Tokyo Game Show 2023: Complete Revival of Japan’s Largest Gaming Exhibition

From September 21 to 24, 2023, the Tokyo Game Show, Japan’s largest video gaming convention and exhibition, was held at the Makuhari Messe. 787 companies from 44 countries and regions, 406 of which came from outside of Japan, showcased a total of 2291 game titles. Over the 4 days, 243,238 business and general public visitors attended the show. This year’s event was the first in 4 years to span across every hall of the Makuhari Messe.

The theme of Tokyo Game Show 2023 was “Games in Motion, the World in Revolution”. The 11 halls were split into several themed areas. The General Exhibition Area drew the most attention from a majority of visitors. Some of the biggest names in Japanese video game production and development, such as SEGA, Konami Digital Entertainment, CAPCOM, and Square Enix, showcased their upcoming releases in impressive booths. Many games available for trial play allowed the public to experience new titles’ gameplay for the first time. The most popular of which had waits of up to several hours. Even by simply strolling through the General Exhibition Area, visitors could come across live performances, cosplay photo shoots, and celebrity voice actor appearances. There was an air of excitement that permeated throughout the entire venue.

The Gaming Hardware and Gaming Lifestyle Areas showcased PCs, keyboards, gaming chairs, and all sorts of products to enhance gaming experiences. The Game Academy Area hosted colleges and other educational institutions that teach game development. The most internationally diverse section of the show was the Indie Game Area, in which hundreds of indie developers from all over the globe enthusiastically promoted their games to Japanese audiences. The AR / VR Area and the Smartphone Game Area showcased new titles in the gaming industry’s fastest growing sectors. The Family Game Park, which only permitted entrance to children of middle school age and below, allowed younger attendees a chance to foster their own love for video games. At the Merchandise Sales Area, visitors and exhibitors alike could purchase goods from series showcased at the Tokyo Game Show, as well as new products from a variety of anime and video games.

The Tokyo Game Show is also successful as a platform for connecting businesses. Exhibitors offering various services to video game production and development companies flourished in the Business Solution Area, and the 2023 event boasted a total of 2,355 business negotiations, the most of any Tokyo Game Show to date.

Tokyo Game Show 2024 will be held from September 26 to 29 at the Makuhari Messe.

Tokyo International Gift Show 2023: A Microcosm of the Global Gift Industry at Tokyo Big Sight

From September 6 to 8, Tokyo International Gift Show Autumn 2023 was held at the Tokyo Big Sight, alongside concurrent events LIFE x DESIGN 2023, Gourmet & Diningstyle Show Autumn 2023, and LIVING & DESIGN – Total Interior 2023. Over 2,900 companies from 25 countries exhibited at Japan’s largest personal gift and lifestyle goods trade fair.

The main area of the Gift Show consisted of 7 sections: Home Fashion Goods Village, Daily Necessities and Sundry Goods Village, Fashionable Goods World, Beauty and Health Village, My Favorite Goods Village, Character / License / Entertainment Zone, and the Global OEM and Handmade Fair.
Popular products included acrylic goods, licensed character merchandise, toys, and youth fashion.

Among the international exhibitors, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hawaii each gathered in their respective Global Pavilions. At the Hawaii Pavilion, a cafe serving local cuisine, gourmet coffee, and nutritional smoothies generated long lines of buyers and exhibitors alike.

The Tokyo Gift Show offers an opportunity for foreign companies to break into the Japanese market without any prior connections. The event is especially beneficial to exhibitors like China’s Bemay Toys and Taiwan’s Sabmatt Corp., who both manufacture goods in self-owned warehouses and came to Tokyo to promote their products to Japanese importers for the first time.

L.M Kartenvertrieb & Verlags GMBH from Germany already boasts sales of their original lenticular postcards and bookmarks in museum shops throughout Japan. CEO Michael Hartfelder was pleased with the amount of foot traffic at the Tokyo Gift Show, stating that he had already spoken with significantly more buyers than at the previous gift show in New York.

The Peacock Vacuum Bottle Co., Ltd. produces stainless steel insulated bottles, outdoor beverage dispensers, and other products for camping and travel. At their booth, Peacock was promoting iceless coolers for wine and sake bottles. Overseas Sales and Marketing Manager Divine Setoguchi explained that the Osaka-based company currently operates in several Southeast Asian countries and is aiming to expand to the United States and beyond.

