KYOTO FOOD & CRAFT MARKET

The first of its kind KYOTO FOOD & CRAFT MARKET will take place from March 12 to 13 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Kyoto Miyakomesse.

At the market, 16 local businesses from all over the prefecture will gather together to present a wide variety of finest, domestically produced delicacies, including sweets, seasonings, vegetables, craft beer and so much more!

The event is also a part of the CRAFT POINT KYOTO, the large collaboration running through the end of March at the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts and including CRAFT POINT KYOTO KIOSK – weekly market of traditional Arts and Crafts, and the March of Craftsmen where young artisans showcase their products.

Kyoto Crafts Map will be distributed at the event, showing stores, galleries, hands-on workshops, and open factories where visitors can freely experience and purchase beautiful hand-made products.

KYOTO FOOD & CRAFT MARKET
Dates: March 12 (Sat.) – March 13 (Sun.) 10:00 – 17:00 (until 16:00 on the last day)
Venue: B1F Lobby, Miyakomesse
Admission: Free
Organizer: MiyakoMesse (Kyoto Industrial Promotion Center)

615 exhibiting companies gather together for 2022 International Robot Exhibition making it one of the largest trade shows in the industry

Themed “The way towards a friendlier society, bridged by robots”, 2022 International Robot Exhibition (iREX 2022 for short) is scheduled to take place from March 9 to 12 and is organized by the Japan Robot Association and The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun.

This year will mark the 24th time for this biennial trade show.
As of February 22, the exhibition has 3227 booths from 615 domestic companies and organizations (vs. 3060 booths from 637 companies and organizations in 2019) and 228 booths from 49 companies from 15 foreign countries (vs. 389 booths from 95 companies in 2019).

Among showcased products and services are the latest developments and technologies in the field for industrial robots, including a large number of service robots – use of those had been rapidly expanding since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. New “Parts Feeder Zone” and “Material Handling Robot Zone” will be showcasing the supply systems, particularly in the logistics industry.
The iREX Robot Forum 2022 is scheduled to be held on the first day of the event. Manufacturers of all scales will have an opportunity to learn the latest trends in the industry of robotics and their potential for use in the new areas.
Online event – “iREX ONLINE” will be accessible from March 1 to 18 for those who cannot visit the venue in person.

International Orchid Festival 2022

The spring festival will take place at Tokyo Dome City Prism Hall for 7 days from March 24 to 30.

In its 32nd edition, the festival invites everyone to appreciate the delicate beauty of spring and share the experience with family and friends.
Instagram-worthy Orchid Gate will be filled with gorgeous orchids in pink, yellow and orange, making it a hot photo spot. After passing through the gate, visitors will be greeted by “Spring Valley,” 4-meter-high floral canyons, on both sides, providing the breathtaking view of a space filled with flowers for as far as the eye can see.

As a part of an educational section of the exhibition, “Disa,” also known as a “Flower of Gods” native to South Africa, and “Paphiopedilum Hangianum” which has recently become available for import from its native country, will be introduced.

The winning entries of the World Orchid Show Japan Grand Prize, will be on display for the visitors to enjoy, but this time – in collaboration with the floral design category, creating the most fascinating combinations. In addition, orchid works by Japan’s leading floral artists are going to be presented on the first floor of the Tokyo Dome Hotel.

Those wishing to purchase flower gifts for loved ones or for themselves, can do so at the “Botanical Market” where more than 50 stores from all over Japan will be offering the wide variety of flowers, plants and gardening goods.

Analysis of the newly launched Exhibitions in Japan（2017 – 2022）

TEIJI SAKURAI (former JETRO Auditor and Director General of the Trade Fair Department)

Every year, POP publishes a list of newly launched exhibitions and trade fairs in its “Trade Fair and Exhibition News” magazine. This year, in its issue dated January 15th, the magazine published a list of 68 new exhibitions scheduled to be held in 2022. A questionnaire survey was conducted in November 2021 for organizers, exhibition venues, and related organizations and companies. According to the results, the number of exhibitions scheduled to be held in 2022 (excluding corporate private shows and sales events) is 861.

This list of new exhibitions has been published since 2014 and is now in its ninth year. This report analyzes the launch of new exhibitions for the six-year period from 2017 to 2022 based on the published data. Below is the analysis of the number of exhibitions held, as well as by industry sectors, by venues, by exhibirion organizers and by regions.

1) New Exhibitions
The total number of new exhibitions held (or to be held) in the course of nine years from 2014 to 2022 is 446. Starting with 22 fairs in 2014, 40s in 2015 and 2016, and 50s from 2017 until 2020. The 2020 survey was released on January 15, before the spread of the COVID-19 infection. 2021 survey revealed 57 fairs, and 68 in 2022, showing an increase of about 20%. Even in the midst of the pandemic, I could feel the enthusiasm of the exhibition organizers to overcome this crisis.

