POST SHOW REPORT
ASIA’S LEADING TRADE SHOW FOR THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY POWER OF PRINTED AND DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS ADDRESSED st
Show Outline Title:
The 21 edition of Tokyo International Book Fair (TIBF) http://www.bookfair.jp/en/ and 18th edition of e-Book Expo Tokyo (e-Books 2014) http://www.ebooks-expo.jp/en/ concluded successfully on July 5, 2014 (July 4, 2014 for e-Books and concurrent shows). The show attracted 1,526 exhibitors, 62,855 visitors, 7,615 conference attendees and 503 press visitors from the publishing and related industries.
18th e-Book Expo Tokyo (e-Books 2014)
TIBF 2014:
Dates: July 2 – 5, 2014
Being the leading trade show for publishing in Japan and Asian, TIBF served as the platform for key professionals from the publishing industry such as publishers, editors, importers, bookstores etc. to seek/launch new titles, directly negotiate about publishing rights with key decision makers, network and exchange contacts for future business.
21st Tokyo International Book Fair (TIBF 2014)
(July 2-4, 2014 for e-Books and concurrent shows)
Venue: Tokyo Big Sight,
Japan Organiser: TIBF Executive Committee/ Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.
Concurrent shows:
4th LICENSING JAPAN 3rd Creators’ Expo 2nd Production Companies Expo 2nd Content Solutions Expo
Official figures:
62,855 Visitors 1,526 Exhibitors 5,146 Conference Attendees
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479 Press Visitors
Leading Japanese publishers such as SHOGAKUKAN, KODANSHA, SHUEISHA, KADOKAWA etc. and a good variety of specialist publishers exhibited, all dispersed across a number of zones - Humanities & Social Science Book Fair, Children’s Book Fair, Natural Sciences Book Fair, Solutions for Publication Distribution Zone, Books Accessories Zone and General Zone.
e-Books 2014: e-Books held in the neighbouring hall to TIBF gathered the latest technologies and services of digital books. Including leading firms of the field such as ACCESS, PAPYLESS, VOYAGER, MEDIA DO, MORISAWA etc. a wide variety of technology/service/solution providers exhibited. To keep up with the evolving world of digital printing, this year a new Digital Printing Zone was launched within e-Books. Exhibitors in this zone included major manufacturers such as CANON, BROTHER, RICOH etc. and various printers, solutions, services for digital printing for publications such as printing-on-demand solutions were showcased.
Products and services related to digitalisation were in fact abundant in both TIBF and e-Books. For instance, TIBF exhibitors showcased the world’s first collaborative service between a publisher and twitter, services allowing readers to browse a section of books before purchase, apps converting the pages of children’s book into an animation by photographing the page with a tablet, new self-publishing services etc.
Conference: In addition, to exhibits, various talks and conference sessions were held providing tips and ideas for future business and outlook of the publishing industry. The TIBF Keynote Session for example held on the opening day by Takashi Tachibana, leading journalist and critic in the field talked about the past, present and future of the publishing industry. He shared his thoughts of how the business of digital publications will excel within the next few years and addressed reading as an essential means to acquire knowledge and information.
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The TIBF Special Session was a more active session which allowed participants to enjoy a panel discussion by the CEOs of the leading Japanese publishers. The future strategies of book stores to succeed in the digitalising market was shared and discussed. Along with the large sessions, various talks were held by bookstore representatives from across Japan sharing their success stories and innovative ideas to cope with the trying and changing market conditions.
Highlights of TIBF 2014 and e-Books 2014: 53 leaders gathered to celebrate this year’s opening 53 industry leaders, endorsers, representatives from associations, foreign ambassadors etc. participated as ribbon cutters at the Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. For the first time, Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako of Akishino joined the event specially as the Honorary President of TIBF.
The opening remarks were made by Masahiro Ohga, President of the Japan Book Publishers Association and President of Shogakukan: st
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“Started in 1994, TIBF has continued to expand. This year is the 21 edition and we are pleased to have 1,526 exhibitors from 20 countries participating. The publishing industry is facing a big change that has come with digitalisation. We need to develop the digital publishing market while cherishing the merits of printed books. The displays at the relevant booths and the professional seminars will offer you a glimpse of the latest developing trends.” He added “Our theme country this year is Malaysia. A sizable Malaysia Pavilion will be organised, featuring books of many different genres and presenting the culture of Malaysia. Various events will also be held each day. We encourage all members of the Japanese publishing industry to come visit the Malaysia Pavilion.
