No Japan Expo in 2021, this is now official. Faced with the health crisis, and the uncertain months coming up, the event promoters prefered canceling the edition 2021 of the show and expect us in 2022. "The current conditions, unsurprisingly, do not enable us to consider this impact. The context was impossible in 2020 and still is in 2021: there are four months left and we do not have enough certainties as for the conditions to host such as event", event cofounder Jean-François Dufour told AFP.
"Japan Expo attracts crowds from all over France and even Europe, and Japan of course. There usually are 70,000 visitors a day inside, and a total 250,000 festivalgoers, and a lot of mixing and meetings. An edition in deteriorated conditions was not the right idea", his colleague Thomas Sirdey says.
And turning the event into a digital show was out of the question. In a press release published on Japan Expo Twitter account, promoters explain the show is usually a place of in-site meetings for mostly virtual communities. This would make no sense making the show a digital one.
Promoters do not hide this second cancelled impact will have very serious consequences on the show's survival. In a release, they explain the State helped them with aids that are yet not enough to cover all functionning fees. This is why they ask people who bought their tickets already not to get a refund. The money collected will enable Japan Expo to stay above the water for a while.
To help you recover from the news and help you wait until 2022, here are pictures and video from Japan Expo 2019. Cosplays, stands of all kind, conferences, games, this is heaven for manga and anime fans, and for all Japanese culture fans.
Let’s meet in a year for the return of Japan Expo!
Location
Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center
ZAC Paris Nord 2
93420 Villepinte
Official website
www.japan-expo-paris.com