The LIFE x DESIGN exhibition displayed items intended to bring about a new era of modern living and interior design. Products revolutionizing glamping, as well as outdoor and mobile saunas, were particularly abundant.

Tokyo International Gift Show Spring 2024 will be held from February 6 to 8 at the Tokyo Big Sight.

Total Solution Exhibition for Electronic Equipment Held at Tokyo Big Sight

From May 31 to June 2, the Total Solution Exhibition for Electronic Equipment 2023 was held in the Tokyo Big Sight’s East Exhibition Hall.

The trade fair consisted of 12 sections, covering everything from electronic circuit board design and materials to finished products. The exhibition aimed to broadly and deeply encompass the entire electronics supply chain. This included electronic circuits, components, semiconductors, AI, image processing, laser light source deep-infrared LEDs, edge computing technology, automotives, robotics, communications, AV, home appliances, optical technology, aerospace, and R&D, among others.

For this year’s event, the organizers put extra effort into supporting the themed zones, enriching student programs, and promoting attendance and satisfaction of international visitors.

Attendees actively gathered information and engaged in business discussions with exhibitors who were displaying products such as electronic circuits and mounting technologies applicable to all types of electronics, telecommunications, and control equipment, as well as new content and solutions for sensors and e-textiles (wearable technology), which are becoming increasingly widespread in recent years.

Despite the impact of Typhoon No. 2, 48,018 attendees visited the fair

<Exhibition Sections>
JCPA Show 2023
2023 Microelectronic Show
JISSO PROTEC 2023
Smart Sensing 2023
interOpto 2023
Imaging Japan 2023
Edge Computing 2023
E-Textile / Wearable
Electronics Component & Unit Show
Automation Solutions Exhibit 2023
WIRE Japan Show 2023
SDGs Device Exhibit

Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau Accepting Grant Applications for International Conferences in Conjunction with Expo 2025 Osaka

As of June 27, the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau has begun accepting projects eligible for international conference grants in conjunction with the 2025 World Exposition Osaka, Kansai, which will be held on the man-made island of Yumeshima.

Osaka Prefectural government will work with the city to capitalize on the impact of Expo 2025 by hosting a number of international conferences in Osaka in order to foster innovation and to further strengthen industrial capabilities in the fields in which Osaka is already proficient. In an effort to accomplish these goals, the Osaka International Conference Grant in Conjunction with Expo 2025 was established. This grant will provide international conference organizers with partial subsidies for expenses incurred in the holding and hosting of conferences. The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau’s MICE Promotion Department is managing the program.

Projects eligible for funding are limited to international conferences held in Osaka Prefecture. Organizations planning to hold or host an international conference are eligible to receive grants. Covered expenses are those necessary to hold or host the conference in Osaka Prefecture. The grant will pay for one half of these expenses.

The grant includes conferences held from June 27, 2023, to December 31, 2025. The budget is 20 million yen through February 16, 2024, and the program will end when this amount has been reached.

Japan Mobility Show Announces Event Overview: Target of 1 Million Attendees

On May 25, The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) held its Japan Mobility Show 2023 Project Briefing Session online.

The show has been renamed from “Tokyo Motor Show” and will take place from October 26 to November 5 of this year, spanning over every hall of the Tokyo Big Sight.

Motor Show Committee Head Jun Nagata stated that the exhibition will not be a one-sided show by large corporations but rather a place where everyone can think about the future together. He plans to develop 3 symbolic content areas.

First, the main area, “Tokyo Future Tour,” will allow 1,000 people to simultaneously experience a future changed by mobility in a large, immersive theater.

The program will consist of 4 scenes: “Life,” depicting the future of movement and lifestyles changed by diverse mobility, “Emergency,” depicting the future of mobility during times of disaster, “Play,” depicting the future of fun and sports changed by mobility, and “Food,” depicting the future of meals and food courts changed by mobility. Currently, a record 56 companies from the Keidanren Mobility Committee have been selected to participate, and this number is projected to increase moving forward.

Next is the “Startup Future Factory,” which functions as an incubator to foster startups that will carry the future of the mobility industry by allowing these startups to meet with leading Japanese companies as well as general attendees.

