Read our Licensing Japan Show Floor Report
Despite the rarity of in-person trade shows around the world at this time, the 11th edition of Licensing Japan took place last week from 14 to 16 April at Tokyo Big Sight. Total Licensing as the sole official international media was there co-exhibiting with its Japan and Korea agent, Roger Berman of ZenWorks.
Roger reports:
“I must admit it felt strange to be at a physical licensing show but I didn’t feel uncomfortable from a health safety aspect. On the contrary, the organiser, Reed Exhibitions Japan, put in place very strict on-site protocols and measures against COVID-19. In addition to the usual mandatory masks, temperature checks at entrances (not random; for everyone), hand sanitizers at show floor entrances and at every stand, Reed also kept the show floor capacity capped at 50%. Visitors to our booth cooperated by standing outside while I sat at the back of the booth which created a safe two metre distance.
“To maintain a “no-touch” environment as much as possible, I replaced business cards with a QR code to my contact details. And for diehards who still wanted to exchange business cards, they put them in a box and took one of my cards from the table. Physical copies of the current issue of Total Licensing were replaced by using a projector to display the digital version of the magazine on the booth wall. The projector was also useful for showing my PC screen without having people standing next to me. Of the few printed magazines I had available, all were wiped down with alcohol cloths before being distributed – the magazines still went quickly! The show itself had a good atmosphere and visitors were seriously looking to do business. Being aware of the times we live in, there was little networking other than brief “say hellos” but it was nice seeing industry colleagues in the flesh and not on Zoom.
“The annual Japan Character Awards were presented in a small-scale ceremony at the show with the Grand Prize going, not unsurprisingly, to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train.Reed Exhibitions Japan reported a total of 24,450 visitors over the three days. This total is for the entire Content Tokyo, the umbrella event name that includes Licensing Japan and other concurrent content-related shows such as Content Marketing Expo, Creators’ Expo and the PR Design & Branding Expo. Kudos to Reed Exhibitions Japan for maintaining a safe in-person event that benefits not just the exhibitors and visitors but also the exhibition industry workers such as booth designers, constructors and the area economy such as hotels and restaurants.”
The 12th edition of Licensing Japan will take place between 29 June and 1 July 2022 at Tokyo Big Sight.”
Take a look at the Licensing Japan virtual visitor “walkabout” video: https://vimeo.com/537245372
Have a look at the Photo Gallery (on ZenWorks facebook page – if you find the album useful, please “like” the page!): https://www.facebook.com/ZenWorksLicensing/posts/3854650181286002
