Business Jul. 03, 2009 - 02:28PM JST ( 1 )

The annual Japan Expo opened in a Paris suburb Thursday for a four-day run with the prospect of drawing a crowd of around 150,000, the biggest in the history of the exhibition showcasing the country’s pop culture. The main feature of this year’s expo, the 10th of its kind, comprises collaborations between the private and public sectors with the participation of Japanese government bodies as well as game and software companies. In a segment called the Japan Pop Culture Festival, which Japan’s Foreign Ministry is co-sponsoring, pop culture ambassadors named by the ministry play goodwill roles in fashion shows and various other events.
   
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is involved in events associated with the Japan International Contents Festival, where content from games, films, animated films, comic books and music are put on display. Elsewhere, screenings of Japanese animated films and concerts, which have become fixed events at the expo, will be held along with ‘‘cosplay’’ contests, where participants are dressed up to look like characters from animation products and games. In addition, traditional Japanese martial arts, plays and flower arrangements, folk songs and classical Japanese dances, will be performed live. The first Japan Expo was held by Japanese pop culture enthusiasts in France in July 2000, with about 3,200 people attending. Since then, the number of participants has steadily increased and some 134,000 people attended last year’s expo.