COVID-19 brought everybody on the planet to difficult situations. If there were a positive side due to COVID, it could be that we can join in international events without travel. HYPER JAPAN could be one of such events.
HYPER JAPAN announced that they hold an incredible online celebration of Japanese culture from 9th July to 8th August. It’s not been possible to run the Festival in the same way. This year, but they are powering up for HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021!
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About HYPER JAPAN
HYPER JAPAN Festival is the BIGGEST celebration of Japanese culture in the UK! They bring the BEST of Japanese food, culture, and travel.
Centered on Japanese cuisine and popular cultures such as gaming, manga, anime, music, HYPER JAPAN is technically a physical event introducing a wide range of Japanese culture in London. It started in 2010 as a fusion of Japanese cuisine, which is increasingly popular in the UK, and Japanese pop culture, which was already booming across Europe. In this sense, the event is different from the many pop culture events currently held worldwide by local fan communities.
What is HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021?
The event is preparing to bring you authentic Japanese food, products, music, art, and the biggest gathering of Japanese fanatics. You can connect to Japan with other fans by using your mobile device or computer from anywhere in the world. With hundreds of exhibitors showing a variety of Japanese pop culture, video games, cosplay, martial arts, traditional arts and crafts, kawaii fashion, as well as mouth-watering cooking classes, Japanese sake tasting parties, live shows from Japanese artists, and virtual travel tours.
Keep up with the latest news by checking their regular posts on the website as HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021 draws near. You can also stay up to date by following their social media. Also, subscribe to their newsletter and official YouTube channel. If you are interested in getting even closer to the action by performing or exhibiting, you can also take a look at the many different opportunities to become a part of this year’s event.
Are you interested in exhibiting? Get in touch here
Thinking about performing? Get in touch here
Official artwork revealed
The winner of our 2019 HYPER Anime Contest, Inko is back to present her illustration for HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021. Last year the UK manga artist designed “Natchan,” a happy-go-lucky girl who loves Japanese culture just as much as the HYPER JAPAN fans. Natchan first appeared wearing a traditional kimono and kitsune mask. But then lockdown happened.
Inko told about the fresh approach she took to working on this year’s Natchan. She gave her an updated look to fit with this year’s online platform while still capturing the excitement and variety of the event. Check out her comments below!
I had a special thought of Natchan for this year’s Hyper Japan poster. Because the event is online this year, and not the usual summer festival Hyper Japan has been offering. What I tried was making Natchan enjoy the various different contents of the online event at her room. So that the image is the crystallization of all sorts of fun, fun, fun, fun Hyper Japan online activities. She’s dressed in Kawaii fashion with a touch of a very popular Anime series (can you spot it?), munching tasty Dango sweets, surrounded by lovely traditional Japanese ornaments, and on screens of botanical-looking monitors, there are lots of Japanese cuisines and activities!
I love the recent 80’s feelings on illustration trends such as Seizo Watase’s colorful artworks, and I thought- why not put the 80’s elements in? So here they are, the pattern on the background, the color theme, the bright cloud floating around Natchan to show her excitement, all these are based on illustrations from the era. Umm… it suits Natchan very well.
Artist biography
Inko is a UK-based Japanese manga artist. She studied at two schools before she kicked off her career as a manga & comic artist. Her experiences studying at Kyoto Zokei University of Art & Design in Japan, and Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in the UK, made her unique aesthetic features fun and dark crossovers of modern & traditional Eastern and Western cultures. She frequently joins various conventions, art projects, gives talks at museums, and delivers manga workshops inside and outside the UK.
Her clients include Kyoto Newspaper, Letraset, Transport For London, British Museum, V&A Museum, Sony Entertainment Japan, and Guardian children’s book.
The recent publications are Manga Yokai Stories (Tuttle) 2020, Tam O’Shanter (Cranachan publishing) 2019, Portrait of Violence (New International) 2017. All available at bookstores and amazon UK.
The Yokai (Japanese monsters) exhibition “Yokai trail” is currently held at Blackwell Arts & Crafts House in BOWNESS-ON-WINDERMERE, till October.
Two new books will be published later this year
How to join the event
Joining HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021 is very easy! All you need to do is just 3 steps.
- Subscribe to the newsletter from the official website
- Book your place at the events
- Enjoy!
With all this and much more, this July and August HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021 brings the most exciting and incredible parts of Japanese culture direct from Japan into your heart. Don’t miss it!
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