The Annual Show Featured Attendees From Over 60 Countries, 1,000 Hours Of Programming, And Over 400 Exhibitors
LOS ANGELES (July 22, 2024) – Anime Expo has celebrated its 33rd anniversary at the Los Angeles Convention Center, bringing together global fans and industry professionals for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Hosted by The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the sold-out 4-day convention saw a turnstile attendance of over 407K+ from more than 64 countries coming to Los Angeles to generate an estimated economic impact of over $100+ million for area hotels and businesses. Anime Expo 2025 will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 3 – 6 and 4-day badges for the event will go on sale in early 2025.
“We’re so proud of the team’s hard work to bring friends, families, artists and fans together to celebrate the creativity and artistry of the best of Japanese pop culture,” said Ray Chiang, CEO of SPJA. “With this year’s show, we aimed to expand the event space by shutting down Pico Blvd to create AX Crossing, a brand new area inspired by the famous ‘Shibuya Crossing’ filled with a plethora of diverse food vendors and performances. With more space, more stages and more to do than ever, there has never been a better time to start attending Anime Expo.”
AX 2024 hosted a variety of world-renowned guests, blockbuster premieres, interactive industry panels and more from iconic leaders in Japanese animation, manga, music, fashion, video games and more. Beyond the exhibition floor, Anime Expo-goers took part in blockbuster world premieres, and attended panel sessions featuring a luminary list of more than 300+ guests and industry appearances from the biggest names in anime, manga and Japanese pop culture such as Delicious in Dungeon creator Ryōko Kui, mecha visionary Shōji Kawamori, Persona 3/4/5 director Katsura Hashino, Studio Ghibli’s Yoichi Nishikawa, Seven Deadly Sins creator Nakaba Suzuki, Renowned Master of traditional Edo style kites Mikio Toki, and former Takarazuka Revue members Hiroki Nanami and Urara Reimi. Fans were also treated to grand festivities including ticketed events such as Obey Me!’s inaugural 3D concert “Overture,” the exhilarating “TUBEOUT!” virtual festival and the ALL STAR STAGE – MUSIC UNIVERSE that features performances by ST☆RISH, QUARTET NIGHT and HE★VENS.
In addition to all of the exciting anime programming, the SPJA continued it’s push to educate and promote Japanese culture, traditions and careers through various programming at Anime Expo including The Art of Japanese cloth wrapping workshop, voice acting workshops, Omamori Amulet making, a maiko workshop and much more. Additionally, shuttles to and from Little Tokyo ran throughout the weekend, encouraging attendees to visit and support local businesses in the historic area.
Moreover, SPJA is once again bringing back anime expo chibi, a smaller, more intimate fan-centric event focusing on bringing together the community for a more laid-back convention mimicking earlier renditions of Anime Expo. Anime expo chibi will take place on the weekend of November 9-10, 2024 at the Ontario Convention Center, and fans interested can purchase tickets here. For more details on anime expo chibi in November and Anime Expo 2025 in July of next year, please visit the official AX website, and follow the official social channels for regular updates via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
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About SPJA
SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularize and educate the public about Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate learning between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.
About Anime Expo
Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year since 1992, Anime Expo features the best in Japanese animation, popular art, entertainment, music, fashion, and video games
For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.