Anisong World Matsuri makes American Debut at Anime Expo 2016

Santa Ana, CA (May 19, 2016) Anime Expo, produced by The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), will present the U.S.s first Anisong World Matsuri event on July 2 and 3. Created by six leading Japanese entertainment companies including Lantis Co., Ltd., Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., AMUSE Inc., BANDAI VISUAL CO. LTD., BANDAI NAMCO Live Creative Inc., and Anime Consortium Japan Inc., the music and entertainment event adds yet another layer to North Americas largest anime event.

Were very happy to collaborate with valued Japanese industry partners to create a memorable event, said Ray Chiang, CEO of SPJA. We are hopeful that this will create an Anisong experience unlike any other. Anime Expos growth has allowed us to bring new elements of entertainment to our attendees.

Anime Expo Attendees will have the unique opportunity to experience multiple concerts and events featuring a variety of performers and special guests. This is the first event of its kind in North America and Anime Expo is proud to produce this in collaboration with Japan. Anisong World Matsuri is a series of events and music concerts featuring:

~Love Live! Sunshine!! Event: Nice to Meet You, We are Aqours!!~
o Guest: Aqours (Anju Inami as Chika Takami, Rikako Aida as Riko Sakurauchi, Nanaka Suwa as Kanan Matsuura, Arisa Komiya as Dia Kurosawa, Kanako Takatsuki (as Hanamaru Kunikida, Ai Furihata as Ruby Kurosawa)
o Location: Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) Main Events in West Hall
o Date: July 2, 2016
~ONE PUNCH MATSURI at AX~
o Guests:
Makoto Furukawa as Saitama
Director Shingo Natsume
and more
o Performance by
JAM Project
o Location: Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) Main Events in West Hall
o Date: July 2, 2016
Anisong World Matsuri ~Japan Super Live~
o Performances by:
Eir Aoi
JAM Project
Luna Haruna
Minami
Sphere
T.M. Revolution
Yoko Ishida
DJ Kazu
o Location: Microsoft Theater
o Date: July 2, 2016
Anisong World Matsuri ~Japan Band Battle~
o Peformances by:
FLOW
OLDCODEX
o Location: The NOVO by Microsoft
o Date: July 3, 2016

Anime Expo will run from July 1 through July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. To purchase passes for Anime Expo, please visit http://www.anime-expo.org/registration/

For more information about attending, please visit http://www.anime-expo.org/registration-help/.

For more information about Anisong World Matsuri, please visit http://www.daisuki.net/awm2016/

About SPJA
SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularize and educate the American public about Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.



About Anime Expo
Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year since 1992, Anime Expo features the best in Japanese entertainment, music, fashion, and video games. For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.

About Anisong World Matsuri
Through the direction of 6 Japanese companies, Anisong World Matsuri is an Animation/ANISONG event that will take place on July 2nd and July 3rd jointly with ANIME EXPO 2016. Events pertaining to Love Live! Sunshine and ONE PUNCH MAN will be held in the Main Events Hall. Love Live! Sunshine is slated to be aired as a TV anime program from this summer, and is a new series of Love Live! which has a tremendous international following. ONE PUNCH MAN was aired in Japan from October to December 2015 and achieved popularity worldwide. Also, at the Microsoft Theater adjacent to Anime Expo, a four-hour long, festival-type live event Japan Super Live featuring 8 popular ANISONG artists such as JAM Project, T.M. Revolution, and sphere. At another venue called The Novo by Microsoft, two popular bands FLOW and OLDCODEX will compete against each other under the title Japan Band Battle. By actualizing an event that delivers the magic of Anime and the thrill of high-quality ANISONG live entertainment through the collective efforts of 6 Japanese companies that focus on Animation-related contents, the event aims to transmit Japans Animation/ANISONG culture, and to maximize its value throughout the world.

