Anime NYC was the first anime convention to be held at Jacob Javits Convention Center since the last New York Anime Festival more than 5 years ago. Now the people behind the event is already selling tickets for 2018. Since Anime NYC had the support of major companies in the American anime manga industry ranging from publishers to retailers, I wanted to hear from them. Why? Because their participation in the FIRST solo convention in more than 5 years of this kind in a prominent convention building is evident that the companies care enough about the growth of the anime and manga community. They are willing to make an appearance NOW, instead of waiting years down the line to participate at Anime NYC.
One such company is Kinokuniya Bookstore, specifically the New York main store. I had to opportunity to interview Kotaro Takano, the manager at the New York location. Let’s start with some background information.
Kinokuniya Bookstore is based in Japan but has expanded to 12 stores in the United States. To further expand their international presence, they have stores in Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and Dubai. “The first Kinokuniya Bookstore opened in the United States in San Francisco in 1969. Our New York main store opened in 1981 at the Rockefeller Center and then moved to its current location in 2007. After we moved to this location in front of Bryant Park, we gradually expanded the general English book selection to appeal to a wider range of customers.”
Initally, when the New York store was at its previous location, they started out as a predominantly Japanese language based bookstore, which is how some of the other USA locations began the business. However, since then, the New York main store “expanded our collection fairly recently to include a wide range and a finer selection of books in English to get a wider range of customers.” When one enters the store, their basement features a large stationery section, which includes authentic Japanese products. If one chooses to travel to the second floor, one will find an extensive array of manga in both English and the original Japanese, along with graphic novels, anime goods and toys. If one wants a snack, there's a cafe on the same floor to fulfill one's hunger. “Anime, manga and comics of course are considered one of our specialties.”
Anime NYC 2017
The first convention has been over for at least two months, but the feeling of excitement continues. Takano-san has only positive feelings and the event was “much more than expected.”
An event of this magnitude, or any size event for that matter, requires months and MONTHS of advance planning. Obviously, as a fan, I wouldn't have known about the event unless there were some targeted announcements or advertisements. So, I wanted to learn about the activities prior to public marketing and the behind the scenes involvement with Kinokuniya (Kino). According to Takano-san, “We have been in discussion with Mr. Peter Tatara, who is in management of the convention, going back a long way even joining in some of the brainstorming of ideas for the convention.”
Takano-san and his team were very excited about the concept that Tatara had in mind in bringing back a full-sized anime convention to NY that gave Kino the opportunity to implode their specialty capabilities. The store's team involved Terence Irvins, the comic buyer and assistant manager, John Fuller, the senior adviser/event coordinator and Takano-san. Irvins started the in depth discussion with Tatara, while Fuller and Takano-san were involved in the process of getting the bookstore to attend the brainstorming process, the team tried to focus on mainly having the anime/manga related products and promotion into the booth, while staying away from J-pop culture related ideas. “That was in order to enhance our presence as an Anime/Manga retailer at the convention and in the NY area.”
Once Kino's plan was finalized and ready, the day has come to head out for Anime NYC. The team reached Jacob Javits Convention Center Thursday morning around 9am to set up their booth. At this hour, the show floor was “still a bit quiet.” Most of the vendors either had not arrived yet or were still setting up their booth. However, the room was filled with quiet anticipation.
Once everything was ready, the goal for Kino was to “show our presence as well as sales.” For the event, they collaborated with some of the vendors for promotional items convention.
and products that were being sold. Takano-san said, “We think was quite successful.” However, in regards to their presentation, he believes that there's “still a lot of room to improve such as more effective signage and booth design. We would like to continue discussing presentation possibilities with show management for next year.”
In regards to his personal experience at Anime NYC, “It was better than we expected.” The sales and customer traffic in the Kino booth “was far beyond our expectations.” In regards to absent companies, “I think some major vendors were sitting on the fence about attending the convention. I’m guessing that a lot of vendors who weren’t there may now feel they want to join next year after seeing how successful it was.”
Looking Back
It's been a long wait for an anime manga convention to be held at Jacob Javits Center, so I wanted to hear his reflection on the over all event and experience. It is definitely an experience that Takano-san and his team wouldn't mind reliving again.
One thing I wanted to hear about was what was the most important experience or lesson that Takano-san or his team had that will help with the company’s future Anime NYC participation. He told me that it is “very important for us to cooperate with other major vendors especially publishers.” He wants to try to be more active as a retailer with regards to selling and promoting. “We will try to expand our role in selling their merchandise and promoting their new concepts including having convention exclusive items.” They are open to having a discussion about the “the possibility to sell Anime NYC official goods in our booth as well.”
There is one improvement Takano-san would like to suggest that will not only help expand the book store, but the general growth of the anime/manga community. “Bringing strong guests such as famous Manga-ka (Manga artists), Anime composers and musicians, etc.”
Now there is one big question about Anime NYC and Kino's participation. I have my own thoughts, but I wanted to hear it from them. Why is it important to have such an event in a well known city at a prominent convention building that includes the appearance of your company? “People in the New York area have been eager for a major Anime convention in New York for a long time. Since its opening, Kinokuniya New York main store has been trying to build up and contribute to the anime/manga culture in New York. Also, there is potential to get a lot of anime fans to come not only from the United States, but from abroad like Europe, Asia, etc. since this is New York. We hope Anime NYC grows to be one of the biggest anime cons in the US. We will help with that as much as we can, of course.”
And some final words from Takano-san, “We are thankful for the great opportunity to be a part of a con like Anime NYC. And we are looking forward to attending the con next year!”
I hope to see Anime NYC next year too. Thanks for supporting the community. Thanks for reading!
© 2018 Linda Thai
Photography by Linda Thai
For more pictures, check out the Something Deeper: Anime, Manga and Comics Page on Facebook
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