Furry in Japan
Whilst living in Japan between 2022 and 2023 I got to experience the Japanese furry community intimately! So here's a bit of a write up for the different furry events and activities I went to whilst living there!
Few interesting things:
Japan's seriously super furry. There's anthro characters absolutely everywhere, mascots for businesses and randomly drawn about the place. Legit it's embraced!
They call it Kemono and it has a long history (similar to western furry with old animators and such drawing some of the first furry stuff - Like the guy that invented Kamen Rider and Super Sentai (Power Rangers) was definitely a furry).
They're dedicated - they never break the magic (controversial in the west I know!) - though to be fair a lot of the events do make sure there's really good fursuit lounges at least!
A bit secretive sometimes - with exception of the events I'm gonna list below, "meets" in Japan tended to be organised in private and difficult for foreign furs to know when they were happening and they were often heavily focused on fursuiting, not really for non-fursuiters. But don't worry, there's plenty of stuff open for everyone, which i'll talk about below!)
The concept of fursona in the west often is seen as being a representation of oneself (though not always!) - in Japan they don't typically see their fursona like this, rather it's separate, a character they made.
There's that epic cat fursuiter somewhere that works in a department store selling confectionary, but I never managed to catch them!
Probably the absolute highlight of being a furry in Japan. Every Friday and Saturday night, in a tiny bar in Asakusa Tokyo a wolf makes cocktails. Absolute legend he is, in his fursuit 6pm-11pm serving up drinks to an exclusive furry clientele. He'll even make you a custom cocktail based on your fursona. Prices are decent, 500yen cover charge, then 600-800yen a drink.
Really one of the best places for Japanese furs, foreign resident furs and tourist furs to all get together and hangout. It did take a few drinks for the Japanese to open up (and suddenly remember English) but if you put some effort in and try talking Japanese they're quite receptive! Also Okami-San lets you bring in snacks, so that's chill! Oh, and there's an upstairs where people get into their own fursuits!
Events and Conventions
Kemocon - October/November - Gotemba City, Shizuoka
First furry convention I ever went to! (well I did do Scotiacon in 2016, but was on a vendor stall the entire time!)
Was a really interesting experience going to this in October 2022, before tourism had been opened back up to Japan. I was one of only two gaijin at the event and the other went missing. I'd probably compare this one to Just Fur the Weekend (that's the one in a Butlins right?). It was at a beautiful wedding resort at the foothills of Mt. Fuji (or near enough!) with various hotels and chalets. There were even some actual goats I found! Legends. There was a big focus on fursuit photoshoots, including a wonderful night light water fountain show on top of a mountain. Not entirely sure what happened inside the hotel venues since I was staying in a hotel near a FamilyMart through a mystery forest and the back of some houses (great view of Mt. Fuji though). There was also a chocolate factory and some guy was selling steak. Took a bit to get to - Shinkansen from Tokyo, then walk a few miles to another station, then a local train, then walk more miles... and eventually you get there, totally worth it though. Oh yeah, one of the days I heard plane after plane go by, they just kept coming, I decided to walk up to the top of the hill to get a good look and the US military were sending planes and having hundreds of soldiers skydiving onto Mt. Fuji. Was bizarre but kinda amazing to witness (yes I do have pictures!)
JMoF - January - Toyohashi, Aichi (Main recommendation for tourists!)
Japan Meeting of Furries is the main furry convention in Japan! Pretty much same format as furry cons in the west, it takes place in a hotel and has various panels, music events and more. This one gets the most amount of foreign visitors, both residents and those on holiday, so is definitely the one i'd recommend most. I was entirely confused during the opening ceremony in 2023, there was a solid 20 minute animation of a DeLorean floating around space with no reference to furry, but apparently it made sense to everyone else (suppose Scotiacon this year having a giant jam on stage is equally confusing for those outside the know). Still, the KFC attached to the hotel were selling chicken fillet burgers for half price through the entire event so I lived on those.
Kemoket - Tokyo (various dates)
Kemoket is a furry comic market, where roughly 400 independent artists sell furry doujinshi (indie manga). It happens multiple times a year. It's a fun event but like Comiket I find it to be less social than conventions, the Japanese typically turn up with a list of artists, buy their doujinshi and then leave. Though there is a separate room where people pose for fursuit photos, which is a great chance to meet some amazing suits! When it comes attendee count this was absolutely mindbogglingly massive. Unlike conventions, comic markets get loads of people, even one dedicated to niche interests like furry. Where as JMoF gets around 1400 attendees, Kemoket is at least 10,000 people, potentially more. Now I know since it's in Tokyo compared to Aichi probably does explain some of the size difference, but I think really showcases "lurker" furs. People that are interested in furry art, but maybe don't interact with the community as hard as others, or even have a fursona. Something that could definitely be real around the world!
OFFF - May/July - Artificial Islands, Osaka
Osaka Furry Fun Festa, a smaller convention (550~ attendees, 330~ of which were fursuiters!) in Osaka that's super chill. 2024's is apparently going to mixed with a Kemoket, so that's fun! Less tourist furs go to this one, but most of the foreign residents do. The hotel I stayed in was called Cosmo Tower which looked and felt exactly like a Pokémon villain headquarters, was absolutely amazing building.
Well I hope that's interesting/helpful for anyone interested in Japan and the furry scene out there! I'll probably come back and add some pictures eventually!