JapanFest

This place was fun!
I got some cool stuff, saw some cool things, and even learned a bit. I always wanted to go to Japan and learn about Japanese culture so, this was a nice little taste. It was a bit americanized. I wanted to actually get an ideal instead of seeing them kind of be like «look how a like we are! look how we make french fries and recreate other american foods!».
Despite that, I was able to try some new dishes. My step dad learned a bit about archery, I watched a Japanese movie, explored animé village, saw the cool cosplay wigs, and got some cool candy. They even had information about travel agencies and language schools.
Also, I was there the last day so all the stands products were half out, but what was left was half off. I got a lot of gifts for myself and mother. I will definitely come again.

Honestly, I didn’t expect to like it that much. That’s what happens when you have low expectations, huh? I mean, so many of my Hmong friends have told me they were disappointed but I sure wasn’t so I never went. However, I got free tickets from my SIL since her husband works at a Japanese company. Free, so let’s go!
I was very impress with the amount of peope who were waiting in line to get in the Gwinnett Center. Even with those who has free tickets! Wow. I saw a Groupon deal and I almost bought it and cannot beat free.
My daughter is really into the Japanese culture, mainly thanks to animé and manga. IMO, the crowd was mostly non Japanese, non Asian actually, I would say about 85% of them. Even most of the vendors were non Japanese.
Everything over there was very cheap and affordable. I was surprised. I bought a lot of $ 1 books. Where the food court was packed. However, it was manageable with coordinated lines and food vendors. There is a stage in front of the food court and behind it is many more vendors.
My favorite part was getting my name in Japanese, which is free but donations apprecaited and I donated several dollars. My daughter always wanted to wear Japanese clothes and wore a Yukata. It was really affordable and you can get hair and makeup done too for a little more but overall, well worth it.
I wil definitely go back and would not mind paying to go either.

I took the word of a few friends and went to Japanfest this year. I’m glad that I did.
There were different food vendors, businesses, and live demonstrations. There wasn’t a boring moment in the 4 hours that we were there.
Japanfest gets four stars for the little bit of confusion. The parking attendants were clearly unsure about where we could legally park. We rode up the hill to the restaurant per the attendant, but there were signs that state non patrons would be towed. I didn’t want to take any chances. Luckily, they let us in the main lot and we found a spot in no time.
There were two ticket lines, one was for pre-​purchased tickets and the other was if you needed to buy them. The pre-​purchased line moved a lot faster. Maybe a push for people to purchase the tickets on their phones or online can cut down on the wait next year.
I enjoyed myself, and I will definitely make this a yearly event!

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this many people at JapanFest. I came here on Saturday around 2pm and there were two huge lines out the door (one to purchase tickets and one for people with their tickets). You will get into the convention center so much quicker if you have pre-​purchase tickets (look for Groupon deals for cheaper admission!).
The even is pretty well organized. There are activities from cultural education, animé exhibition, food/​merchandise vendors, and Japanese business demonstrations and more. My friends really wanted to try on kimonos for a photo shoot, but I guess due to the popularity of this activity, they are completed booked out and finishing up their last shoots when we arrived. If this is an activity you’re interested in… Come early and reserve your spot!
You can score some freebies at the business vendor booths. Some of them ask you to complete a quick quiz, activity/​game, or simply just a spin-​the-​wheel thing. There are also a lot of food vendors and merchandise for purchase.
Overall I think this is a neat event for folks who are not familiar with the Japanese culture (also a cool people watching event).

I had a great time as always.
I am trying to find one of the vendors who I believe was in the far right side in the main hall where they were selling large paper /​parchment scenes of Japan — does anyone know that vendor name /​info?

My bf and I have been going to this festival for 3 years so far. It’s held every year for one September weekend (Saturday and Sunday). It starts at 10am and ends at 6pm. You can buy the tickets online or at the door, which cost around $ 10. But you will have to pay to do some activities. There’s plenty of free parking at the Infinite Energy Center (formerly called the Gwinnett Convention Center). But plan to get there before 9:30am as the line to get into the parking lot gets hectic, and there’s also a line to get inside the building. There’s a line for people who bought tickets ahead of time and another one for people without one so make sure you are on the right one. People of all ages and races go to this event and it gets very crowded after awhile. We saw people still in line getting in even at 1pm.
You will see cosplayers, but this isn’t an animé convention (but there is an animé section). People will see more traditional sides of Japan such as ikebana, bonsai, martial arts demos as well as performances of taiko drums, samurais, sumos, and tea ceremony. You can look at the event itinerary ahead of time on their website or their facebook page. Their events do not change much, but the arrangement/​set up has improved over time. We have become used to what to expect already but we still go to enjoy the japanese culture. We enjoy watching performances by the Matsuriza Taiko Drum group, Hakata Koma (acrobatic top spinning group), and a puppet show that I forgot the name of. Some performances have seating while other performances are standing only. We really like seeing the Ikebana exhibit; great for people who enjoy flower arrangements. We also like to get our picture taken at the NHK World booth.
There are many vendors selling toys, travel packages, clothing, tea leaves, packaged sweets, and other merchandises. We also enjoy the food at the food court and garden area; oiishii! Cash only, but there’s an atm inside the building. There are both savory and sweet offerings. Sapporo is also there to sell their beer, but at a steep steep price. There are more vendors in the food court area too. And it’s to be expected that everything there is overpriced.
Overall, I think JapanFest is a great event for people who are unfamiliar with Japanese culture, but may not be so much for those already familiar.