This year there will also be high school students and teachers from more than 20 schools visiting as a school trip. We hope the fair will allow the young generation to learn the joys of reading. Lastly, I wish great success for all the exhibitors and visitors at the fair, and look forward to your continuous support.” (Excerpt from the opening remarks)
Many of the dignitaries including Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako of Akishino participated in the show to enjoy the exhibits and communicated with exhibitors. For the full list of the ribbon cutting dignitaries www.bookfair.jp/en/doc/ribbon_cutting/
Publications & culture showcased by Theme Country, Malaysia Malaysia was the Theme Country for TIBF 2014 and as 2014 is “Visit Malaysia Year” (the nation’s biggest tourism celebration backed up by the Malaysian government) Malaysia’s objective was to economically expand its book market as well as focusing on strengthening the cultural bridge between Malaysia and Japan. With this, a large pavilion of 300 square meter was held gathering publications that centre on cultural understanding and the thinking of the Japanese and Malaysian societies as well as sharing various tourism-based publications that will explain the wave of Japanese who have travelled to Malaysia in recent years.
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The official opening ceremony of the pavilion was held together with the launch of the Japanese version of “Kampung Boy”. Before declaring the opening of the pavilion and the launch of the new Kampung Boy, Lat – the author of the book told the story about how Malaysia and Japan have always had strong bonds and how writers and artists from Malaysia have tried to explain their origin to address the importance of sharing each other’s backgrounds to understand each other. Various events such as poetry readings, Makyung showcase (a traditional Malaysian dance known as a “cultural masterpiece” by UNESCO), Kalantan Shadow play performed
together with the traditional Japanese puppet show etc. were held throughout the show period, grabbing the interest of participants. List of events held during the show: http://www.bookfair.jp/en/doc/Schedule_of_Events/ Comment from Malaysia: “Being the Theme Country, we believe that we were able to make a huge impact throughout the Japanese publishing market. At the Malaysia Pavilion, we made a special presentation which was a mixture of books and culture, and it was very successful. The business result at the show was much better than previous years. In addition to many rights negotiations, we also had discussions about digitalization of our books. This is our 4th year at TIBF, and I believe that our continuous participation has showed Japanese publishers that we are serious in conducting business in Japan. We were pleased to meet with many key persons in the Japanese publishing industry throughout the show period. Overall, we are very satisfied with the fair results and we can’t wait for our 21 titles to be published. TIBF is the best venue to promote and expand business here in Japan.” For more information about the theme country project, visit the official show website http://www.bookfair.jp/en/About/Theme-Country/ or contact Show Management: tibf-eng@reedexpo.co.jp
International business generated at TIBF and e-Books As well as interactions between professionals of different fields, TIBF and e-Books served as a platform for network building between professionals from Japan and overseas. This year, exhibitors from 20 countries exhibited, many of which participated as international pavilions that collectively showcasing publications and related products and services unique to their country. Such country includes Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Korea, China, and Iran. The pavilions allowed publishers who were interested in finding publishing rights from particular countries to explore different genres as many of the pavilions gathered numerous publishers in one place.
Below are some comments from the overseas exhibitors and visitors: “We are satisfied that finally we were able to exhibit at TIBF. Our booth was continuously packed and I was busy having meetings considering rights publication with many of the Japanese editors who were visiting the fair. Our children books were a big hit. TIBF is a great place to learn the market of Japan. By conducting many business meetings and having chances to negotiate with Japanese editors directly, we were able to understand the market better.” LITTLE TIGRE PRESS, TIBF Exhibitor, UK “I was able to find a wide range of interesting books all in one place” TIBF Visitor, Korea “I was happy to find a big variety of books and the show. By participating, I was able to catch the publishing trends of each country too. ” TIBF Visitor, Korea “After returning from the show, I will have further discussion with the exhibitor I met at the show. I would like to visit TIBF again in 2015.” TIBF Visitor, Indonesia
Diverse networking between publishers & related professionals As the structure of content related business is increasing diversity and flexibility, the show structure and surrounding environment of TIBF and e-Books has evolved over the years lead to the launch of new concurrent shows. This year 4 shows were concurrently held with TIBF and e-Books:
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4th LICENSING JAPAN http://www.licensing-japan.jp/en/ - Japan’s leading international trade show gathering various licensors and property owners of characters and brands, 3rd Creators’ Expo http://www.creator-expo.jp/ - Japan’s one and only trade show gathering individual creators to negotiate business with publishers and other potential business providers (700 creators participated this year), 2nd Production Companies Expo http://www.production-expo.jp/en/ Japan’s leading show where various production companies presented their ability and showcased their work samples 2nd Content Solutions Expo http://www.contes.jp/en/ - Japan’s leading show specialising in various solutions to produce and distribute digital content. By holding these shows under the same roof, it added diversity to on-site business. For example, TIBF/e-Books exhibitors and visitors were able to make connections with a wide range of professionals such as writers, illustrators, photographers, e-book service providers, media content distributors etc. and find a wide range of business opportunities and options.
