Tom Ewart Smith
SINCE its inception in 2008, Spain’s Japan Weekend event has evolved into one of Europe’s largest conventions dedicated to Japanese culture, celebrating everything from art and fashion to food.
The two-day festival features a variety of exhibitions highlighting different aspects of Japanese society.
Visitors can also attend workshops that explore traditional Japanese practices, such as calligraphy and martial arts.
Cosplay, a significant part of Japanese culture, plays a prominent role in the event, alongside anime music concerts and dance performances.
This year, attendees will have the chance to meet anime voice actresses Asami Shimoda and Sayaka Oohara, as well as singer Hiroshi Kitadani.
Inside the venue, a wide range of Japanese products – such as anime merchandise, clothing, and food – will be available for sale.
Japan Weekend has spread across Spain, with cities like Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, and Alicante hosting their own versions of the event.
Madrid’s edition remains the largest, and its success has led to a second Japan Weekend in September.
The growing popularity of the convention reflects Spain’s increasing interest in Japanese culture and language.
In 2010, the Japan Madrid Foundation was established to offer introductory courses on Japan to young Spaniards.
In an interview with RTVE, Keiko Morito, Director of the Foundation, revealed that anime and manga courses now have waiting lists.
Hiroshi Wada, Head of Japanese Language at the Foundation, also highlighted the rise in the number of Spanish students learning Japanese.
The number of students has doubled from 5,000 a decade ago to nearly 10,000 today.
Schools in Cataluña are now offering Japanese classes, and many universities in Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, and Salamanca have added Japanese to their curricula.
The Japan Foundation also has a presence in other European countries, and according to Morito, courses are highly popular among primary and secondary school students in Cologne, Germany.
