Archive for the Events Category


Yurimart in Brooklyn today

May 31st, 2026

I’m taking today off to go have some fun.

Yume, an art and event space in Brooklyn, NY is hosting a little Yuri pop-up event today from 12-6 called the Yurimart. This  event requires reservation and, as the space is mall, they are offering up some outside activities to fill up time while you wait.

I will be there, with exactly 4 postcards left. Once those are gone, I officially have to get some more portable merch. ^_^;

Drop by for some cute art and baked goods, and to meet fellow Yurijin! I hope to see you there on a beautiful spring day in Brooklyn!





Images From Prism Garden

May 13th, 2026

On a pale green background, bordered on right and left with decorative white lilies, the word "Prism Garden" in English and Japanese, and "Hiakri no niwa ni saku, hitohira no omoi" in Japaneseby Sasori, Okazu JP Correspondent

Last week, the anime and manga chain Melonbooks sponsored a Yuri event called Prism Garden. Our Japan events Correspondent Sasori visited and took a number of photos for us!

Sasori noted that this ran for the whole of Golden Week in Omiya.”..it was an entire gallery and interactive standee walk along complete with a sticky note board for event goers. They also sectioned off buyers in accordance to time slots so it was never too busy.”

This was, like most of the Yuri exhibitions in Japan, part exhibition, part pop-up store. Enjoy these photos as we walk through the event space with Sasori!

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Can I Call You Unnie?, Book Signing Event Report

April 22nd, 2026

A green cream melon soda next to a copy of Unnie'tte Yondemo Ii Desuka? by Hanakage Alt at Anchor port rainbow Tokyoby Sasori, Okazu JP Correspondent

Nothing excites me more than a yuri event, and in April we have not one, but two book signings for Can I Call you Unnie? (オンニって呼んでもいいですか？) by Hanakage Alt . (Reviewed here on Okazu last week by Erica.)

The signing I participated in was on 4/12, at iconic yuri manga cafe/bar: ANCHOR Rainbow Port Tokyo, also featured in the actual manga. The second signing will be at bookstore (マルジナリア書店) on 4/26, tickets seem to be still on sale as of writing this article if you happen to be in Japan!

Can I Call You Unnie? manga is about a K-pop fan meeting her fav graduated idol through a dating app, with fluffy moments in abundance. The manga was released per chapter on app/web through CandleA on Comic Walker, but now celebrates its first full Japanese volume release. It’s available from multiple retailers in print and digital formats on the Yuricon Store.

I was a huge fan of Hanakage Alt sensei’s work, and reading it per chapter was a great experience. Full of adorable dates, concert flashbacks, and cliffhangers after each chapter. As a fellow concert fan, a lot of the content resonated with me. I loved how it included both Korean and Japanese languages at key moments, to keep the content realistic for their characters and source material. I could tell Hanakage Alt sensei loved K-pop as much as they loved yuri.

So on 4/12, I lined up at 10am at ANCHOR in Shinjuku Ni-chome, for my first book signing. It’s pretty common to ask for doujin and yuri manga signatures at events, such as Comitia or Comiket, if advertised by the artist’s social media, but seeing it as a whole event was a first time experience for me.

A photo of a staircase, with a placard on the wall for ANCOR rainbow port Tokyo, the Yuri cafe in Shinjuku Nichoume

The flow of the event was as follows:

  • Sign up before hand to participate.
  • Go to the event by 10am to draw a lottery ticket for the signing.
  • Line up in order by number.
  • Purchase a drink at the venue and a book to have signed by the mangaka.

A copy of the manga "Unnie'tte Yondemo Ii Desuka?" with a illustration and signature by creator Hanakage Alt-sensei from the event.

An image of the book signing lottery ticket, with at by Hanakage-sensei, and a message handwritten in English that reads "Thank you Sensei, I Love Your Work!"

After drawing our lotto tickets, we lined up, went inside the cafe, and sat at the bar. Hanakage Alt-sensei and their staff introduced themselves and had a very beautiful floral stand and book signing area near the counter. Complete with acrylic stands of their characters and their mangaka mascot plush. I appreciated how inclusive Hanakage Alt-sensei was of their fans, welcoming all yuri/gender/and nationalities to participate. Their English pronunciation was equally fantastic, despite the event being in Japanese. I think they were very excited about engaging with foreign fans as well as local ones. Participants were also allowed to buy them a drink and give them small gifts, which was such an interesting and fun way to interact with them.

Two cards of illustrations by Hanakage-sensei of the main characters of "Unnie 'tte Yondemo Ii Desuka?"

 

The staff was very sweet and allowed me to write in the Anchor cafe’s memo guest notebook. I was happy to see so many English and other languages besides Japanese in the guest book, as well as cute yuri doodles from various fandoms, and even some art from well-known Yuri mangaka. I’d highly recommend visiting ANCHOR if you are ever visiting Japan, even outside of this event if you are a yuri fan, they even have rainbow cake! ANCHOR also has a pixivFanbox for local yuri events and special perks for book signings.

Acrylic standees of the main characters of Hanakage-sensei's book and a small plush "mascot" round, white character with small arms and legs, and a sakura blossom on it's "head."

 

If you enjoy Can I call you Unnie? as much as I do, be sure to buy the manga on the Yuricon Store or at various Japanese book stores, they even come with cute sign cards depending on the store. Sales support really helps with future volumes and hopefully localization. The official tags for the series on X are #オンニて #CICYU so please use those as well. If you’d like to tag Hanakage Alt-sensei in English, they have a bluesky for English comments.

Thanks again for the lovely opportunity and I’m looking forward to future yuri book signings!

