As the largest exhibition celebrating Japanese culture in the UK, Hyper Japan was first held in London in 2010, becoming a bi-annual event in 2014 that is currently held every July and November. The main focus revolves around pop culture, from gaming and music, to anime and manga, attracting a steady otaku crowd every year, with dedicated areas to technology, fashion, and traditional crafts as well. And I’d be remiss not to mention the food stalls! Always a highlight of any event, where you can indulge in dorayaki and a variety of Japanese confectionary.
And yes, they have sake.
With Japanese pop culture rising in popularity in the UK and across Europe – thanks to the increasing exposure of Western audiences to anime and gaming culture – it’s no surprise that swarms of attendees are often found browsing stalls of figurines, anime and manga, retro games, and art and cosplay items, joining Hyper Japan as it celebrates its 10th anniversary.
See your favourite husbando or waifu
Hyper Japan seems to be able to attract a vast cast of fictional characters from the world of gaming, manga and anime, where some groups entering after bag checks look like a realised crossover only possible in a creative (or perhaps disturbing) fan-fiction. With costumes ranging from painful to ornate and remarkably accurate (as well those somewhat generic ones that are hard to place), it’s always exciting to see your favourite characters elegantly waltzing around the floor, posing for photos, or slumped against a wall next to the only free space near the rubbish bins, ungracefully stuffing as many gyoza and dorayaki as possible, before being flanked by legions of weaboo.
Rock out J-Rock style
With the likes of Yoshiki (X JAPAN), Tomoyasu Hotei (of Kill Bill fame), the idol group Dempagumi.inc, and Banzai Japan (currently consisting of 17 members, with the ambitious goal to increase to 47 to represent each prefecture) having performed in the past, Hyper Japan has played host to a variety of staple Japanese bands, providing a platform to expose Western audiences to current Japanese pop music.
While K-Pop has exploded in popularity in the West, with the likes of BTS and Blackpink, sadly Japanese pop music has yet to take off as effectively, tending to pick up audiences through word of mouth. It seems that while Korean music has been successfully promoted in the Western market, Japanese record companies and musicians are content to remain in Japan, enjoying more of a cult following in the UK.
This year at Hyper Japan, Shamisen rock-duo KUNI-KEN took to the stage for their first ever UK performance, creatively bridging rock-based rhythms and melodies with the traditional Japanese instrument Shamisen, alongside their own signature visual style. Joining them over the weekend was the gothic metal Tokyo based group, Necronomidol, who fuse their unique gothic idol style with somewhat of a symphonic metal style. Where many idol bands who appear at Hyper Japan tend to play chirpy dance-oriented synth tracks, Necronomidol bring slower, drop-tuned heavy guitar rhythms with articulate guitar licks and arpeggiated solos, showing they are certainly capable musicians, and will likely be remembered by visitors for their strong visual style as well.
Idol dance troupes not your thing?
Close to where visitors were able to find the more traditional crafts and tea stalls was a sizeable performance mat. Every year, this area is used for performance art, traditional dance routines, and martial arts displays. This year, one particularly well organised group performed a choreographed kata display, in which students demonstrated the sharpness of their techniques as well as control and discipline, offering festival visitors an alternative to the idol dance troupes and a glimpse at the level of skill displayed at kata tournaments, attracting attention to karate for the Olympics in 2020.
Shop, browse, eat…
Naturally, you can expect to find plenty of opportunities to browse for all the latest manga and anime, merchandise, retro video games, as well as traditional crafts, art, music, and foodstuff. Perhaps amoung the most popular, hard-to-get-to stalls, thanks to the sheer volume of the crowds gathered around them, are the figurine tables, with characters from all your favourite anime and video games.
Whether you’re into Figma, Nendoroids, PVC statues, Pop Vinyls, or even vintage toys and action figures, there’s always more than a few dedicated stalls – though you should be wary of fakes, especially if you’re on the look out for Figma and Nendoroids.
Experience the latest from the gaming world, or hop on the nostalgia train for something more retro
If you’re more of a hardcore gamer, meanwhile, Nintendo had a strong presence this year, with demo booths for the upcoming Link’s Awakening HD remake for Nintendo Switch, as well as Luigi’s Mansion 3, Pokémon Sword & Shield, and the usual Smash Bros. available to try out. Besides Nintendo, Bandai Namco had Dragon Ball FighterZ, with heated competitions building up as Goku’s clashed against Piccolo’s and Krillin’s. But if retro gaming is more your thing, then prepare to take the Way Back Machine through gamings rich history, as there were plenty of old school systems set up, from classic NES, SNES, NeoGeo, and PS1, as well as Gamecube and Dreamcast, with a stall setup selling games and systems to boot. Admittedly, though, it was a shame this section was so cramped, clearly struggling for space next to Nintendo’s significantly larger floorspace, with little in the way of true arcade experiences that remain popular in Japan – though Mortal Kombat (Dreamcast version) and Battle Arena Toshinden 3 (PS1) are always a blast.
On the subject of Link’s Awakening, I got the chance to play the 15-minute demo, and can confirm that the new art style is every bit as bold, colourful, and delightfully nostalgic as you could want from an HD remake of a Gameboy classic. Keep an eye out as it’s due for a September 20th 2019 release.
Hyper Japan has always been a fun alternative to Comic Con, which curiously enough has shown an increasingly larger anime crowd, with London’s MCM recognised as the largest gathering of anime and manga fans in the UK. However, Hyper Japan isn’t just about weaboo’s and otaku culture; it’s a celebration of Japanese culture, with traditional crafts, fashion, and music and dance, alongside food and stalls promoting language schools, travel options to Japan, and unique opportunities to study and work abroad. Of course, pop culture artefacts will likely hold the biggest appeal.
This year however there was a slightly frustrating issue with ticket entries, as the Saturday event was split in two to accommodate the mass of people attending the festival. While this makes sense to lessen the intensity of the crowds, the ticket prices were rather high regardless, with the first session running from 9.00 – 14.45 and the second from 15.30 – 21.00. If this schedule continues next year, I would recommend coming for the earlier session to avoid rush hour in the afternoon and to prevent any issues with travel damaging the length of time you get to spend at the event itself.
Even despite this, I will always recommend Hyper Japan to anyone looking for an alternative to LFCC and MCM, or simply interested in Japanese culture and pop culture, as it offers a fun day out surrounded by colourful cosplayers, great food, and hard to find imported Japanese goods, with an all-ages, family friendly atmosphere. We’ve seen a great effort to promote Japanese culture this year in London, with manga exhibitions held at Japan House and the British Museum, amoung other events, in preparation for the upcoming Rugby World Cup and Olympics in Japan. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Hyper Japan Christmas market in November!
| Where? Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith, London, W14 8UX |
| When? Friday 12th – Sunday 14th July, 2019 |
| Closest Tube? Kensington Olympia (Overground, Southern & District Line) |
