Hyper Japan Manchester Event Report

It’s been a long while since my event reports were about conventions – and as unusual as it is for me to be commenting on a convention without any explicit J-fashion programming, it is with more than grounded hopes that this would change in the future. Hyper Japan were very kind to let me in on a creator’s pass to their first event in Manchester and I must say that I am very, very pleased with what I saw.

Although the convention took place across a whopping three days, from Friday November 14th to Sunday November 16th, I only attended on the Saturday. Most of the other lolitas in my comms planned on going on that day too, so we got a great big group photo that even landed on Hyper Japan’s official Instagram page!

Look at everyone looking great! If you'd like to give a like and/or a comment on the version on HJ's Instagram, you can find it here (go tell them how great it'd be to have official J-fashion programming next year!).

Since there was no official J-fashion programming, my day was spent meandering amongst the many stalls, catching up with friends as and when we bumped into one another, and generally having a very chill time. I know that the London Hyper Japan has had J-fashion guests for years, ranging from Victorian Maiden to 6% Doki Doki, with a fashion show to boot (a community one in the past and a guest brand one more recently), but I understand that for a first event they hedged their bets towards catering to the regular weebs.

Take @pastel.paca's wares, for example. Perfectly kawaii, very J-fashion appropriate, but inherently restricted to just that. Anyone can (and should!) get themselves some cute lil' guys to wear as accessories imo.

Which isn’t to say that there was nothing for J-fashion people to do! Obviously, there was shopping. I came across multiple stalls that were exclusively carrying J-fashion items, that had plenty of J-fashion bits alongside other wares (mainly art), and a fair few that weren’t explicitly J-fashion, but would fit in nicely with the various styles under that umbrella (like jewellery makers). This wouldn’t be someplace for someone completely new to lolita fashion to get themselves a coord, for example, but someone relatively new would certainly be able to get themselves loads of accessories, from jewellery to wrist cuffs and headpieces.

I kind of wish that I looked at the ceramics stand more, but: A) a hoop skirt around ceramics is a Poor Idea(TM); and B) I have no space for more dinnerware, so why tempt myself?

J-fashionistas could also enjoy a couple of photo spots, with the My Melody x Kuromi anniversary one being one of the highlights. Whilst it is a shame that the lighting inside Manchester Central Convention Complex left a lot to be desired, meaning that anyone who did take their outfit pictures there probably had to do a lot of editing the bad lighting out, the venue was literally at the back of The Midland Hotel, which Manchester locals already know to be a great, reliable outfit photo backdrop.

Don't get me wrong, Manchester Central is a great venue! It's an old train station, so it looks super cool and is very conveniently located. Yet, despite all of that glass ceiling, the light on the floor was mostly overhead fluorescents, which aren't great for flattering outfit pics.

What did impress me about Hyper Japan Manchester, however, was how relaxed it felt. Having heard… well, maybe not quite horror stories, but certainly warnings from those who attended the London ones of queues, crowds, and expensive convention food, I was ready to not actually see that much. But even at busier times the venue was large enough to comfortably accommodate the people gathered inside, with only one or two spots being narrow enough to enable bottlenecks to happen, and plenty of families with young children or even babies who could continue to nap unbothered because the atmosphere was that relaxed. Moreover, whilst queues to the food trucks were formidable, I hadn’t realised how excellently they were managed until a friend told me they couldn’t join one because it was declared closed until the queue died down a little. Annoying if you’re caught in that, sure, but great for stopping queues from growing so large that they impact other areas. My one request for future Hyper Japans Manchester would be to add some crowd management to the eating area and/or open up an area just for sitting, as it was tough at times to find a table with a seat when many people simply lingered to rest (long after they were done eating) and chairs had been moved around to places unseen. 

Photo from HJ's press kit. But you know it's chill when Godzilla is cool to pose for pictures and the kids aren't even phased by it.

One highlight of the event, and a benefit of being in something that stands out as much as lolita fashion does, was that when there was a group of us, a staff member approached us to get an idea of interest for a potential expansion into J-fashion content for future Hyper Japan Manchester. Being able to make that connection between the convention and the local community was exactly what we needed and even though it may not be directly me being involved, it would be great to come back next year and have that side of Japanese culture also represented at the convention. 

My Hyper Japan Manchester haul (minus some secret bits for Secret Santa gift exchanges)

Overall, it was a very nice day and I enjoyed myself immensely. Definitely would come back and happily paid for my own entry, as well as would love to see what kind of J-fashion content they might end up bringing based on our feedback. Hopefully, whilst I wish Hyper Japan growth, it won’t be so vast that it’d make the con too overwhelming or take away from how chill it actually was though. And thank you again to Hyper Japan for letting me feel like I am some sort of a pro influencer rather than just a weeb in a frilly dress who wasn’t afraid to ask the question.