Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture – the largest of its kind outside Japan – taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival – Kultima – and expanded to include some European and US pop culture as well. It is held yearly at the beginning of July for four days (usually from Thursday to Sunday) in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre (the second-largest convention centre in France). The attendance has increased steadily over the years, with 2,400 visitors welcomed in the first edition in 1999 and more than 252,510 for the 2019 edition. As with the Olympic Games and many other mass gatherings, the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

History

The first exposition took place in 1999 at the ISC Paris Business School and welcomed 2,400 visitors, a number which has grown steadily. In 2002, Japan Expo was hosted at the Center of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) in La Défense, Paris. In 2005, the event was cancelled out of security concerns due to the large number of visitors. The exposition has since moved to the larger Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre. In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Event history

Japan Expo in other cities

Other than the main convention in Paris, Japan Expo has expanded to 4 cities in 3 countries on 2 continents: