Japan Expo USA goes on indefinite hiatus.
The offshoot of the French Japan Expo has just announced that they will not be returning this year and are postponing their next event. Japan Expo held two events in California, one each in 2013 and 2014, and was set to hold a third this year. They faced a stacked deck as far as timing and location went; California has many conventions throughout the year and it is hard to become successful in a short amount of time. The California summer has three big names in Fanime, Anime Expo, and San Diego Comic Con which meant scheduling in either the early portion of the year (which has its own competition) or the latter portion of the year. Ultimately Japan Expo USA was unable to meet the attendance and growth targets laid down by Japan Expo France.
Some of the names Japan Expo brought to America include Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion), Yuzuke Kozaki (No More Heroes, Speed Grapher), Shinji Aramaki (Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, Bubblegum Crisis, Appleseed), Daigo Ikeno (Capcom), Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Aldnoah Zero, Fate Zero), and Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill).
The staff do post a hopeful “we’ll be back!” With any luck and a bit of reorganization and thinking they will. Whether or not that is in California or another state is up in the air.