Comments from concurrent show participants: “We have had our target customers come to our booth. Due to the nature of the show, we have also had the pleasure of making unexpected connections with a mix of creators and publisher.” Production Companies Expo Exhibitor, Japan “As I am shy and find it hard to aggressively reach out to publishers, I find this show suits my style. I have had many publishers and potential business partners come to my booth so it’s been a brilliant experience. Just exhibiting at my booth has opened up opportunities to bring a lot of surprising and unexpected meetings.” Creators’ Expo Exhibitor, Illustrator “I have focused in visiting the concurrent shows for the first day of my visit to see what’s out there” TIBF Visitor, Publisher “It was such an exciting show with futuristic solutions for content. I feel the industry is transforming and by visiting this show, I feel I can get the latest information about new technology. I am glad I visited and look forward to what the future brings to the industry.” Content solutions Expo Press, Japan
Interactions between the participants of TIBF and the other shows are becoming stronger by the years and the show size is becoming bigger each year. Overall, with the concurrent shows, TIBF has increased by around 10% in exhibition scale in comparison to 2013 and is expected to expand further in years to come. For more details about the concurrent shows visit the official webpage http://www.contents-tokyo.jp/en/
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Joys of reading promoted to the general public TIBF also served as promotional event for publishers to increase exposure of their new titles to readers. On the third and final day of the show, TIBF was open to the general public and exhibiting publishers are able to communicate with the readers directly about their products and hold various events to promote new titles. Numerous seminars, book signings, readings by a range of authors, novelists, writers and artists were held all over the show ground. For instance, award winning business novels were announced at exhibitor booths, a former head-master of a local school in Tokyo gave a talk about how to use reading as means of gathering practical information which cannot be acquired by school education, based on personal experience etc.
Comment from the Show Management: “TIBF & e-Books will keep evolving to match the industry’s needs” Keisuke Amano, Show Director of TIBF and e-Books is determined to keep creating a show to match the industry’s needs.
“First of all, a very big thank you to all the exhibitors, conference speakers and visitors for participating and making TIBF 2014 a successful edition. Also a big thank you to everyone involved in the Malaysia theme year. I believe the show was able to provide a bridge for the people of Malaysia to share and sell Malaysian books and culture into Japan. I hope anyone interested in exhibiting or visiting the show will join the future editions. The Japanese market for printed and digital publication is large so by exhibiting, one would be able to sell their products into the market and Show Management will provide full support to make it worthwhile. Regarding the exhibits, the quality and range of Japanese publications such as children’s books, factual books and related content are something we would like to strongly encourage visitors from overseas to come and see. With the Olympics coming to Tokyo in 2020, the content of the show and the surrounding environment is most probably going to change each year from now so that would be something worth coming to see as well. We promise to keep providing a firm and interesting business platform and delivering new ways for people from the industry to discuss new ideas.”
Next year’s show Next year’s TIBF and e-Books will be held at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan from July 1-4, 2015. As the majority of the booth space have already been sold during this year’s show period, another successful edition is anticipated next year.
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As though to reflect the success of the 2014 edition of TIBF and e-Books, the exhibit space for next year has been selling very fast and the majority of the space has already been occupied. The picture on the previous page is next year’s floor plan. The red squares represents booths that are already reserved. – Photograph taken on July 4, 2014) Next year’s show details:
Show title: 22nd Tokyo International Book Fair (TIBF 2015) 19th e-Book Expo Tokyo (e-Books 2014) Dates: July 1 – 4, 2015 (July 1-3 for e-Books and concurrent shows) Venue: Tokyo Big Sight, Japan Organiser: TIBF Executive Committee/Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd. Concurrent shows: - 5th LICENSING JAPAN - 4th Creators’ Expo - 3rd Production Companies Expo - 3rd Content Solutions Expo For further information, visit the official show website http://www.bookfair.jp/en/ or contact
Show Management.
Contact List: Exhibiting inquiries: tibf-eng@reedexpo.co.jp Visiting inquiries: visitor-eng.tibf@reedexpo.co.jp Press inquiries: pr-eng.contents-tokyo@reedexpo.co.jp (Tel: +81-3-3349-8519 Fax: +81-3349-8530)
TIBF/e-Books Show Management Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd. Tel: +81-3-3349-8519 Fax: +81-3-3349-8530 Email: pr-eng.contents-tokyo@reedexpo.co.jp
(Edited: July 28, 2014)
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