It’s “Respect for the Aged Day Weekend” (a nice idea but takes too long to say) in Japan right now, which means Kyoto is even more overrun with tourists than usual (though a higher percentage than usual are Japanese, which at least means less noise and general rudeness).  It’s also the weekend of the Kyoto Anime and Manga Fair.  Not having easy access to Comiket, Anime Japan, or Jump Festa anymore this is probably the largest animanga event I’ll attend for a while (though I will try and hit Winter Comiket if I can).  It’s rare for me to have these two of my great passions come together like this.

KAMF is the biggest non-doujin anime event in West Japan, held at Miyako Messe in eastern Kyoto.  That said it’s dwarfed in scale by the big dos in Tokyo, as Miyako Messe is by Big Sight (or even Intex Osaka, where Comic City is held).  The setting beats the pants off them though – next to Okazaki Koen and Heian Jingu, and walking distance to much of Higashiyama.  It was a nice rush to be back at a big otaku con, my first since last year’s Anime Expo.

Of course, any trip to an industry-led event is a reminder of just how badly diversity has cratered in anime – so much of what you see hyped now is shows that are much of a muchness.  Cute girls doing cute things (or having sex with each other, which could qualify I suppose), isekai, BL or sumaho game adaptations – that’s pretty much it, except for a few isolated exceptions.  It can’t but be a little depressing to have that thrown in your face the way an event like this does, but it’s nevertheless good to be surrounded by unapologetic otaku once in a while.

Are Kyoto otaku more stylish and sophisticated than Kanto otaku?  Well, it could be projection but they do seem a generally better-dressed and better-smelling lot (the smaller size of the event could be a part of the latter).  Kyoto is actually a pretty underrated animanga town – there’s a very sizeable and active fanbase there.  As for the event itself, the standouts in terms of hype apart from the above categories were pretty much the WSJ tentpoles – Boku no Hero Academia (of course), and Yakusoku no Neverland.  I don’t think there’s any doubt the latter is Shounen Jump’s “next next big thing”, and the upcoming anime had one of the biggest promotion campaigns of the event behind it (and hey – we avoided the shutout!).

Afterwards I returned to the Kyoto International Manga Museum.  It was the second time in a few weeks, but I just missed the Natsume Yuujinchou exhibit (promoting the movie, mostly) the last time and there was a comb0 ticket deal with KAMF.  No photos allowed, but a lot of interesting memorabilia.  Naturally the episode they were screening was maybe the best of all (though I have a huge soft spot for “The Little Fox’s Hat”) the season finale for Natsume Yuujinchou Shi, where Natsume visits his childhood home before it’s torn down.  As great as it is, that’s not an episode I want to be watching in public.

Finally (actually in-between), I made a side trip to Shoren-in, a temple I’ve somehow managed to miss up until now.  Kyoto seemingly has a limitless wellspring of awe-inspiring places, and Shoren-in is yet another.  It’s an old Tendai temple with close ties to the Imperial Family, and it’s basically perfect – an aesthetic masterpiece.  Interiors, exteriors, garden, surroundings – it’s one of the best, even by Kyoto standards (which are as high as they get).  There was even a small shrine matsuri going on nearby afterwards, just to add a little icing on the cake.  I will never tire of Kyoto, because it never ceases to inspire and amaze.