Japanese Anime Exhibition Event Held in New Delhi

New Delhi, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)--A large-scale exhibition event promoting Japanese anime was held in New Delhi, the capital of India, for two days through Sunday.

The event, called "Mela! Mela! Anime Japan," was aimed at exploring anime-related business opportunities in the huge Indian market backed by the country's population of over 1.4 billion and boosting the number of visitors to Japan through anime. It was organized by volunteers who work for Japanese-affiliated companies in India and was supported by the governments of Japan and India.

A shopping mall was the venue for the event, where anime film screenings and cosplay shows were held and anime-related booths were set up by Japanese companies and universities.

Shintaro Inoue, 23, a graduate student of the University of Tokyo, wowed the audience with his self-built robot that recreated the character of a three-legged chair in Japanese director Makoto Shinkai's anime movie "Suzume."

With the market flooded with pirated and counterfeit copies of Japanese anime works, Shunsuke Taki, 45, a member of the event's executive committee, said, "We wanted to create an opportunity to experience the real things. We want people other than devoted fans to also get to know the strongest content in Japan, which is anime."

A 15-year-old local high school student who is a fan of popular manga and anime "One Piece" said that the event was great and voiced hopes that more similar events would be held.

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