Super Mario Bros, guest star at the Manga Fair’s 21st edition

The Manga Fair opened its doors this Thursday in Barcelona and will be the meeting point for comic and Japanese culture lovers until Sunday. This year the event has increased both the number of visitors and that of the companies and professionals taking part, and consequently the fair’s exhibition space in Montjuic’s Fira de Barcelona has been extended to 60,000 m2. The fair commemorates this year the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic characters of Japanese culture and the international video games industry: Super Mario Bros. Another outstanding exhibition at this 21st edition shows the influence of Gaudí’s architecture within Japanese culture and the work of Japanese architects in Barcelona. The 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings is also a topic which is taken into account at the fair and around which some exhibitions are centred. The organisers of the fair expect to welcome more than 130,000 visitors. A good sign of this high participation is the tickets for the weekend, which have already sold out. 

Two visitors at the Manga Fair in Barcelona (by ACN)
Two visitors at the Manga Fair in Barcelona (by ACN) / ACN / Sara Prim

ACN / Sara Prim

October 29, 2015 06:49 PM

Barcelona (CNA).- One of the most iconic characters of Japanese culture and the international video games industry, Super Mario Bros, will be the main focus at the 21st edition of the Manga Fair in Barcelona. The event kicked off this Thursday and expects to welcome more than 130,000 comic and Japanese culture lovers in Fira de Barcelona’s exhibition space until Sunday. A good sign of this high participation is the tickets for the weekend, which have already sold out. The number of companies and professionals taking part has also increased in this 21st edition and consequently the fair’s exhibition space has been extended to 60,000 m2. Besides the commemoration of Super Mario Bros’ 30th anniversary, the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings will also be at the centre of some exhibitions. Finally, architecture will play an outstanding role in the fair, with an exhibition showing the influence of Gaudí’s architecture within Japanese culture and the work of Japanese architects in Barcelona.


The 21st edition of the Manga Fair will cover three pavilions and the ‘Plaça Univers’square, a total of 60,000m2 in Monjtuic’s Fira de Barcelona exhibition space. The tickets for the weekend are already sold out and the organisers expect to welcome a record figure of more than 130,000 visitors.

The Manga Fair is more than an exhibition of comics, it is a trip to Japanese and Asiatic culture as a whole, a meeting point which attracts people from all over the world and which is being confirmed as a cultural event of reference on the Catalan capital’s calendar. 

Anime song contests, Asian dance exhibitions, live music, Japanese cuisine - stands and workshops, a huge space dedicated to Nintendo video games, exhibitions and even a space dedicated to Japanese traditional culture and spirituality, complete the programme. 

At the opening session today, Catalan Minister for Culture Ferran Mascarell described the fair as “one of the most globalised expressions of identity’s construction that we have at our disposal”and emphasised the context of the “global identities”that we are living. The Japan Consul in Barcelona, Hiroyuki Makiuchi, also expressed his optimism for “the good health”and “longevity”of the fair. He also announced that he has reached an agreement with the fair’s organisers to continue holding the Manga Fair in Barcelona for many years to come.

One of the most outstanding exhibitions at the 21st edition of the fair is “Manga under construction”, which is dedicated to Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí’s and the ‘modernism’style in Japanese culture. It also displays the work of Japanese architects in Barcelona.

‘Nuclear Manga’is the title of one of the exhibitions dedicated to commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. It displays some key pieces which are focused on the attacks and the consequences that they had on Japanese culture. The fair includes the collaboration of the ‘Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum’a centre located a few metres away from the explosion’s epicentre, and will also have a survivor of the attack as a special guest.