Singapore★ Anime Festival Asia

Singapore hosted the Anime Festival Asia (AFA), Southeast Asia's largest anime festival, from November 8 to 10, attracting approximately 85,000 visitors from Japan and abroad. The concurrent concerts held each day drew a total of 10,000 attendees. This demonstrates the high popularity of Japanese content within the ASEAN region, suggesting the timing is ripe for the full-scale expansion of related businesses. This was reported by NNA, which distributes economic information on Asia.

The event was organized by Dentsu Inc. and local company SOZO, which operates concert halls, and ZEPP Live Entertainment, which runs concert halls. This marked the sixth year the festival was held in Singapore. Previously co-hosted by Dentsu Inc. Singapore and SOZO, this year saw Dentsu Inc.'s head office directly invest in the event, extending its duration by one day.

At the exhibition venue, over 100 companies, primarily Japanese, set up booths showcasing toys, games, music, and entertainment. According to SOZO President Sean Chin, over 80% of the products brought by exhibitors were sold. Some booths completely sold out, and "over 90% of sponsors and exhibitors expressed their intention to exhibit again," said President Chin.

Bandai, which has exhibited every year since the inaugural event, sold out its limited edition of 100 plastic models for the anime "Revolutionary Girl Utena" released on the final day. Takayoshi Oyama, Manager of Bandai South Asia, analyzed, "Compared to previous years, visitors have expanded to include younger age groups. It seems the anime and manga boom is spreading from enthusiasts to the general public."
Canon Singapore focused not on direct product sales but on promoting photographic culture. They offered free services like letting visitors freely handle cameras and having professional photographers print photos taken on-site. The number of photos provided exceeded 3,000 postcard-sized prints. Senior Manager Yoshichi of the company stated, "To inspire a photography culture among the youth demographic, which makes up over half of ASEAN's population, appealing to them through Japanese anime and manga—which they've been familiar with since childhood—resonates more effectively than using subjects like flowers or animals."

AFA plays a role in supporting Japanese content exports and overseas expansion. It also facilitated meetings between representatives of visiting Japanese music production industry groups and Southeast Asian television stations, among others, to promote content exports.
According to Yuji Arakawa, president of the copyright management company Japan Rights Clearance, which participated in the meetings, demand for Japanese pop culture among ASEAN television stations and similar entities is reigniting, reminiscent of the 1990s. His company has begun discussions to establish conditions for actively introducing Japanese pop and rock music in each country.
Projects selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Cool Japan Strategy Promotion Program were also exhibited. Booths featured collaborations between manga publishers showcasing popular manga books and original artwork, while others promoted "Kawaii Culture." Masashi Sugimoto of Dentsu Inc. Sports Asia reflected, "The collaboration with projects selected for Cool Japan realized at AFA was one of the major achievements."
In addition to Singapore, AFA's host cities expanded to Indonesia and Malaysia last year. SOZO President Chin stated, "We are also planning to enter Thailand next year."