring such a stellar lineup of popular Japanese manga artists, yet without proper promotion, meant countless fans missed out. It's clear that even the most amazing displays need strong publicity to truly satisfy the audience.
via： ORICON NEWS