Japanese Guests

The brand that brought “kawaii” to Harajuku in 1995, founded by the legendary Sebastian Masuda. Discover the very heart of Harajuku and the essence of “kawaii” culture. Crazy colours, shocking designs - let it all stir your imagination and make your heart pound! 6%DOKIDOKI is one brand that constantly aims above and beyond, with original designs and inventions that challenge the status quo. Kawaii isn’t just fashion. It’s culture. Crazy fun, crazy colours and crazy love will tempt you to reach out for all that is original: accessories and clothing, stage shows and talks, as well as objects, that will stir your imagination and make your heart beat for 6%DOKIDOKI. We are wishing kawaii anarchy spirits of 6%DOKIDOKI to reach all over the world...♥

After active involvement in theatre performance and modern art, Sebastian Masuda opened 6%DOKIDOKI, a shop with the concept of “Sensational Kawaii” in Harajuku in 1995. Through the world tour titled Harajuku Kawaii Experience, which started in 2009, he has been working to spread Harajuku culture on a global scale. He gained worldwide attention for his music video production for PONPONPON, a debut single by Japanese pop icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. He has been active as an artist and art director, contextualizing Harajuku Kawaii Culture, for example, by producing a concept restaurant KAWAII MONSTER CAFÉ. His first solo exhibition Colorful Rebellion – Seventh Nightmare was held in New York in 2014 and has held Kawaii fashion/culture lectures in 2015 and 2018. He is working on a participatory art project called Time After Time Capsule, which will debute in 2020.

Sebastian Masuda and 6%DOKIDOKI’s appearance are in association with GHOST GiRL GOODS, with the support of Otakuthon and Japan Festival Canada.

The only Frenchman in the world performing Rakugo in Japanese, French and English!

Born and raised in Nice (France), Cyril Coppini has been living in Japan since 1997. In 2009, he met Rakugo master Someta Hayashiya, under whom he studied Rakugo. He later made his debut at the Chiba Rakugo Competition where he won 3rd place. His talent has been recognized by his adoptive country for his active contributions in disseminating Rakugo abroad. Since March 2016, he has been performing regularly on stage at the Asakusa Toyokan (Tokyo), the famous venue where worldwide renowned Japanese movie director and comedian Takeshi Kitano made his debut.

Cyril Coppini will be presenting two Rakugo performances at Otakuthon 2019: Friday at 3:30 pm and Sunday at 4:30 pm.

This event is free for all convention attendees. Don't miss the opportunity to see him live!

Pretending to be fake is going to be extremely real!

Since the group formed in 2013, their videos have been released on YouTube and accessed in over 120 countries. They have also attracted domestic and international attention, reaching over 7 million views. The members of FAKY are from diverse backgrounds, but they have come together in Tokyo to make not just J-POP music, but a broad musicality combined with a mainstream sound. Five personalities giving you alternative girl pop from Tokyo!

Their music has also been featured in popular anime such as Black Clover (ED4), Cardfight!! Vanguard: Legion Mate-Hen, and Gundam Build Fighters: Battlogue.

FAKY will be performing in Canada for the first time at Otakuthon on Friday, August 16th, 2019. The concert will be held in Room 210. Tickets are $20 in addition to the base convention admission. This concert is in association with J-rock North Promotions Inc. and Avex Management Inc.

HOME: https://faky.jp/sp/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/FAKYjp

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/FAKYjp

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/FAKYjp

Hiroshi Matsuyama is the CEO and President of Japanese game developer CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd., whose games are internationally recognized for their unique anime-like action and cinematics.

As one of the biggest fans of manga since a young age, Matsuyama faithfully reads more than 60 manga magazines a month.

His chance to enter the entertainment industry came when he reconnected with a few friends from school, who were looking to create a game development company. Matsuyama joined his friends, and together they created CyberConnect. Matsuyama worked at this startup as a generalist graphic designer and was responsible for more than 80% of the background graphics in the company's first games, Silent Bomber and Tail Concerto. However, with the mysterious disappearance of the CEO at the time, the company found itself close to disbanding. Matsuyama convinced his dozen colleagues to give him a chance to lead the team towards success. He became the new CEO, and the company rebranded itself as CyberConnect2, which later released the acclaimed series, .hack.

With now three studios including one in Montreal, his company has continued growing and his passion for all things anime related has lead to the creation of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja series, JoJo's Bizzare Adventure and more. He has also published books, spoken at countless schools, media events and conventions around the world.

