An upcoming Tokyo Metropolitan Government-run "anime" fair will see a sharp fall in the number of exhibitors, the organizer said Tuesday, a move widely seem as a protest over a new local ordinance against sexual depictions in comic books and animated films.
The number of exhibitors set to attend March's Tokyo International Anime Fair has already fallen by 91 from the previous year to 153, a revenue loss of ¥110 million, according to the organizing committee headed by Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Of the 153, 125 are Japanese companies and 28 are overseas companies, the organizer said. A group of 10 Japanese publishers, including Kodansha Ltd. and Shogakukan Inc., have already announced they will boycott the event after the metropolitan government amended an ordinance toughening regulations on the sale of manga and animated film containing sexual depictions that the authorities judge "extreme."
Some other participants in the anime fair have also said they may not take part in the event's March 26-27 Public Day unless the group of 10 withdraws the planned boycott.
Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. and other companies, which are boycotting the event, plan to hold another anime event on their own, in Chiba Prefecture, on the same days as the Tokyo government-run event.