AnimeJapan 2020 may be cancelled due to the Corona Virus outbreak

The biggest Japanese anime exhibition, AnimeJapan 2020 may be cancelled due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak. The said national event is scheduled to kick-off on March 21, 2020, and will end by March 24, 2020. The first two days will be public, while the remaining two will be for business days.

Throughout the whole event, anime companies and organizations will be setting up booths for their exhibits and displays. This event is always anticipated not only in Japan but also by many companies and anime fans throughout the world.

All about AnimeJapan 2020

The executive producer of AnimeJapan 2020 revealed the theme of this year’s event with an invitation on their official website. This was done with the hope of focusing the world’s attention to Japan. The theme and invitation read:

AnimeJapan 2020
The Heisei Era has come to an end and with that AnimeJapan has entered the new Reiwa Era.
Making it this far would not have been possible without the help and support of all our exhibitors, sponsors and visitors enjoying AnimeJapan each year.
We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you.

AnimeJapan Organization, Executive Producer

For more details about the event, you may visit the AnimeJapan 2020 official website.

How could the event be cancelled?

Just recently, the producers of AnimeJapan 2020 posted on their official Twiter account an announcement that there is a chance that the event may be cancelled. The announcement reads:

About Novel Coronavirus outbreak and measures against it.

As of present, AnimeJapan 2020 and Family Anime Festa 2020 are planned to be held according to schedule.
However, depending on the development of the situation there is a possibility that the event might get cancelled.

Coronavirus status in Japan according to WHO

We will still have to wait for further announcements about whether the event will push through or not. For the meantime, let us try to understand why the producers made this announcement.

The World Health Organization recently updated their status report regarding the coronavirus. Here are some details:

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
total and new cases in the last 24
hours

Globally
71 429 confirmed (2162 new)

China
70 635 confirmed (2051 new)
1772 deaths (106 new)

Outside of China
794 confirmed (111 new)
25 countries
3 deaths

And here is the status in Japan:

59 confirmed (6 new)
Total cases with travel history to China
26
Total cases with possible or confirmed transmission outside of China
33 (6 new)
Total deaths
1

This data was taken from the World Health Organizations’s status report dated February 17, 2020.

The producers of AnimeJapan 2020 are probably trying to follow the World Health Organizations’ strategy to limit human-to-human transmission. Well, it is better to be safe than sorry. The final decision regarding the event will probably be announced a few weeks before the event for final preparations.

NOTE: For more Anime-related stories, readers may route here.
Image credits: AnimeJapan 2020 Official Twitter account

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.