24th Japan Teddy Bear with Friends Convention 30 & 31 July 2016

The 24th Japan Teddy Bear with Friends Convention was held on 30 & 31 July this year at the Tokyo International Forum.

Over 4800 people attended, which is about 300 more than last year! Many of the visitors had a wonderful time meeting the artists, the dealers, and the bears from around the world.

Our table this year was at C06, beside our friend from Hong Kong Ms Ivy Cheung. There were more than 10 overseas artists, over 20 dealers selling bear materials and accessories, as well as more than 200 Bear Artists from Japan!

Wayne & Ivy Cheung (Hong Kong)

Some of the overseas bear artists whom we frequently met came and we were happy to meet them again. Some of these artists are Ivy Cheung from Hongkong, Beverly White and Maggie Anderson from USA, Roy and Heather Lyell from New Zealand and a new friend, Vera Vlasova from Moscow!

Heather & Roy Lyell (New Zealand) with Wayne & Philip

We came early to the convention to set up the table and took some pictures with our Japanese friends before the commencement of the show!

Rose Bear by Terumi Yoshikawa (Japan)

Sharon & Bear by Emi Etchu (Japan)

Niina Kanai (Japan)

Berryman Bear by Yuki Usui (Japan)

Vera Vlasova (Mosow, Russia)

Happy Tymes Bears by Beverly White (USA)

Anderson Originals by Maggie Anderson (USA)

Before the event commenced, we saw a large number of visitors queuing outside the hall. Some of them even came an hour earlier! Once the doors were opened, many of them ran to the booths of their favourite artists to purchase their bears.

We are very pleased that our dear friend, Keiko-san came again to visit us this year!

We are happy to have one of our keychain bear adopted by Mari-san. She looked very happy with her new bear :)

Thank you for adopting a Keychain Bear, Mari-san! =)

This year we donated a bunny, Barney, for the charity draw. To our surprise, the winner of the bunny came to our table to personally thank us! We were touched by the sincerity of the Mum and the girl! We even took a group picture together! It really made our day!

The little girl who won Barney at the Charity Draw

After the first day of the two-day event, we joined the dinner party specially arranged by the organiser for the get-together session in a Japanese Themed restaurant.

We removed our shoes, sat on the tatami mats and were later served with free-flow of alcoholic beverages and Japanese Cuisine. The dinner was the best time for us to network with the Japanese and overseas artists. It was an enjoyable dinner!

With the Presidents of the Japan Teddy Bear Association

Yumi Ikeno (Japan)

Saint Bear by Kaeko Hayashida

N.P Bear Studio by Nana (Japan)

Overall, we would love to recommend artists and collectors to visit this convention if you have a chance! The people in Japan are very friendly and extremely creative! Their works and creations have never failed to impress and keep us inspired! It was a successful show with many visitors and we look forward to visit Japan again.

Hye Jung Han (Korea)

Bear Papa by Masaya Sato (Japan)

Atelier Owl by Masako Yoshimits (Japan)

Moririn Yumiko (Japan)

L-R: Philip, Wayne, Ivy and President of the Taiwan Teddy Bear Association

Kuma by Kazumi Kumamoto (Japan)

Next year, the convention will be held on July 15-16, 2017 at the Tokyo International Forum. As they will be celebrating their 25th anniversary next year, you should be expecting more teddy bear fans, collectors, artists, and dealers to come to Tokyo!

We want to thank all friends and collectors for visiting us at this event! Hope to see you soon again next time in Japan!

Hugs,
Wayne & Philip