 

Erica here: Please welcome our newest member of the writing staff here on Okazu! Sasori-san will be our Japan correspondent going forward. Hopefully this will bring us up close and personal with more Yuri events. Welcome Sasori-san!

 
 

 

 





Queer Manga That Changed The World at Citrus Con

February 24th, 2026

Please join me on Saturday, February 28 at 2:30 to 3:30 PM Eastern US time, online at Citrus Con, for “Queer Manga That Changed The World,” a panel I have been thinking about for years and years, as I delve into stories that had an impact on queer readers…and queer creators.

We always have a great conversation at Citrus Con and there is a ton of queer content, so take a look at their schedule and see if anything else looks interesting! 

The panel will be held on Zoom and shared to the Citrus Con Discord server. Registration is free, but you do have to register. I hope to see you all there!  Now I gotta go finish writing this presentation. ^_^;





Yen Press Yuri Cafe Report

February 8th, 2026

I wrote up a formal report for ANN, so look for that in the near future, but today I want to talk about my personal experience at the Yen Press Yuri Cafe.

The Yen Press Yuri Cafe is open through February 13 at Enoch’s, an art cafe at 480 10th Ave., in NYC. In weather that is more tolerable, it’s about a 15 minute walk from Penn Station. A fantastic location and a really lovely little cafe. I will definitely be back to it, the staff was outstanding.

 

One of the staff came up with her own Yuri stickers. I’m gutted that I didn’t get her name, but thank you!

 

My wife and I started off at a very early hour because years of experience has taught me that NJ Transit will always fail me. I was not wrong. We were delayed. And our cab driver tried to rip me off….something that has never happened before in my entire life. So we showed up just as our 12 o’clock slot opened. The folks at the door were welcoming and warm, which was much needed. 

If you’re headed there today, please dress warmly in layers. We shouldn’t lose fingers or toes just for our love of Yuri. ^_^

As the Yen promotional material said, there was a themed menu for the event, and each menu item purchase came with a coaster. We – of course – just ordered all four items. My wife scored us a seat on the sofa near some Yen and Ize Press folks, and we chatted for a bit about the cafe. There was a little Yuri library, which I did not even see until I saw my wife’s pictures(!), as that was behind me and the entrance table. Apparently, that was the original plan, have folks drop in to sit, read, chat and have something to drink, but the response was so huge that they had to reboot. Kinokuniya was selling books and merch and there were some giveaways from Yen and Ize as well.

I spent some time talking to folks. We talked Yuri manga and anime and the state of the Yuri industry and how amazing it was to just…be in a space that is all about Yuri. Despite the cold, everyone dressed up and people looked absolutely fantastic. A few folks recognized my name. Thank you to everyone who stroked my ego by telling me they had read my book. Extra super props to Stella for having a copy with her, which I signed (aaahh! squee! I was so happy) and Macey who hadn’t been able to make my book signing, but got a pic with me. Macey, if you’re reading, please correct my spelling of your name and send me a copy of that picture, please.)

I am also mortified that I cannot remember the name of the lovely person with the awesome Love Bullet Itabag. Thank you for letting me get a picture. Please feel free to remind of your name, and I’ll add the credit. 

 

I got to interview one of the folks at Yen, which will be in my ANN report, but my informal chats also brought up that they will be announcing a GL title in the near future that is gonna be huge. No joke, 2026 is going to be a year of BIG Yuri/GL licenses! I cannot get over how much we have passed that tipping point, where publishers  don’t have to be convinced to get Yuri, it’s just another genre. Also, how utterly weird it is that no anime companies are on board with that yet. 

The cafe was lovely, but as it was small, it was very full, so when our hour was up, we were ready for a break. My wife and I walked over to Midtown Kinokuniya, where we hung out for a few hours with folks who had been at the cafe. Azalea, Jordan, Emily and Abby, thank you so much for spending time with us and making it a delightful day. We had some more food and drinks and shopped for Yuri. 

Probably the most exciting things I saw in Kino were really nice Girls Band Cry Figurines of which I could not get a great picture, sorry. 

 

 

 

and a copy of

 

 

 

 

MemeSHE Yatsura Kashikokute Oroka na Watashitachi o Hokan Suru Kanojiyotachi no Monogatari, a book of essays by Suzuki Suzumi that were originally published in DaVinci magazine, with illustrations by Sumiko Arai, creator of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All.  The essays explore how women are depicted in media. It’s on my to-read list, but I did not get this copy, so grab it while you can!

Love Bullet and The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All were everywhere. My wife overheard a conversation between a Kino employee on the phone with the Cafe event, commenting that things were sold out and what they could put on the table to replace what was selling out at the cafe.  ^_^

I picked up three Japanese-language books, which I will read for future reviews. 

My friend Abby @abbysayswords who joined us, is a Revolutionary Girl Utena evangelist and outstanding cosplayer. Check out her IG for amazing photos. She has a brilliant Utena Itabag that never fails to delight. 


And that was a wrap for our day. Thank you Yen Press, Enoch’s, Kinokuniya and all the amazing Yurijin who braved the seriously bitter cold to spend a day celebrating Yuri. The only complaint anyone had – and by anyone, I mean we all kind of had it – was that it was a lot of people in a small space and we all were feeling overwhelmed and peopled out when we were done. I have a headspace for that for events, but I am also recovering today. ^_^;

Check out my ANN report and if you can, definitely drop by the Yen Press Yuri Cafe, running through February 13. And of course, visit Kinokuniya, who understands Yuri and is promoting the heck out of it. This was in the front window!