To be honest, this festival wasn’t too cultural. The little shops they had were a bunch of related stuffed animals and Americanized snack foods. There were a few cool Bento box demonstrations, swords, and kimono try-​ons but nothing out of the ordinary. You have to pay for everything after you get in with the ticket. The kimono try-​ons were around $ 5-​$ 10 dollars… Food came from nearby restaurants so there wasn’t anything noteworthy.

The festival was interesting. For $ 8, it was somewhat worth it. I don’t understand why free tickets were given out at the actual event though. Smh.
The event was pretty massive. It seems like at every nook and cranny there was something going on. The upstairs, downstairs, and stage areas were all utilized. There was a kids zone, food court, volunteer area (mini yard sale of knick knacks), and various booths doing promotions or selling something.
There was probably a really large showing of some sort at the stage areas, but my group missed that particular time’s showing so we didn’t bother waiting around nor asked what it was about. Now, the food court area had a neat food demonstration. You know how Asian folks like cute little edible things? Well, the demonstration was precisely this. It was how to make adorably shaped food pieces (i.e. a panda bear or little person) from rice and various other foods. There was also another area with antiques car that you can browse, touch, and take pictures.
Parking was plentiful (and free like always), but for this particular event, the parking lots were segregated off so it made things more challenging and confusing.

JapanFest took a different meaning because I actually participated in it this year. Either way its always been a favorite of all the festivities to attend in the fall. It seemed a bit different this year because there were less food stands compared to previous years. Top favorite performances was the tap dancing by Kazunori Kumyai and the taiko group from Epcot. The most adorable thing was seeing so many little girls dressed in their kimonos. What was even cuter was at the closing of the festival. At the end, about 20 or so little girls in their kimonos danced around the stand (I’m guessing bon odori). Sooo adorable. Like the other reviews, I enjoyed the festival and right after went out for Japanese. Actually it was Korean. Anyway, I’ll be back.

Other than missing Japanese cultural touchstones of samurai, ninjas, horror movies, harajuku, and sushi… nice cultural gathering of vendors and performances that is Japanfest. Bonsai, teriyaki, ramen, animé, kimonos, origami, archery, and shaved ice are things I found at Japanfest this year… all in all, it was a fun afternoon, though I did find myself heading out to a Japanese restaurant in Duluth afterward to experience my own Japanfest. Gwinnett Center (the convention center part) was a great venue, with plenty of free parking.

This was my first time going. I’m glad we got tickets in advance… the lines were pretty crazy during the morning.
The food was good, but not anything amazing. My wife and I ended up going to Sushi House Hayakawa, since we were craving better quality food. That being said, the usual candies and sweets you’d expect to find at JapanFest did not disappoint. All very tasty.
There were a lot of good demonstrations and workshops. I could’ve done with less of the Karate and Sumo stuff and more of the cultural arts and music… but overall I got to see plenty of interesting things.

JapanFest is a big Japanese festival that takes place annually (each September) at Gwinnett Center. The festival has been held in Atlanta for over 20 years. It was previously held at Stone Mountain. Tickets are $ 8 for one day (Saturday or Sunday). The festival offers a variety of Japan-​focused shopping and activities. I went this past Saturday and saw people building kites, watching presentations on touring various regions of Japan, girls trying on kimonos for photo shoots, two bonsai exhibitions, a Japanese archery exhibition, a martial arts exhibition (with impressive wooden board and cement block breaking), a traditional Japanese folk show, an origami workshop, the outdoor Sapporo beer garden with giant inflatable Sapporo beer bottle, a variety of booths and stalls with games and shopping, etc.
The festival has a schedule of each day’s shows and activities. There is a giant food court where local Japanese restaurants serve food, including Sushi Nami, Umaido, and Shoya Izakaya. There are appearances by a variety of Japanese «celebrities» such as musicians, artists, etc. and for the past two years, NASCAR driver Akinori Ogata, who brings his car along with him. Many local and national Japanese businesses have booths setup much like a trade convention with information and freebies to give away. The festival has been drawing upwards of 18,000 people in recent years. If you like Japanese culture (mainly traditional), you should definitely check out JapanFest.