Hyper Japan 2012

Hyper Japan 2012

I went to Hyper Japan in London with the east Asian film society, this event was a convention and showing of the Japanese culture which included; food, TV and films, Faison, Manga, games and Anime and the whole thing just seemed to show as a celebration of all of these things. Along with the more corporate run booth’s there was also a lot of people who where there to sell there homemade item’s that are to do with the Japanese culture, I went to this even my main goals where quite simple, have fun and help the east Asian Film society.

The fun part was obviously the easiest, the combination of pretty awesome looking cosplayer’s, great tasting and smelling food allowed me to have both my eye’s and nose to have a all around amazing time while I was walking around for a good few hours, the rather smallness of it all really allowed me to have a look at every booth and store I could get too and had a wide variety of things to look at and buy, from swords to hello kitty plush dolls.

The food being served was as expensive as you can expect from an event like this, they know they can make you pay £5 for a burger because it’s the closest and best smelling food to you in this room, and to be fair the food I didn’t eat looked like it would be worth paying that much for as it all looked great and the smells just made you want to buy more, where as I had some kind of vegetable omelet with battered pawns, even that was a new taste that I really enjoyed, and if I was willing to spend about 30 pounds on just food at this event and spend about 20-30 minutes in a queue for it I would have tried to get my hands on every type of food I could get my hands on and happily ate all of it.

Where as Faison isn’t normally my strong point, I would have to admit that every bit of clothing that I saw being presented and on the racks around looked really well crafted, from the kimono’s to the more amine based trinket’s they all looked really well made and I wouldn’t lie…if I had the money I probably would have brought a kimono as they felt like they would be the most comfortable clothing I had ever worn and would have made a great Christmas gift for a female family member or my self if they had one in my size…as it just really looked comfortable.

The Stalls where all interesting and it was hard to see what I should concentrate first, with items ranging from fashion, toy’s and real swords. Of course the more corporate had the most exciting and eye catching stall’s, this not really being a bad thing all considered as it helped you see your way round and tell where you where, as you can just say ‘meet by the giant anime character’ or by the matted area, all though I only went there for one day I managed to see everything which was a really good thing, as much as I would like to go there every day, I don’t live in London and it would be expensive but if I did I would make sure to vsit this place ever year it comes round.

Of course there was always something to catch my eye, from seeing (the sword guy from Kill Bill) fighting and teaching others to use a katana, a traditional tea ceremony and the cosplayers around the show  and on the stage, the talk about anime and mange from the expert’s and even showing how to make a few bits of Japanese food, and the last thing on stage was the band called ‘Ninja Man Japan’ who looked pretty excited to be there and played some pretty good music, So over all it was a pretty good stage show that wrapped up the day nicely.

Over all this is really was a great way to spend my time and money, with the nice and helpful staff, and booth workers, the amazing food, the great gift’s and other items that you could buy while you where there. A really great day and good expreaince to have under your belt if you are a fan of Japanese culture.