Today, Matsuyama continues to lead the company to create captivating games that reach all around the world.

Hisashi Kagawa is best known for being the character designer of SaiKano: She, The Ultimate Weapon, One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Toriko TV, and Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Collabo Special.

Some of his other works as an animation director includes Pokémon (1997), Angelic Layer (2001), Fresh Pretty Cure (2009), Soul Eater (2008) and Toriko (2011). He also lent his talents to Sailor Moon, which include Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon Super S, and the opening for Sailor Stars. His major episodes included Makoto Kino's, Black Lady's and Haruka Ten'o's first appearances and the past of the Silver Millennium. He also did the character designs and work as animation director for the Sailor Moon S movie. It will be Mr. Kagawa's first time in Canada.

Born in 1971, Irie Yasuhiro started his career as an animator at 18 years old. He worked as an animator in The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, and Tekkonkinkreet. After that, he started his work in directing, scenario writing, storyboard writing, and production. As a director, he worked on Alien Nine, KURAU Phantom Memory, Fullmetal Alchemist, Code Breaker, and Scorching Ping Pong Girls. He is currently working on a Netflix original animation called EDEN.

He participates in animation events outside of Japan as well, where he would frequently do live drawings on stage.

He is also the representative director of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA).

Junichi Hayama is a Japanese animator with more than 30 years of experience. He began his career in animation in 1983, and he trained under Masami Suda on Fist of the North Star. He served as director, character designer, and chief animation director on the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood anime film. His other animation director credits include Be-Bop-Highschool, Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu, InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler, and the 1993 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure original video anime. Most recently, he's done work as a key animator on the Yu-Gi-Oh Movie and as the main animator for Golden Kamuy. This will be Mr. Hayama's first time in Canada.

Karori is an illustrator and game artist from the Mie Prefecture, also active in the dōjin circle KAROMIX. Her main works include Dress na Boku ga Yangotonaki Katagata no Katei Kyoushi-sama na Ken (written by Nomura Mizuki, published by Famitsū Bunko on FB Online), Yūsha Rin no Densetsu (written by Kotohira Ryo, published by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko), Subarashiki Hibi ∼Furenzoku Sonzai∼ (published by KeroQ, artist) and Yume to Iro de Dekite Iru (published by feng, artist).

Kio Nachi is an Ōsaka scriptwriter, writer and graphic designer from Osaka, as well as the artistic director at KOMEWORKS. He is also known as the Vtuber Hayama Mido. As a scenarist, he has worked on The Fruit of Grisaia (Gurizaia no Kajitsu), The Labyrinth of Grisaia (Gurizaia no Meikyū), The Eden of Grisaia (Gurizaia no Rakuen), AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue (Ao no Kanata no Fōrizumu) and CIRCLET PRINCESS, while he has worked as a writer on Bokutachi no Remake and as a graphic designer on Hidamari Sketch (Hidamari Sukecchi), Is the Order a Rabbit? (Gochūmon wa Usagi desu ka?) and The Helpful Fox Senko-san (Sewa Yaki Kitsune no Senko-san).

Mr. Yokota was the producer for Air Movie, Kanon TV series and the animation director for Death Note and Naruto Shippuden. He was the character designer for Magical Kanan, Angelium, Rune Soldier Louie. He also worked on the production of Macross Frontier and was the key animator for its opening animation. Gaming fans will recognize his work in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II as the animation director and director of the opening sequence.

Marina Inoue was born on January 20th in Tokyo, Japan. She is a Japanese voice actress and singer who made her debut as Cossette d'Auvergne in the OVA of Le Portrait de Petit Cossette after she was chosen out of 2,000 people from the "Gonna be a star" auditions hosted by Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

Her most notable work includes roles such as Armin Arlert in Attack on Titan, Yoko Littner in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Sakura Mamiya in Kyokai no Rinne, Kyoko Mogami in Skip Beat!, Tohka Yatogami in Date A Live, Yozora Mikazuki in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Wataru Tachibana in Hayate the Combat Butler, Jericho in Nanatsu no Taizai, Sodachi Oikura in Bakemonogatari, Nao Midorikawa/Cure March in Smile Precure!, Jessica Ushiromiya in Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Chiffon Fairchild in Freezing.

She is looking forward to spending fun times with fans in Montreal and is hoping to make wonderful memories!

Her appearance at the convention is in association with Navito World.