◆Chart 1. New Exhibitions

Year	Number
2014	22
2015	46
2016	45
2017	54
2018	53
2019	50
2020	51
2021	57
2022	68
Total	446

2）By Industry Sectors
The January issue of the magazine presents the following information on the most popular industry sectors for the exhibitions. As a result of the analysis based on 822 questionnaire responses, the most popular industries were IT/information processing, Office equipment and environment/energy, Manufacturing/design/control equipment as capital goods. As consumer goods, Food & beverage, Beauty and health, and Hospitals and medical care. Although there have been no major changes in popular industries compared with previous years, a growing interest in the health and medical fields, as well as products and services supporting telework, can definitely be seen.

◆New Industries in 2022
Now let’s take a look at the industries of the new exhibitions in 2022. I would like to point out that classification of industries is a challenging task. There are many new exhibitions that cover multiple industries, making it difficult to make an accurate judgment about which industry to classify them into. Chart 2 below shows the author’s own classification of new exhibition industries from 2017 to 2022.

・The following is the ranking of industries for the 68 new exhibitions in 2022
13 – Food products, Restaurants, Food processing
8 – Health, Beauty, Sports and Cosmetics
7 – IT, AI, IoT, 3D, Telework, Digital Transformation
7 – Management, Labor management, Education, Welfare, childcare, and Asset Management
4 – Manufacturing Technology, Production Technology, Factories, and Robots
3 – Sales, Advertising, Marketing, Franchising, Overseas Promotion
3 – Automobiles, Auto Parts, Transportation, Logistics
3 – Tourism, Regional Revitalization, MICE, IR
3 – Disaster Prevention, Security, and Risk Control

・The ranking of new exhibition industries (10 or more exhibitions) for the six-year period from 2017 to 2022 is shown below.
40 – IT, AI, IoT, 3D, Telework, Digital Transformation
35 – Manufacturing Technology, Production Technology, Factories, and Robots
35 – Food Products, Restaurants, Food processing
28 – Medical, Nursing Care and Infection Control
23 – Management, Labor Management, Education, Welfare, Childcare and Asset Management
21 – Housing, Stores, Facilities, Interior Design
20 – Health, Beauty, Sports and Cosmetics
14 – Fashion, Apparel, Textiles, General Merchandise, Gift and Lifestyle
14 – Sales, Advertising, Marketing, Franchising, Overseas Promotion
13 – Automobiles, Auto Parts, Transportation, Logistics、
13 – Tourism, Regional Revitalization, MICE, IR
11 – Metals, Materials
10 – Disaster Prevention, Security, and Risk Control

This shows that the industries covered are almost the same as the popular industries pointed out by the aforementioned Trade Fair Exhibition News. All of these industries cover high-tech fields, fields that reflect the pandemic, health-conscious fields, fields that are becoming popular and trendy, fields that address the needs of the aging population, and fields that have strong roots in the food and restaurant industries.

Specialized Exhibition on Lighting and Visuals for Stage Production – ProLight & ProVisual 2022

From February 16 to 18, ProLight & ProVisual 2022 had taken place at Tokyo Big Sight.
Organized by the Japan Management Association (JMA) the event was featuring 209 booths representing 20 companies introducing the latest products and technologies in stage lighting and visual effects for the industry professionals. A number of demonstrations and seminars had been held as a part of the exhibition as well.

Event Outline:
ProLight & ProVisual 2022
Dates: February 16 (Wed.) – 18 (Fri.), 10:00 – 17:00 (*Last day until 4:30 p.m.)
Admission: Free *Pre-registration required
Venue: Tokyo Big Sight
Concurrent Events: HCJ (International Hotel & Restaurant Show/ Food Catering Show/ Kitchen Equipment & Devices Show), Inbound Market EXPO/ Original Product Development WEEK

Latest Global Trends in Exhibition Venues ～ Exhibition Venues Strategies for Changing Needs and Event Format

Yoshichika Terasawa, Director of Japan Event Association,
Chief Researcher of Event Research Institute

After Covid-19 outbreak,physical events have disappeared in the venues around the world. Business
Event Venues faced the unprecedented challenge not able to host physical events over a year. Meanwhile venues have established the infection preventive measures based on the Covid Safe Guidelines of the national and local governments and positively cooperated with related organizations in order to ensure the business events industry is ready to safely restart. As the number of COVID-19 cases increased, the venues were converted to temporary hospitals and vaccination center in various parts of the world.