The Pitch Contest & Award will offer a total of over 10 million yen in prize money as a financial incentive, as well as PR and business development support.

In addition, the “Business Roundtable,” a place for business matching and emerging companies will also be implemented. Exhibitor applications for startup businesses are planned to open in the end of June.

The 3^rd area, “Japan Future Session,” is expected to have content that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike and will grab the entire world’s attention.

Specific themes such as carbon neutral, personal mobility, motor sports, and enjoyment of cars are currently in the works.

Furthermore, test rides of next generation mobility, zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV), and two-wheeled vehicles, as well as a motor sports exhibition, a demo run, kids programming, and E-motor sports-related content will also be presented.

In collaboration with mobility-related organizations, there will be a mini-truck market, a labor vehicle exhibition, and a supercar and customized car exhibition.

In addition, a tie-up with the November 3-5 22^nd Dream Yosakoi Festival is also being planned.

This year’s exhibition will be the first one in 4 years. JAMA is aiming to bring in 1 million attendees. The previous exhibition in 2019 attracted over 1.3 million visitors.

Furthermore, as of May 25, over 200 companies had been confirmed as exhibitors. This has already surpassed the 2019 exhibition’s 187 companies.

Technical Show Yokohama 2024: Applications Open for “Yokohama Zone” Exhibitors

Applications have opened for exhibitors at “Yokohama Zone,” a component of Technical Show Yokohama 2024, which is an industrial technology and products exhibition to be held in February of 2024 at Pacifico Yokohama.

Yokohama Zone is intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the city that are engaged in creation of high-value products, as well as businesses using such technology as IoT. Exhibitors can participate at a lower cost than regular booths (exhibition fee is 50,000 yen), and staff will be stationed in the area at all times.

Yokohama Zone is comprised of 2 parts: Yokohama Manufacturing Zone and I-TOP Yokohama Zone. Yokohama Manufacturing Zone is open to approximately 10 companies, and a drawing will be held if there is an excess of applicants. Priority will be given to companies that have never exhibited before. I-TOP Yokohama Zone will consist of approximately 15 companies, and exhibitors will be chosen based on their company size and location.

Applications close on September 29, 2023.

Azabudai Hills to Open for Business in November 2023

On August 8, Mori Building Co., Ltd. announced that Azabudai Hills (Toranomon-Azabudai District Type 1 Urban Area Redevelopment Project) will open for business on November 24, 2023.

Azabudai Hills is planned to cover an area of approximately 8.1 hectares, with 24,000 square meters of greenery and a total floor space of 861,700 square meters. It will consist of a variety of urban functions in a concentrated space, including offices, residences, commercial facilities, cultural amenities, and educational and medical institutions.

<Azabudai Hills Statistics>
Development Area: 8.1 ha
Lot Area: 63,900 m²Total Floor Space: 861,700 m²Office Area: 214,500 m²Greenery Area: 2.4 ha
Number of Housing Units: 1400
Commercial Facility Area: 23,000 m²Uses: Office, Residential, Commercial, Hotel, Cultural, International school, Medical clinic, etc.

<Upcoming Schedule>
August 30, 2023: British School in Tokyo opening
November 6, 2023: Keio University Preventative Medical Center begins offering testing
November 24, 2023: Azabudai Hills opening
● Azabudai Hills gallery
● Commercial facilities (approx. 100 stores)
● Hills House
● Tokyo Venture Capital Hub
Winter 2023: Janu Tokyo hotel opening
January 2024 (estimate): Azabudai Hills market opening
January 2024 (estimate): Mori Building digital art museum, EPSON teamLab Borderless opening
February 2024 (estimate): Opening of 10 luxury brand commercial facilities

Cygames Releases Past CEDEC Lecture Videos

Video game planning, development, and operations management company Cygames has released on their Youtube channel recordings of lectures from previous editions of the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC), a skill sharing event aimed at game developers which is organized by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA).

Cygames considers CEDEC, a forum for sharing technical skills within the video game industry, to be an important event for advancement of the industry and proactively offers lectures during the conference.

Two lectures were scheduled for CEDEC 2023, which was held from August 23 to 25 at Pacifico Yokohama North in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and in order for audiences to have a better understanding of the content, highly relevant past lectures have been made available online indefinitely.

