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Over the weekend of the 22nd to 24th July, Hyper Japan 2011 took place in London. It's an event dedicated to Japanese culture and this is its second event since starting in October 2010. I've been lucky enough to go to both events and so I'd like to share my experience of Hyper Japan 2011 and how it compares to the 2010 event.

It was surprising how soon the organisers chose to hold the second Hyper Japan event after the first event in October 2010. It's been less than a year but there seems to be slim possibility of Hyper Japan becoming a bi-annual event. The calendar of UK events already serving fans of Japanese culture is certainly full and Hyper Japan would have to fight for space with not only the well-established MCM Expo but the relative-newcomer of the London Film & Comic Con as well.

That said, there is still a certain something that Hyper Japan has which the other events lack. It's the clear focus of the event on Japanese culture that is backed up with the support of Japanese companies and being able to cater for the wide scope of interests that make up Japanese culture as a whole.

The turnout of people last year was incredible for a first-time event and the organisers had obviously managed to keep up the 'hype' in 'Hyper Japan' with an even better attendance this year. The popularity of the first event and the limited space in the original venue of The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, has obviously encouraged the organisers to move it to the larger venue of Olympia Two. Not only did the event benefit from the greater capacity but it also benefited from the venue's more convenient transport connections - bar the slight delays on the District line.

We were some of the early birds, managing to be one of the first people to get into the event. This really paid off as it soon got very busy after we entered, despite the extra space! One thing that the organisers had improved upon was adding a proper seating area by the food exhibitors. It was quite a large area but the sheer number of people still meant sitting on the floor to tuck into my Okonomiyaki!

The number of exhibitors has grown significantly as well and many more familiar faces from the UK anime event scene turned up for 2011 - including the likes of Neon Martian, United Publications and Genki Gear. One of my observations of the first Hyper Japan was the lack of such companies, leading me to wonder if Hyper Japan would continue to attract a different set of exhibitors to other Japanese culture events. It's good to see the event expand but the organisers need to be careful to keep attracting new and varied exhibitors to prevent too much overlap with other events.

A good example of bringing in new exhibitors to the UK was the small stall in the photograph above for Piperoid, a company based in Kyoto that makes unique paper roll robot models. It's this kind of innovation that I like and I highly recommend supporting them at their website.

I'd only ever seen photos of the leg massaging machines below before and so had to have a go on one - needless to say it's a very strange experience having a machine push somewhat forcefully into your legs and feet. After a couple of minutes though it was strangely relaxing and I think it could be an ideal solution to the discomfort of long flights!

I was saddened by the fact that Good Smile Company, one of Japan's best known figure manufacturers, weren't able to return this year due to the clash with WonFes. I was hoping for some great deals again, like last year's Black Rock Shooter Nendoroids for £25, but looks like I'll have to keep waiting to see if they can come back for a future event. I hope they return as the presence of companies like them helps provide the vital link to Japan that other companies can't quite achieve. I'd also really like to see more figure companies such as Kotobukiya and Alter attend in future.

A performance we were keen to see was that by Kanon Wakeshima, a J-pop cello vocalist, after seeing her promotional video on the Hyper Japan website. It seemed like we weren't the only ones, judging by the huge audience that had amassed for it! There's no doubting that she is an impressive music artist; I most liked the second song and the last song she performed. She got a great reception and it would be fantastic to see more artists of her caliber at future events in the UK.

Overall, I felt the second Hyper Japan offered a great improvement over the first event and it is an event that stands out amongst all the other events that take place in the UK. I wish the Hyper Japan team the best of luck for the future and can't wait for the next event!