HYPER JAPAN is the UK’s biggest celebration of Japanese culture, cuisine and entertainment and will be taking place at their new home of The O2 in Greenwich, London on 10th–12th July 2015.
Imagine Jurassic Park, but with less dinosaurs (although Kelsey Ellison will apparently do a good impersonation of a Stegosaurus if asked nicely). Three days of Japanese pop culture goodness await you at the O2 this weekend as Hyper Japan returns once again.
J-Pop Go will be on hand to report on the various music performances and conducting interviews with some of the artists appearing. Meanwhile, we’ve put together a handy guide to the musical guests that are appearing at Hyper Japan this weekend (along with some amendments and updates to reflect performance times and meet and greet schedules).
Outside of the music, here’s a few other highlights of things to look forward to this weekend.
The Sake Experience returns to Hyper Japan once again. The Sake Experience is well known for being Europe’s largest public tasting event for sake, and offers visitors the rare chance to sample a variety of high quality brews from Japan and then vote to determine the best product in a number of categories, including ‘Best Match with British Food’ and ‘Sake for that Special Someone’. J-Pop Go can vouch that the sake tasting was very popular – in fact we enjoyed it so much the stall holders had to chase us off with a stick at the last event.
Cosplay returns to Hyper Japan with the regular COSParade along with a variety of cosplay guests. Fashion enthusiasts will also be happy to hear that the HYPER J-Style Collection 2015 will showcase the diverse, creative and colourful world of modern Japanese street fashion.
Attack On Titan has proved to be a popular anime title in recent years, particularly amongst the potato-eating section of the anime fanscene. Hyper Japan has a 2 metre tall replica of the Colossal Titan’s head for you to pose with. Whinge like Eren! Simmer like Mikasa! Indulge in some spring-cleaning like Levi!
Hyper Japan will also be showcasing action anime series Knights Of Sidonia (notable for the percussive opening theme by Angela) with a special screening along with a talk by director Kobun Shizuno.
Also, if you’re the sort of person who likes fighting evil by moonlight (but also winning love by daylight), Fashion outlet Dreamy Bows will have a huge range of Sailor Moon merchandise at Hyper Japan in the HYPER Kawaii zone. The items, via Bandai, include the Sailor Moon Eau de Toilette, Sailor Moon luxury chopsticks, Rainbow Moon Chalice Room Fragrance, Sailor Moon Stick & Rod proplicas, Moon Stick & Cutie Moon Rod eyeliners, Sailor Moon teacup and saucer set by Noritake, Neptune and Uranus Lipstick Set and the new version of the Miracle Romance Powder Compact.
Meanwhile, more fashion goodies await you at our partner Teatime Treasures who will have a stall at Hyper Japan (stall Y44 in the Kawaii Fashion section). Teatime Treasures will also be promoting Die Milch who are performing at the event and launching new album Imperial. You’ll also be able to snap up tickets for Die Milch’s Islington 19th July performance directly from the Teatime Treasures stall.
Hyper Japan will also have plenty of traditional Japanese cultural events, displays and performances on hand to keep you occupied if you’re all J-Popped out. Check out the details and handy timetable on the Hyper Japan for all the info.
If you can’t get down for the event, bear in mind that Hyper Japan’s Christmas Market will also be along later this year.
Tickets to Hyper Japan start at £13 per day/session available from http://hyperjapan.co.uk/tickets/
Event Map: http://hyperjapan.co.uk/event-map/
