HYPER JAPAN 2012 Spring

When: Friday 24th – Sunday 26th February 2012
Where: Brompton Hall, Earls Court, London

HYPER JAPAN is the UK’s biggest celebration of Japanese culture, cuisine and cool. It brings together diverse exhibitors, stores, performers and fans to bring contemporary and traditional Japan to the heart of London.

HYPER JAPAN was first held at The Old Truman Brewery in October 2010, attracting 13,000 visitors over three days. The next event, HYPER JAPAN 2011, was held in July 2011 in the larger venue of Olympia 2, and both exhibitor and visitor numbers doubled, the latter reaching 25,000.

Japanese Classical Dance Nihon Buyo

HYPER JAPAN allows visitors to experience diverse elements of Japan’s culture in a single venue: modern and street culture, cosplay (dressing up as characters from anime and manga), games, J-pop, J-comedy, technology and fashion. In 2012, HYPER JAPAN is expanding in size again, and features highlights such as: live performances from singer and actress Natsuko Aso, the UK preliminaries for the European Cosplay Gathering and World Cosplay Summit, a film showcase from Third Window Films with Japanese director Miki Satoshi and actress Fuse Eri, street fashion shows, live streaming to Japan via Niconico Douga, a live performance by YouTube sensation Beckii Cruel, and a live judo demonstration by Olympic Gold Medallist Maki Tsukuda (Athens 2004, 78kg+ women’s judo).

Collage Hyper Japan HYPER JAPAN 2012 Spring

More information on event content here . HYPER JAPAN will also host Eat-Japan@HYPER JAPAN, a dedicated food and drink area where you can try, taste and discover the flavours, textures and diversity of Japanese cuisine. The event will be hosting three main Eat-Japan events: the Eat-Japan Sushi Awards: UK Sushi Roll Championship (featuring 5 unique sushi rolls from 5 leading chefs), the Eat-Japan Sake Awards: Top Brewery Taste-Off (seven sake samples served with pairing snacks), and the Taste Discovery Zone (a series of free demonstrations of Japanese food and drink).

Square Enix Cosplay Battle

Further details here:

Sushi Awards website

Sake Awards website

Taste Discovery Zone website

HYPER JAPAN is a unique event that offers something for both the dedicated Japanophile and those not so familiar with Japanese or Asian culture. It’s fun, colourful, diverse, and a great way to discover new and interesting trends in fashion, food and much more.