This week is a super-special week – we had a guest review from Christian LeBlanc earlier this week and today, we have a special Guest Event Report! Zoey B. has once more been able to visit the Yuriten Exhibit in Osaka and has returned bearing pictures and a report for us all! I hope you will all welcome Zoey back once more and make her feel welcome. Take it away, Zoey!

Yuriten is a small exhibition and shop of all things related to Yuri held yearly, hosted by Village Vanguard and Kadokawa. It focuses on Yuri in manga as well photographers and illustrators whose work is on the theme of Girls Love. It began in 2016 and this year is being held in over 5 different locations across Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Sendai, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. The Osaka exhibit has just finished, and starting this weekend will move to Sendai.

This time of the year brings warmer weather and cherry blossoms across Japan, making for picturesque romantic scenes under the cherry blossoms trees – and also, all the Yuri you could ask for! This year’s event is bigger, and if I might say, better than last year’s – not only just in the number of locations, but the participating authors and material on display as well. I was fortunate to attend last year’s event in Osaka, and again this year.

The Osaka event was held in the same place as last year – in the event hall atop a huge shopping centre, Namba Parks, in the center of the city. People were free to come and go as they pleased, which made the amount of people there heartening. I went with my wife again this year – which I think is becoming a yearly tradition. We were fortunate to go on a weekday, at a quieter hour, as we were able to take our time with each one and not feel rushed. I say that, because we actually went again this past weekend to quickly purchase something and the amount of people there was quite significant!

As you walk in, the employees usher you towards the set route that’s laid out, going through the displayed artwork, sectioned off by author, photographer, or illustrator. I could tell immediately the difference from last year’s – there were a lot more on display than before! The route goes through the artworks and any messages from the authors, and also has some nice surprises, such as a poster for the event covered in the signatures of the participants.

At the end of artwork displays, it opens up into the shop. The amount of goods in the shop also helps to show how much bigger the event is this year. Like the exhibit, each participant or series had its own display and respective goods, and the area where you lined up to pay was full of all kinds of Yuri-related publications. Last year had a good range of the popular series, but we were happy to see some we’d had never come across, and other less-known works being collected and released by various publishers. From Comic Yuri Hime serializations and Galette Works, to probably some manga that I could argue weren’t Yuri, but maybe had some elements – there was a pretty vast range.
However, something special to note this year had to be the Yuriten Chronicle. It’s a nicely-printed A4 book, collecting of all the featured artists and artwork showcased at Yuriten from 2016-2018.

You can have the chance to get one of your manga signed by your favourite author, if you  attend and make a purchase on the weekend. This is done by lottery, as you can imagine the amount of people jumping at the chance. We did not partake in this, sadly, but it seemed like a relatively organized and calm affair.

Yuriten all finishes off as you exit the shop, with massive boards full of sticky notes – any visitor can write a message or draw an image, and these are really sweet to read through as you leave. My personal favourite had to be the person who wrote, “I want a 2DK, G-Pen anime”. On our second visit, my wife pointed out that the sticky notes began filling up the walls as well. Seeing all the little notes is a great reminder that there is an audience for this event! And that people are just as excited about Yuri as you are.

Yuriten may not have the craziness that Comiket or Comitia bring, but as an event, it has its own charm. Both my wife and I look forward to seeing how it grows from here. If you get a chance to attend one these events whether this year or in the future and are a fan of Yuri (or even just interested!), I would definitely recommend paying a visit.

Erica here: Thank you again Zoey! I’m very sorry I’m missing the event this year (I met Kawamoto-san from Kadoawa last February at Comitia and all we both could do is apologize to one another for poor timing,) but if anyone has a chance to see it in any of the other cities, please let us know. We’d love pictures of the setup! ^_^