Live anime performances and commemorative photo shoots with cosplayers! Toshima City, East Asia Culture City, holds "Anime Coming-of-Age Ceremony"!

Among the various elaborate coming-of-age ceremonies, Toshima City, which was recognized as an East Asian Cultural City in 2018, held an "Anime Coming-of-Age Ceremony," a coming-of-age ceremony celebrated with anime. Toshima Ward, which has held a musical coming-of-age ceremony style for the past few years, changed the flavor of the ceremony to celebrate the newcomers' coming-of-age while promoting "Toshima Ward of Anime Culture".

Although the ceremony was open to cosplayers, most of the participants were dressed in brightly-colored brightly-colored kimonos and suits, and only a few cosplayers could be seen. At the venue, staff members greeted the newcomers in cosplay costumes, encouraged them to take pictures with cosplayers, and conducted a survey to promote the future of the East Asia City of Culture.

The newcomers were a bit intimidated at first by the new style of anime coming-of-age ceremony, but when they found cosplayers of their favorite characters, they commented, "They're so perfect! It'll be a great souvenir! and "It'll be a great souvenir! Some participants even chose their favorite character and posed for a commemorative photo.

The ceremony consisted of three parts: Part 1 "Ceremony," Part 2 "Music Present," and Part 3 "Special Live Present. The MC was Kazuki Yao, known for his roles as Frankie in "One Piece" and Judau Ashita in "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ," and he delivered some familiar lines from the popular characters he plays. The first part of the ceremony started in a solemn style, but from the beginning the venue was filled with applause, cheers, and enthusiasm.

Mayor Takano quoted the words of the founder of the NHK morning drama "Manpuku," which is currently airing on TV, and declared, "We will work with 'dogged determination' to create a city that we can be proud of in the world as an international art and culture city. He sent a message to the newcomers, saying, "Please overcome hardships and difficulties with a strong will and a goal, and open the way to the future.

The second part of the event was a "musical gift" by the Teshima Brass Band. While the preparations were being made, a special movie "Anime NEXT 100" was shown on a large screen held in the center of the stage, a performance typical of anime coming-of-age ceremonies. The theme song of the movie "Kimi no na wa. The brass band played a total of six songs, including the theme song of the movie "Kimi no na wa.

In the third part, singers Mayumi Gojo and Takeshi Matsubara performed the theme songs of "Pretty Cure" and "Ultraman Cosmos," respectively. The newcomers enjoyed the special live performance in their own styles, clapping their hands and humming the songs as the nostalgic anime songs they had watched as children started to play.

This is a coming-of-age ceremony for a new era, presented by Toshima City, which was recognized as the East Asia City of Culture last year. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Toshima City, a city of animation. Let's look forward to more surprising collaborations and projects in the future.

(Reporting and writing by Shinobu Tanaka)

East Asia Culture City 2019 Teshima" promotion video

What is East Asia Cultural City?

Based on the agreement reached at the Trilateral Ministerial Conference on Culture, China, Japan, and South Korea, the three countries will select cities that aim to develop through culture and the arts, and hold various cultural and artistic events related to contemporary art and traditional culture as well as diverse lifestyle culture in those cities. Through this program, we aim to promote mutual understanding and solidarity within the East Asian region, as well as to strengthen the ability of East Asia's diverse cultures to communicate internationally. It also aims to promote the promotion of culture, arts, creative industries, and tourism by the cities selected as East Asian Cultural Cities, making the most of their cultural characteristics, and to promote their continuous development through the implementation of the project. Following Yokohama (2014), Niigata (2015), Nara (2016), Kyoto (2017), and Kanazawa (2018), Toshima City is the sixth and first city in Japan to be selected as the host city, along with Xi'an, China and Incheon Metropolitan City, Korea, as the Culture Ministers Meeting held in August.

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Starting with the upcoming "Opening Ceremony" on February 1, various cultural events will be held in earnest!

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