Anime Japan announced on February 27th that they will be canceling the Anime Japan 2020 event due to the status of the COVID-19 throughout the world. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently took to the airwaves encouraging that all events including sporting events throughout a two to three-week period starting from February 26th should be canceled in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 also known as “coronavirus”. Many of Japan’s major artists who sell out stadiums and arenas such as Perfume, Yonezu Kenshi, MAN WITH A MISSION, as well as Otaquest’s parent company, LDH Japan, have canceled their live shows for the recommended period. Starting with industry powerhouse Bushiroad, Anime Japan made the following announcement on both their official SNS as well as their official website:
In the face of the recent novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the call from the Japanese government to cancel large-scale events made on February 26th, but most of all thinking about the health and safety of our visitors and everyone involved in the event that we have decided to cancel AnimeJapan 2020 and Family Anime Festa 2020.
We are extremely sorry towards all the anime fans looking forward to this year’s edition and all involved parties who were preparing for the event, however, the conclusion has been made to prevent the further spread of the infection.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter.
I for one think that this year’s Anime Japan being canceled is the right move. As the impact of the Coronavirus starts to get more and more widespread, I would be surprised if you don’t see more of these types of cancelations happening worldwide. I understand that promoting business and growing one’s fanbase is important, but it’s nowhere near as important as the health of those fans, creators, voice actors, and staff.