On the 10th of November 2018 (Saturday) the annual Doki Doki (“heartbeat”) Japanese Anime festival (http://www.dokidokifestival.com) was held in Manchester at the Sudgen Sports Centre.
The day-long festival included demonstrations of martial arts, kimono, dancing and folk music and a large selection of anime related merchandise was on sale. Many of the attendees enjoyed dressing as their favourite anime characters (“cosplay”) creating a colourful and interesting atmosphere. Akemi sat on a panel of Japanese experts taking questions on Japanese culture old and new from the audience. Akemi also gave a lecture on Japanese etiquette.
Meanwhile, charity assistants raised funds by writing people’s names in Japanese Kanji. As in previous years the event was well attended and the organisers of the event contributed £1,000 to Aid for Japan, so once again our thanks go to the Doki Doki team, and Andrew Gaskell in particular for their hard work and generosity.
