TOKYO –
Japan’s content material market has reached a file excessive as corporations more and more rework in style characters and tales into immersive experiences that permit followers to step contained in the worlds of their favourite works.
Hotel Floria Tokyo, an immersive Sanrio attraction, opened in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district on July 15. After checking in at reception, guests enter a fantasy lodge crammed with rooms and settings impressed by Sanrio characters.
The attraction options 11 areas the place guests can expertise the environment surrounding their favourite characters. These embody a heat, mild room reflecting My Melody’s persona and a seashore recreated with an enormous display and actual sand.
Tatsuya Yoshioka, an government officer at Sony Creative Products, mentioned the attraction presents an expertise hardly ever seen in Japan. “One of the main attractions is that visitors can immerse themselves in the characters’ worlds while taking a room tour featuring Sanrio characters, which led us to organize this event,” he mentioned.
The growth of characters and artistic works into bodily experiences is changing into an necessary a part of the mental property enterprise. Japan’s content material market exceeded 15 trillion yen in 2024, its largest measurement on file.
China’s market is significantly bigger, exceeding 40 trillion yen, practically 3 times the dimensions of Japan’s.
BilibiliWorld, one in every of Asia’s largest exhibitions protecting anime, manga and video games, opened in Shanghai on July 10 with about 170 collaborating corporations. Large numbers of cosplayers started arriving on the venue early within the morning.
Visitors appeared in costumes together with Kamen Rider Agito’s Shining Form and Kanao Tsuyuri from Demon Slayer, having fun with the occasion in outfits impressed by their favourite characters.
About 400,000 tickets bought out in simply two minutes. Fans gathered round an enormous Gundam show, whereas guests on the Sanrio sales space took images with characters.
At the Demon Slayer sales space, members may expertise a coaching train utilizing motion-capture expertise, with synthetic intelligence figuring out how efficiently they accomplished the problem.
Japanese content material continues to draw sturdy assist in China at the same time as worsening relations between Japan and China have prevented some Japanese anime and films from being screened.
Industry officers say occasions reminiscent of BilibiliWorld are necessary for sustaining long-term curiosity in Japanese works.
Shizuka Kurosaki, basic supervisor of Aniplex’s China operations, mentioned the corporate spent appreciable time getting ready the exhibition as a result of it locations nice significance on guaranteeing that audiences proceed to like its works. “We are displaying our content in this form again, and we want to continue these efforts,” she mentioned.
Source: FNN