[Event Report] International students invited to “Anime Experience Program” with language support in Ikebukuro, Tokyo 22 international students from countries such as China, the Philippines, Turkey, Korea, and Nepal participated.
*Abracadabra Co., Ltd.*
Press release: September 17, 2024
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[Event Report] International students invited to “Anime Experience Program” with language support in Ikebukuro, Tokyo 22 international students from countries such as China, the Philippines, Turkey, Korea, and Nepal participated.
*For the tourism industry with a labor shortage, it can also be an opportunity to hire and discover foreign human resources ~We want people to enjoy the world of anime as a “new Japanese culture” that is not bound by tradition~*
This time, Abracadabra Co., Ltd. (location: Toshima-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Haruka Kitahashi), which belongs to the Animate Group, which handles content translation, etc.
An anime-related experience program (voice acting experience, cosplay experience) with language support will be held on August 6th (Tuesday) in Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward, for “international students” attending nearby universities and Japanese language schools. – Held on August 27th (Tuesday) and August 28th (Wednesday).
A total of 22 international students from various countries including China, the Philippines, Turkey, Korea, and Nepal, who attend Japanese language schools around Tokyo, participated in the trial session. Voice actor experience
International students lend their voices to the characters they are responsible for. To make it enjoyable for people who can’t pronounce Japanese well, they set aside time to practice, and devised ways to write the script in Japanese, foreign languages, and the Hepburn Roman alphabet.
cosplay experience
An international student from China says, “I decided to wear this” the moment she saw the costume. We have prepared English greetings from the photographer and a collection of recommended poses so that even those who do not understand Japanese can enjoy the event.
Click here for details on the trial program
One of the reasons why foreigners start learning Japanese is “Japanese manga and anime”
All the international students who participated in this experience session and the instructors for the voice acting experience. According to a 2021 survey (*) conducted by the Japan Foundation, 59.9% of foreigners answered “interest in anime, manga, J-POP, fashion, etc.” as the reason for starting Japanese language studies. .
There are a certain number of students at universities and Japanese language schools around Tokyo who have become interested in the Japanese language after seeing Japanese anime works, and who hope to pursue art universities or animation-related schools or companies after graduation. There are also cases.
Therefore, we wanted to provide international students who are interested in Japanese subculture with a place where they could experience a new kind of Japanese culture that is not bound by traditional culture, with an anime theme. We have decided to offer our hands-on experience program as an opportunity to learn about Japanese culture.
During the experience program, our employees provided language support (interpretation), and we held voice acting and cosplay experiences at the in-house studio of our partner voice acting agency, Aldi, and at a photography studio owned by Hacosta Co., Ltd. .
[Reference materials]
The Japan Foundation | Survey of overseas Japanese language
educational institutions “5. Overview of learning objectives and reasons”
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There are still very few places that can offer anime-related experience programs with language support.
Our company is a Japanese company where 80% of our employees are foreign nationals, and all of our employees, including our CEO, are avid fans of Japan’s subculture and otaku culture.
I usually translate Japanese anime-related content (multilingual support) and deliver my works to all over the world.
As an inbound business to date, “anime tourism,” which involves visiting the locations of works, has been popular.
Realizing that “anime itself is part of Japanese culture, and there are very few places where you can experience it as entertainment,” we started an anime-related experience program with language support for foreign visitors to Japan starting in June of this year. We have started offering “Abracadabra Tours”.
As a service that allows you to experience voice acting, cosplay, otaku, oshikatsu, etc. without worrying about language barriers, It has been used by many foreign visitors to Japan, including those from China and South Korea, and has been well received.
We want students to be interested in Japan’s tourism and entertainment industries as one of their career paths after graduation.
Our company has been actively recruiting foreign personnel, and in some cases, foreign employees provide language support depending on the participants (language) of the experience program.
Through this experience session, we hope that by showing foreigners a place where they can utilize their native language and be active, we will give international students an opportunity to become interested in Japan’s tourism and entertainment industries.
Currently, the Japan Tourism Agency and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government are promoting efforts to actively recruit international students and foreigners residing in Japan as tourism business operators, and our company will also be recruiting international students for part-time jobs (translators, guides for experience programs, etc.) We also plan to focus on
Through this initiative, we will support the desire of visitors to Japan and foreign residents in Japan to “want to live in Japan” and “want to continue living in Japan,” and pave the way for our company to become involved in Japanese industries such as anime, manga, and games. I hope that I can help you.
As a company involved in the Japanese entertainment industry, we would like to continue to contribute to the tourism (inbound) industry, with an eye on the “2030 problem” where labor shortages will become more serious.
[Reference materials]
Japan Tourism Agency | Project to counter human resource shortages in tourist destinations and the tourism industry
Tokyo Metropolitan Government | 2020 Tourism Industry Foreign Human Resources Utilization Support Project
Overview of the trial session
[Our efforts]
Experience production (planning, program development, program provision, implementation management, guide provision, multilingual support)
[Cooperating and supporting companies]
Voice actor experience: Aldi Co., Ltd.
Wota Gei Training: Hacosta Co., Ltd.
Animate Co., Ltd.
Oshikatsu experience: Animate Cafe Co., Ltd.
Cosplay experience: Hacosta Co., Ltd.
[Overview of provided services]
*Service name*: “Abracadabra Tours” (on sale to the general public) *Service contents*: “Voice actor experience”, “Otaku training”, “Cosplay experience”, “Oshikatsu experience”
*Location*: Experience spots around Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward that our company is affiliated with (Hours differ for each experience) *Application-only URL*: https://abracadabra-tours.rezio.shop/ja-JP