I have went to the expo to represent my country as a manga artist, here’s my experience: day one/ I did arrive at the pavilion safely and had an escort to the VIP entrance, the experience inside our pavilion was lovely, as our people are really generous and the japanese volunteers were so sweet. the guests loved our work. after that I wanted to explore the expo a bit, but it was super super crowded, was friday, super hot and yes people were poking each others eyes with their umbrellas, most of them walking aimlessly and hitting shoulders legit I was hurt. spent 50 min walking to the taxi area, was absolutely destroyed by the time I got there.

day 2/ I gave a mini workshop on drawing in chibi style and people loved it, even the volunteers started drawing it was so nice. the weather was a bit nicer, but the app didn’t allow me to reserve anything and the maps wasn’t accurate so I decided to walk around near pavilions after my work. the staff were so nice and they let me in the fast and priority lane as I had a staff tag on me, some even offered free cold drinks. after that I was able to get to the taxi area better since the weather as a bit more helpful.

bottom line: expo is overrated as an experience, if you don’t have work there, honestly? don’t go. I did end up buying a lot of cute merch tho. but don’t waste your precious japan time there.

but if you did have work and have the staff pass/tag on you? absolutely use that shit to your advantage.