"World Hobby Fair 08 Summer," a free festival packed with fun for anime, manga and game lovers, will take place in Chiba on July 12 and 13 and in Sapporo on July 21.

Among over 20 companies exhibiting at the festival are toy makers Bandai and Tomy as well as video game maker Nintendo. A wide variety of events will be held during the festival, such as a special booth for the animation film "Pocket Monsters Diamond Pearl: Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet Shaymin" (Japanese title) that will be released on July 19, as well as sales of character goods from popular manga series -- including "Meitantei Conan" (Detective Conan) and "Zettai Karen Children" (Absolutely Lovely Children). There will also be autograph sessions by famous cartoonists, and hands-on games.

Launched in 1994, the 28th World Hobby Fair has drawn a total of 5.1 million visitors. This year's festival anticipates about 140,000 visitors in total to Makuhari Messe in Chiba and Sapporo Dome in Sapporo.

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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