MIYAVI is a musician, actor, and philanthropist, bridging cultures across the globe with his music and message. His unique style of guitar playing has taken him on seven world tours in over 30 countries. Fans refer to MIYAVI as the “Samurai Guitarist.” He has released twelve studio albums.

As an actor, MIYAVI made his big-screen debut in the Oscar-nominated film Unbroken. He has since appeared in the 2017 blockbuster Kong: Skull Island and the live-action adaptation of the popular manga Bleach. His current filmography includes the recently released Stray (2019) and Maleficent 2 (2019).

In December 2018, MIYAVI released the groundbreaking collaborations album Samurai Sessions Vol. 3: Worlds Collide on Universal Music Group. Each track on the album features a different artist laying down vocals over MIYAVI’s signature guitar sound. The stellar list of U.S.-based collaborators includes Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson, Grammy-nominated R&B artist Gallant, Grammy-nominated Pop artist Mikky Ekko, Grammy-winning producer RAC, Malaysian born R&B songstress Yuna, South Central LA rapper DUCKWRTH, “Hood EDM” rapper Bok Nero, “laptop punk” artist NVDES, and Australian born Pop artist Betty Who.

The Japanese artists featured on the album include a who’s who of chart-toppers including Rock artist SHISHIDO KAVKA, Pop artist Daichi Miura, Pop artist Miliyah, rappers Kreva and AK-69, and a posthumous collaboration with iconic singer-guitarist hide (X Japan).

As a brand ambassador, MIYAVI has appeared as the face of Beats headphones in Japan and on billboards worldwide in Moncler’s Beyond campaign. He recently walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week 2018, modelling designer Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 collection. MIYAVI also continues his important work as a Goodwill Ambassador to UNHCR, visiting refugee camps in Lebanon, Thailand, and Bangladesh, and performing at the United Nations in New York, spreading the message of the refugee crisis around the world.

MIYAVI's new album NO SLEEP TILL TOKYO drops on July 24. The artwork for the new album will be created by Sui Ishida, the artist known for his popular manga Tokyo Ghoul. MIYAVI's appearance is in association with FAKE STAR.

MIYAVI will be performing a live concert at Otakuthon on Saturday, August 17th, 2019 at 1:00 pm. A $20 ticket is required to attend the concert on top of the convention’s base admission.

Rica Matsumoto is a seiyuu (voice actress), a singer, and a multi-talent actress.

Her activity area covers a wide range including Japan, China, America, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Vietnam.

Rica Matsumoto (松本 梨香 Matsumoto Rika, born November 30, 1968) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer who was born in Yokohama, Japan. Her name is also sometimes romanized as Rika Matsumoto. She was one of the founders of the Anison band JAM Project.

After early-stage work, she began both voice acting and singing careers. Her most popular role is Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in English translations), the main character of the anime series Pokémon. She also had a role in the Yu-Gi-Oh series as Ryo Bakura and Yami Bakura. As such, Matsumoto has taken on roles for young boys. Matsumoto also performs the songs for many of the openings for the Japanese Pokémon anime. She also performed the theme song A Live A Life for Tokusatsu tv show story Kamen Rider Ryuki.

Matsumoto has had leading as well as supporting roles in dozens of series. She has also had a radio show in Japan and does some dubbing work for translations of American films and TV series into Japanese.

Otakuthon 2019 will be Rica Matsumoto's first Canadian appearance. She will be doing panels and autograph session during the weekend. She is excited to meet her fans in Canada. This appearance was brought to you by J-rock North Promotions Inc. and Zepp live Inc.

Sam Pinansky went to Japan in 2007 as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, researching Superstring Theory at the University of Tokyo. He then transitioned to a career localizing Japanese anime for contents holders like TV Tokyo, Fuji Television, Kadokawa, and Bandai Namco, and built an international localization group which helped to create subtitles for anime and films shown around the world. He later founded Anime Sols, an experimental LLP between Japanese media companies Tezuka Productions, Tatsunoko Productions, Pierrot, and the Yomiuri Group. Today, he continues to foster relations with Japanese content producers and rights holders, and help them to bring their creations to the world stage.

Shigefumi Shingaki started his career in animation at Studio Mates. In addition to his freelance work, he now also does film production at Toei Animation.

Most notably, he is the animation director for One Piece, and has also worked on animation for many other titles such as Dragon Ball GT, Samurai 7, Hikaru No Go, Kancolle, and the long-running series, Doraemon! It will be Mr. Shingaki's first time in Canada.