So I am totally worn out from my weekend in London at Hyper Japan, but it was all worth it. Here is a write up of the event and a bunch of photos too.
Friday….
It was an amazingly beautiful day in London and I was very happy to arrive to see no queue at all and so just sat on the steps waiting for it to open. Friday is only a half day as the stalls set up that morning and early afternoon. Inside the venue it was really nice and quiet, not too crazy like I’ve been used to before. It was lovely to be able to walk around and properly look at things and work out where everything was. Sadly a few stalls weren’t really open yet, but the majority were. Due it to being quiet it also meant there were not a lot of people dressed up so that is why there is a distinct lack of many fashion photos for the Friday, but I managed to grab a few. Also spent the day posing for photos myself which was quite nice ^ ^
All the usuals were there such as Tofu Cute, ARTBOX, Manga Entertainment, JP- Books, Jaltour and Third Window Films. Was also nice to see a few new stalls for 2012 such as Cakes With Faces (a stall run by my lovely talented friend, Amy, who does very cute graphic designs) and CYBERDOG (which had a few 6%DOKIDOKI items, but they needed more, damnit!)
There were loads of food places, although sadly no sushi places which was a bit weird and also the amazing bento place from the past events were nowhere to be found. Luckily I found a place selling okonomiyaki (a sort of cabbagey pancake thing) and so chowed down on that. Japan Centre, Tofu Cute and CyberCandy all helped to fill any belly voids later that evening with their endless array of colourful snacks.

A nice amount of stalls this year selling various trinkets such as jewellery, hats, the usual figurines and anime merch, manga, kimono, cute stationery, DVD’s and CD’s. It was all a little girly though I think. Most stalls seemed to be aimed at girls and all the guys who visited with us this weekend seemed a little bored and fed up that there was nothing that they wanted.
Saturday….
Still no mega queue like last year and so we got straight in, but definitely a lot busier than the Friday and it got more packed into the afternoon. More stalls were open today such as the Lolita bring & buy stall, a makeover stall and a cosplay photo wall. Tons of stuff going on the stage today including another performance by Na-chan which we sadly missed, but there was also traditional Japanese dance (see videos), a Japanese Street Fashion show and a talk by the Japanese film director Satoshi Miki and actress Eri Fuse. There was also the cosplay awards, but I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage to see or take any photos. I will post up some links later in the week to any pics I can find from the event.
Namco Bandai Games and TOEI Animation had teamed up and were showcasing the newest games on various different platforms, but mainly seemed to be 3DS and the new PS Vita. Of course there was lots of One Piece and Dragon Ball paraphernalia about including a giant Chopper and Luffy was wandering around the event posing for pictures.
Niconico were back this year after not being at last year’s event. I stayed clear as I am not a fan of being interviewed, but saw lots of other people having a laugh and messing about in front of the camera. They interviewed some of the stall owners and stage performers as well as casually chatting with anybody they could drag in who walked past.
Fashion wise there was mostly lolita stuff and not much else. You will see in my photos that it was mostly sweet lolita girls roaming around and very few people dressed in any other style. The fashion show showed a mix of different styles which was great, but even at the end of the show there were prizes for people in the audience who were dressed in J-fashion, but they all seemed to go to lolita girls too and a few decora and fairy-kei girls at the back looked a bit put out. Then again pretty much everyone who joined in with the competition were in lolita so they probably weren’t noticed. Hopefully next year there will be more of a mix. I hope to have my own stall there at least anyway, probably selling some of my short yukata ^ ^
Highlights….
Sushi Awards 2012 - We paid to try a sample of sushi from each of the five nominees. They were AMAZING. My favourite was Cherry Blossom sushi by Chef Matsuya at SO restaurant, but they were all great. Also was quite surprised to see that one of the entries was a sweet sushi roll with strawberry and popping candy. Nomz ^ ^
Natsuko Aso - Apart from being the cutest thing ever, she is an idol star from Japan and performed a few songs for us at Hyper Japan. She is mainly known for singing songs in anime openings/endings. We loved her and I was also quite amused by a guy who is quite possibly her greatest fan going mental in the row behind us swinging a towel and a glow stick around. I know this is the done thing at idol gigs in Japan, so it was nice to see it happen over here. I think she might have been a little ill though as sometimes her voice broke during singing, but she kept on going and kept smiling and it was just lovely.
Introduction to sake - EAT JAPAN were running some workshops during the events. They were free, you just had to get in quick to be booked in as they only sat around 20 people. This one was for sake and never to pass up the opportunity for free booze, hubby and I grabbed a place. A lady ran us through the sake making process and then we got to try various different types of sake and she explained to us what each one was and how they compared. It was very interesting as I didn’t have a clue before.
I <3 Umeshu – Similar to the previous workshop, but this time about yummy ume (green plum) wine which is my personal favourite Japanese drink. We tried five different drinks and then were given a can of umeshu soda to take home too. I am still amazed this event was free as hubby and I came out wobbling. We bought a bottle of one of the wines by CHOYA and will probably buy more online again in future.
Satoshi Miki & Eri Fuse interview – These two were very charming and also amusing to listen to as they played off each other very well. They answered questions from the audience and a few clips from their movies were played. We bought the box set of movies after the talk and went to get them signed. They were very lovely and signed all three DVD’s for us and hubby was pleased to have his first mini conversation in Japanese with them ^ ^

Japanese Street Fashion Show – A nice mix of different styles including Classic Lolita, Sweet Lolita, Punk Lolita, Decora, Gyaru, Otome and Fairy-kei (my favourite <3). Also nice to see a couple boys with Punk and Gyaru-o styles.
So on with the pics. Click the image below to see the rest of the gallery…