CoFesta Day 1: TIFFCOM 2013!

After attending the International Drama Festival in Tokyo, we all took a cab down to the next event at GRAND PACIFIC LE DAIBA / Zepp DiverCity Tokyo. It was actually a mix of 3 different events all at the same place.

The Tokyo International Music Market, TIFFCOM 2013 Marketplace for Film & TV in Asia and Tokyo International Anime Festival, all 3 events happening concurrently =)

We waited at the lobby of the hotel and they had the Halloween decorations up in the centre xD

camwhore with Angie xD The mirrors in the hotel are so pretty!

Since the events were back to back for the day, the organisers bought us sandwiches to munch on xD

And then the head of the few events graciously took some time out to tour us around the event halls. I mostly filmed video here so please pardon the lack of photographs.

One of the first booths we went to was JapaCon. The lady above was giving us a presentation on their website and also informed us that if we did a survey with them, we would be able to get a free gift =)

JapanContent FB: https://www.facebook.com/japancontent

The 3 events were mostly catered for Business personnel in the industry thus the difference in the attendees and booth layout. The event’s main objective is to “ provide a multi-content platform venue where all the participants can experience the power of Japanese content, and buyers from all over the world and other visitors can meet exhibitors interested in launching new profitable business with the contents they own. ”

it was a very interesting experience to be attending an event targeted for the business people of the industry instead of the consumers. It must have been such an exciting and stressful period for all the event attendees.

The obligatory group photo in front of JapanCon booth xD

Since there was 13 of us in total, every time we take a group photo (and we took A LOT XD), it ended up being quite the spectacle as the organisers had to help us take a photo each 8D Much like my Macau trip last year. 

Except this time it’s in Japanese and in the form of “Torimasu! Torimasu! Ichi, Ni, San…*proceeds to do yoga backbend* ” LOL!

We also went to the Gainax (yes, they brought us Neo Genesis Evangelion) booth and met their newest Sentai franchise; The Negiman! The Negiman is as the name implies, the LEAK MAN xD!! It’s something like Ultraman where the protagonist involved wears a suit (of sort) and battles the evil forces.

I must admit I find the character design pretty alarming but I guess at least Japanese Leeks don’t taste as pungent as in the ones in Singapore xD

They gave us Negiman head masks/band to wear too =)

Some of the booths we went pass.

The amount of space the 3 events took up was massive and the booths were endless. One can seriously get lost inside this booth maze! The event has combined 3 different market ( Film & TV, Animation and Music) into one centralised area to encourage more interaction and collaboration amongst buyers and creators.

This guy reminds me of Aiba Masaki from Arashi but I think he is Korean xD

The Fukushima Prefecture booth! Fukushima is as we all know, is badly haunted by the tsunami and nuclear disaster. This booth is to promote tourism and interest in the prefecture.

They gave each of us a little freebie. I don’t know what this is called in English but in Mandarin we call something like this  不倒翁. Okay I just googled and it’s called Roly Poly/ Tumbler. The spherical design at the bottom coupled with the weight in the centre bottom meant the doll will always come back up after being pushed. If I hadn’t been sad for Japan before, this little mascot definitely reminded me of the all the Tsunami disasters once again =\ But of course, choosing a Roly Poly as a mascot show the full courage of the Fukushima People and I’m sure with that perseverance, Fukushima will come up again.

I tried to google more information about the place and mascot and it turns out that the back print was actually inferring to a drama called “Yae no Sakura”  that is closely related to Fukushima.

According to this blog, NHK runs a historical drama (NHK Taiga Drama) that lasts 50 episodes every year. This year, the story is focused on Nijima Yae a tomboy who lives in Fukushima (I presume!) that dressed up as a man, carries a rifle and help defended Aizu Castle. Think Japanese Mulan

Link: http://jumpsq.shueisha.co.jp/rensai/yaenosakura/

There’s even a Manga with the same title! I guess this explains why Haruka Ayase’s pictures were everywhere when I was in Japan. Makes me feel a little left out as a Singaporean who’s national TV seemed to have lost it’s touch and creativity =|

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToshiyukiMurakami

My favourite booth must be the Japan Film Commission booth where we were generously given a tonne of free food! I am under the impression that the booth was also shared by the Fukouka Tourism Board.

If you go to the facebook link you’ll realise it’s not a Page but a normal facebook account where you can add the account as a friend. I don’t understand Japanese but the account shares a lot of nice photographs of sceneries and food in Fukouka.

I’ve seriously never met a booth that gave away as much QUALITY freebie as they did! They even provided sake! That’s one of the coolest thing about Japan, the freebies that they give out everywhere are always one level higher than whatever I find in Singapore.

Tony from Indonesia looks very happy with his Sake brew xD I was feeling very hot within the halls and getting a little dizzy from that so I skipped the sake =( *regretsmuch*

All the food given away are iconic food from all over Japan! I really wish I could bring the curry back but my luggages were already too heavy so I gave them to an awesome friend living in Japan She cooked one of them already and she said it was good ^_^

We had to rush off to change for the Japan Content Showcase 2013’s Opening Reception Party that evening so we didn’t linger at the event area for long. It was a pity though because I would love to roam the Animation section heh.