Otakuthon 2015
On August 7th and 8th, Ambassador and Mrs. Monji visited Montreal and participated in Otakuthon, Quebec’s largest Japanese pop-culture event, with Montreal Consul General and Mrs. Kuramitsu.
While at Otakuthon, they took the opportunity explore some of the many booths which introduced Japanese manga and anime. They also attended an Ikenobo Ikebana Workshop which was co-hosted by the Montreal Consulate General of Japan, as well as a game workshop organized by SEGA. On Friday evening, after taking part in a live concert by Japanese pop-group, Angela, Ambassador Monji attended the Canadian national preliminary of the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) as a special judge. He delivered opening remarks and presented the trophy to the winners.
Canada has received full participating nation status from the WCS which will take place next year in Nagoya, Japan. The winner of the Canadian national preliminary, Nienna Karnical (Jessie Frenette and Felicia Dussault), will participate in the WCS as Canada’s cosplay representatives.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of Otakuthon and approximately 35,000 Japanese pop-culture fans came out to participate. After meeting with cosplayers as well as manga and anime fans, Ambassador Monji was impressed by the popularity of Japanese pop culture in Canada and looks forward to the many possibilities of increasing appreciation for Japan through pop culture in Canada.
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