The summer season for Japanese culture enthusiasts was off to a hot and exciting start with Tamashii Con 2015 last March 28, 2015 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia. With the theme “Igniting the Japanese spirit,” organizers Nihon Kenkyuu Kai brought the experience of a Japanese summer and cultural festival to a new level as thousands flocked to take part in the festivities.
arkadymac.com is an official media partner of Tamashii Convention 2015, and we’re glad to have fielded in our media team of photographers, correspondents and cosplay models for our special coverage and bring you the highlights of the event.
Tamashii Convention, or TamaCon, is a Japanese Culture convention organized by Nihon Kenkyuu Kai, a professional organization that caters to De La Salle University’s Japanese Studies majors as well as members of the community who are interested in Japanese culture. This year’s TamaCon is the third installment after TamaCon: TamaMatsuri in 2012, and its organizers promised an even grander spectacle with an amazing lineup of unique activities and attractions guaranteed to please anyone who can’t get enough of Japanese culture.
Opening the event was a Japanese culture talk by De La Salle University professor and Nihon Kenkyuu Kai faculty adviser Dr. Benjamin San Jose. Entitled “The Shojo in Japanese Pop Culture: Hayao Miyazaki and its Resonance to the Philippine Social Experience,” he shared his insights on the influence and spread of Japanese pop culture.
Bringing style and wonder onto the stage was the Kawaii Philippines Fashion Show. Kawaii as fashion and a lifestyle has become a unique aspect of modern Japanese life, and local designers wish to share their love for it by presenting their creations to a curious and receptive crowd. Kawaii fashion lines Dolly Kaye, Dainty Dangerous and Dorotee Sweetlips had their amazing models take the catwalk in front of a breathtaken audience.
The Cosplay Competition was an awaited part of the event, featuring group and individual competitions that showcased the craftsmanship and role playing skills of local cosplayers. They put on great performances in their chosen characters in front of a delighted crowd. Special guest judges Aze, Kira Hokuten, and Kuri Curry had a difficult time deciding the winners as they assessed their performance and answers to their questions.
Keeping the attendees alive and rocking were live band performances from Inertia, Strange Orange, Veralia, Hoshi to Sora, and Dimension Lines, wowing the crowd with iconic and popular Jrock songs.
Fun wasn’t limited to the stage as there were other amusing attractions all around the venue. There was the Cake & Coffee Club Cafe, Tamashii Convention’s very own popup cafe where attendees can escape the rush of the main event hall and enter a relaxing atmosphere filled with the scent of coffee, tea, and freshly prepared treats.
A summer matsuri or festival won’t be complete without the familiar booths that fans and enthusiasts get to see in movies, shows, manga and anime. The Omikuji and Ema booths were particularly popular, as one could have fun having their fortunes told, or write their wishes on ema in the hopes that simple or grand wishes might come true.
There were also other summer matsuri inspired booths that require participants’ skills like the Target Game and Kingyo Sukui. Oh, the goldfish scooping was a big hit too.
There were also display exhibits from exhibitors like the OtaKai Figure Society and Team Oniichan and Artists’ Alley.
There were also lots of great booths for various merchandise and goods, like our friends for Cosmic Bytes, where we get our cosplay needs and other interesting anime-related items for sale.
And we got to try out some nice hoodies from our friends at Perry in Disguise.
A good number of attendees were cosplayers who got to have fun at the event with their friends and had an enjoyable time taking photos with the crowd and with each other. They made the event extra colorful and lively.
With lots of attractions and highlights and sidelights going on at any given time, Tamashii Con 2015 was indeed the unique and exciting Japanese summer and cultural festival the organizers Nihon Kenkyuu Kai promised it would be. The feedback we got from attendees were overwhelmingly positive as they expressed that they truly had an enjoyable experience at Tamacon. We also noticed how organized the event was despite it was run by a school organization and not an established organizer, from how they handled the media and promotions, the logistics, crowd control, program flow, all the while maintaining the fun for everyone. We found that truly commendable and we would like to congratulate Nihon Kenkyuu Kai and their partners for planning hard and working hard since last year to make Tamashii Con 2015 a rousing success.
Our coverage team can safely and gladly say that it has been one of the more enjoyable events in recent memory. Our thanks to Nihon Kenkyuu Kai for having us as their media partner, especially to Shy and Shenny for handling our partnership, as well as to all the hardworking members who outlasted the grueling challenge of organizing an event of this magnitude while managing their studies. You have our respect and gratitude.
Many thanks to our Cosplay Models Nicole, Kyle, Keileen, Yanna and Mina for joining us for this special coverage. It was a first of sorts as they finally got to meet each other despite all of them being part of our group for quite a while now, so we’re particularly happy. Hope you’ll get to watch out for them more here at our website.
Thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again for more features here at arkadymac.com.
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