About Lantis Co., Ltd
Lantis Co., Ltd is a record company with a focus on Anime, games, and voice actors. About 70 artist groups belong to the record label starting with the 9-member voice-acting unit μs that is featured in Love Live!, and the band JAM Project led by Hironobu Kageyama, the famous singer known for the feature song of DRAGON BALL Z. In 2015, Lantis organized several Anime festivals abroad. It hosted 11 Anisong World Tour Lantis Festival 2015 events in 6 cities that included Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, and Taipei. It is a consolidated subsidiary of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.

About AMUSE Inc.
AMUSE Inc. is involved in the production and sales of various visual software in relation to movies and music, and it handles stage production as well as overseas performances, in addition to managing numerous artists beginning with SOUTHERN ALL STARS, Fukuyama Masaharu, Miyake Yuji, Fukatsu Eri, Perfume, ONE OK ROCK, and BABYMETAL. It is an integrated entertainment enterprise and it controls the theme park operations of TOKYO ONE PIECE TOWER as well. In recent years, AMUSE has been aggressively making inroads into overseas markets as it establishes its overseas presence in Asia, the US, and Europe.


About Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
With a primary focus on the music business, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. is an integrated entertainment enterprise with diversified interests in visual, Anime, management, and solution businesses. Aniplex Inc., which is one of the group companies of Sony Music Entertainment, has produced many hit Animes such as PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA, the Garden of sinners, BAKEMONOGATARI,　NISEMONOGATARI,　Sword Art Online,　Fate/Zero,　Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works],　Anohana -The Flower We Saw That Day,　Blue Exorcist,　and The Anthem of the Heart. Similarly, artists such as T.M. Revolution, FLOW, sphere, Eir Aoi, and Luna Haruna belong to Sony Music Label Inc. and Music Rayn which are also under Sony Music Entertainment.

About BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD.
BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD. is an integrated production enterprise for visual contents business, starting with the planning and production of visual projects pertaining to Anime and Japanese movies; the planning, production and sales of packaged software such as Blue-ray/DVD; and licensing business. Notable films include, the MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM series, a Sunrise Inc. film, STAR BLAZERS series, and Japanese films by directors TAKESHI KITANO as well as Kore-eda Hirokazu. It is a consolidated subsidiary of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.

About BANDAI NAMCO Live Creative Inc.
With a focus on Anime, games and voice acting-related events and concerts, BANDAI NAMCO Live Creative Inc.is an event and concert production company that produces and manages over 500 live events (FY2015) throughout the year. Beginning with live concerts of ANISONG artists such as JAM Project, GRANRODEO, and OLDCODEX, it has a track record of managing large-scale music events such as LisAni! LIVE and Lantis Festival, as well as Kiramune related events, which is a project that is produced in-house. Furthermore, it has handled the production and management of Anime-related events such as Kurokos Basketball. Love Live! GIRLS und PANZER, In 2015, along with Lantis Co., Ltd, which is one of the group companies, it planned and produced 11 Anisong World Tour Lantis Festival 2015 events in 6 cities that included Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. It is a consolidated subsidiary of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.

About Anime Consortium Japan Inc.
Anime Consortium Japan Inc. is a company that manages the delivery of original videos with Japanese Anime contents to overseas. It manages the simultaneous (delivery without any time lag from Japan) delivery of new Animes that are aired in Japan through its integrated platform called DAISUKI.net, and transmits past works that are very popular to over 240 countries and regions.
Headed by BANDAI NAMCO Group, its shareholders are comprised of a group of companies that already have an established overseas presence in the Anime industry. DAISUKI.net is the only site that delivers Japans Anime from Japan to the rest of the world, and by transmitting to the users around the world in a legitimate way, it contributes to the eradication of illegal sites that are pirated and also plays the role of protecting the property rights of each work.

Media Contacts:
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
MarketingSPJA.org

Matt Kovacs
BLAZE PR
310-395-5050
mkovacsblazepr.com