However the global situation in the business events industry was greatly affected by the Delta variants, the physical B2B events restarted globally from September to October 2021 under the strict infection preventive measure. It is because that vaccination progressed and infected cases have been controlled gradually. But due to ongoing restrictions on international travel,the events are still domestic market oriented and limited in scale of events. It has been predicted that it will take around 2 years for the business events industry to return to market size of pre-COVID-19.

Even in these circumstances,some facilities have implemented new strategies even before the Covid-19 outbreak and continued to develop the With-Post-Covid-19 strategy through overcoming damages of Covid-19. The point of this strategy is to recover the loses caused by Covid-19 and aiming for further development to meet changing needs of events and to be able to keep up the competition with other cities in the region and country.

The following is an overview of the best practices of the latest trends in the venues. First,look at the latest particular trends in venue concept and strategies that have emerged in USA and Europe. And then introduce individual cases of venue trends.

Business events venues strategies and concepts:

In Asia,especially in China, large-scale venues continue to be built, on the contrary USA and European countries have focused on providing conveniences to users, flexibility to changing needs,environmental and sustainability requirement, contribution to brands of city and region,and digital environments in the investment priority of facilities.
After the Covid-19 outbreak,the venue has shifted its priority to both health and safety of users and visitors and the improvement of the facility quality & functionality as well as operational know-how including the strengthening measures to prevent infectious diseases.
Specific initiatives implemented in the particular facilities are as follows.

Lifestyle Exhibition “FES LIAISON”

From March 27 to 29, the brand consultancy company Omnimosouq, Inc, will hold a lifestyle exhibition “FES LIAISON” at the Lightbox Studio Aoyama in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

This year’s 4th edition is expected to attract 45 brands and 1,000 visitors; the last time it was held in Omotesando in September 2021, it attracted more than 570 visitors where 73% were the general public, 16% buyers, and 11% media representatives.

In addition to focusing on discovering new names, brands and presenting talk sessions by the invited guests, the exhibition will donate a portion of its profits to social activities.

Cosmetics and supplements will be showcased on the first floor, food and miscellaneous goods on the second, and the third floor (rooftop) reserved for a food court and an event zone.

Yokohama City is welcoming opinions from citizens and businesses concerning the renewal of Yamashita Pier

Originally planned to be the site for an Integrated Resort (IR), the Yamashita Pier project is currently undergoing the revision of the business plan.

Today, the City of Yokohama is welcoming opinions concerning the redevelopment of the Yamashita Pier from both public and the private sector. The deadline for submitting a proposal is set for the end of June 2022.

The proposal includes the concept, land-use image, facilities to be introduced, and development feasibility.

Yokohama City’s Mayor Takehara Yamanaka has proposed to replace the originally planned project for the Integrated Resort (IR) with the Harbor Resort Concept.

The city expects to compile the plan and establish a committee of local representatives and experts in the second half of 2022, to begin construction in 2026, and to start using the site in 2030.

It includes the construction of a MICE facility capable of hosting large-scale international conferences, while the basic policy of the project is to be privately owned and operated.

A new adventurous way to re-discover Hachioji area

This puzzle trail will run from January 11 to February 13 and is organized by the Hachioji Visitors & Convention Association and the Hachioji Branch Office of JR East Japan.

With the starting point in Hachioji Station North Exit, the official pamphlet of the City Walk Mystery will guide you thru the number of sightseeing spots, encouraging you to solve the puzzles and look for the clues as you go. You will need approximately 1,5 hours to complete the trail.

The project was created by a group of students from the Hachioji campus of Tokyo Zokei University who thought not only of a story but also designed special achievement stickers for those who completed the course.

Additionally, during the event period, you can receive various special offers at restaurants and cafes in the area by presenting the game pamphlet.

Rock in Japan 2022 shifts venue to Chiba

One of the most notable outdoor music events, Rock in Japan Festival, which has been held in Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki every summer from 2000 to 2019, will change its venue to Soga Sports Park in Chiba City starting from 2022.

The announcement was made on January 5 by Yoichi Shibuya, president of the production company rockin’on.

The reason behind this is the repeated cancellation of performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Shibuya said, “Last summer, we had to cancel Rock in Japan that had half of the normal capacity and all possible infection preventative measures in place, which caused us a great deal of a financial loss.”

As for the reason for choosing Soga Sports Park in Chiba City as the new venue, he said, “We can set up two stages in the huge area that can accommodate 50,000 to 60,000 people, and we can also set up two stages that can accommodate 20,000 to 30,000 people. We decided that we can avoid dense traffic by having people move around the area by taking a wide path walk.”

The 2022 Rock in Japan Festival is scheduled for the first and second week of August.