The following 3 lectures have been released:

“Fully Recreating a Game World: Technology and Planning Behind Grand Blue Fes“ (2020)
“AI Approaches to Image Recognition and Natural Language Processing to Improve Game Production Efficiency” (2021)
“Efforts Towards Detection of Typographical Errors in Game Scenarios Using AI Natural Language Processing” (2022)

Furthermore, videos showcasing the highlights of each CEDEC 2023 lectures are also available on the Cygames Youtube channel.

Official Cygames Youtube channel playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSx6MdBnoFbB481p0we2ZFcOmNuXOv95o

Japan Drugstore Show 2023: Supporting Healthy Lifestyles at the Tokyo Big Sight

From August 18 to 20, Japan Drugstore Show 2023 was held at the Tokyo Big Sight. With 2 of the 3 days open to the general public, 475 companies showcased a variety of products to be sold in drugstores throughout Japan, as well as pharmacy and healthcare services.

The event consisted of 11 specialized trade show zones: Health Care Zone, Beauty Care Zone, Feminine Care Zone, SDGs Zone, Food & Health Zone, Food & Drink Zone, Life Care Zone, Home Care Zone, Pet Care Zone, Entertainment Zone, and Store & Pharmacy Solutions Zone

The venue was packed with booths exhibiting products to stock every aisle of a drugstore, such as cosmetics, health supplements, sports goods, medicines, and toiletries. Yamasan Shoji Co., Ltd exhibited their Eddy line of orthopedic shoes intended to improve foot health while walking, as well as reduce swelling and pain in hips and knees, by changing the wearer’s center of gravity. Dreams Inc., maker of the internationally trendy Sonny Angel series, showcased their upcoming merchandise lines, including stuffed animals that help correct posture while sitting.

Many products, such as Takeda Corporation’s daily necessities, general goods, and furniture, are already available for purchase in hospitals, home centers, supermarkets, and dollar stores. Exhibiting companies were working towards breaking into the growing drugstore market.

Food was also a major contender at the event. Taesung Industrial’s Sweet Monster Korean snacks and corresponding original characters; Kaneyoshi Co., Ltd from Nemuro in Hokkaido and their processed Pacific saury, sardines, and scallops, which are stewed in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin and preserved at room temperature; and Katsumi Japan’s nutritional frozen foods for consumption in hospitals and nursing care facilities, which are frozen with low-temperature steam to keep flavor contained; each company offered unique products to fulfill consumers’ needs.

One special segment of the Food & Drink Zone was dedicated to diversity in alcohol and connecting Japan with the rest of the world through alcohol. Companies and breweries under the Nihon Shurui Hanbai Corporation showcased everything from sake to Italian wine. As alcoholic products costing over 1000 yen are gaining more popularity in drugstores, their variety is also growing. In addition, in response to rising numbers of international tourists visiting Japan, exhibitors also focused on alcohol aimed at tourists. By supporting already-established brands from various regions around the country and marketing products to tourists from abroad, companies endeavor to support local economies, promote tourism in rural areas, and encourage the spread of Japanese culture.

During the open public days, a kids’ area was implemented where children could learn about the SDGs and experience the job of a pharmacist first-hand. In total, 58,872 business and public visitors attended the event.

Yamasan Shoji Co., Ltd’s orthopedic footwear

Interior Lifestyle Japan 2023 Held at Tokyo Big Sight

From June 14 to 16, Interior Lifestyle 2023, an international trade fair for interior design that proposes the lifestyle market of the future, was held at the Tokyo Big Sight.

The event was organized by Messe Frankfurt Japan Ltd.

A total of 18,634 visitors attended. (16,542 in 2022) (The same attendee entering on 2 separate days counted as 2 visitors.)

The trade fair brought together all products related to clothing, food, and housing, and 542 companies from 19 countries and regions exhibited. (459 domestic / 83 overseas exhibitors)

Talk shows and exhibitor tours with famous architects and buyers touring booths with commentary were also held.

In the atrium, exhibitors gathered to showcase “ethical” products, ethics being a topic of growing interest recently. Booths were lined up for each of 3 ethical concepts, “Protect,” “Connect,” and “Move Close.”

The next Interior Lifestyle will be held from June 12 to 14, 2024, in the Tokyo Big Sight’s West Exhibition Hall.