Japan Expo USA is taking a break but we’ll be back!

It’s been 2 years since we started Japan Expo in Northern California. Neither a typical anime convention nor a typical festival, our concept is simple: to introduce and promote the diversity of the Japanese culture to an audience as wide as possible, through education and entertainment.

To achieve that goal we’ve had the pleasure to collaborate with amazing partners ranging from publishing companies, video game developers, local vendors to governmental entities. Among all the Japanese Institutions that played a key role, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco helped us showcase many cultural contents and allowed many associations to share their passion at Japan Expo.

We were able to build Japan Expo USA thanks to these partners and to all the attendees. The 1st Impact in 2013 started with 5,534 unique visitors. Last year we welcomed 6,456 unique attendees. We shared hundreds of hours of programming (anime and manga activities, gaming tournaments, martial arts, music, dancing, etc. ) and invited renowned Japanese artists (like Yoshiyuki SADAMOTO, Akira YAMAOKA, Daigo IKENO …) as well as American ones (Felipe SMITH, Amie Lynn..). The interest in Japan Expo has been growing rapidly and we have reached more than 61,000 fans on Facebook. 

Despite this positive growth, we have to face the fact that we haven’t been able to reach the goals we have set to ourselves. The decision is not easy but it’s with great sadness that we have to announce that we will be holding off Japan Expo USA until further notice.

We want to thank all the exhibitors and attendees who participated, and all the companies who collaborated with us. Japan Expo would not be what it is without you. This adventure is on hold and we will see you again.

Attendees, we are looking forward to welcoming you back!

From everyone in the Japan Expo Team, THANK YOU!