Exhibition - Japan Expo 2026: Video games are more than ever the beating heart of Europe’s largest festival dedicated to Japanese culture

By Mulder, 01 july 2026

From July 9 to 12, 2026, the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center will host the twenty-fifth edition of Japan Expo, a particularly symbolic anniversary for an event that, over the course of a quarter-century, has become the European benchmark for Japanese culture. With over 154,000 m² of exhibition space, twelve stages, nearly 916 exhibitors, more than 670 events, approximately 500 expected guests, and attendance projected to exceed 230,000 visitors, the festival is reaching a new milestone in its development. Behind these impressive figures lies a deeper ambition: to demonstrate that Japan Expo is no longer just a convention dedicated to manga or anime, but a true global showcase for all forms of Japanese creativity. This anniversary edition perfectly illustrates this evolution, particularly thanks to a video game program of a scale rarely seen at a European trade show. Video games—which for several years now have been the world’s leading cultural industry, surpassing film and music combined—now occupy a central place in the very identity of the festival, to the point that the Gaming Arena is now one of the event’s main attractions.

This evolution is particularly telling when we look back at Japan Expo’s early days. Founded in 1999 by Jean-François Dufour and Thomas Sirdey, the festival initially brought together a few thousand enthusiasts of manga, Japanese animation, and traditional arts. Twenty-five years later, it hosts the biggest Japanese video game publishers, the producers of the world’s most popular franchises, the creators of iconic characters, and the studios shaping the industry’s future. This growth naturally parallels that of Japanese video games themselves. Franchises such as Final Fantasy, Persona, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario Kart, Pokémon, and Guilty Gear have far surpassed the status of mere entertainment to become global cultural icons. Japan Expo aims precisely to celebrate this influence by bringing together creators, producers, artists, developers, and gaming communities in a single space where human interaction remains at the heart of the experience. Through conferences, demonstrations, competitions, and previews, the public can interact directly with the creators who have brought to life the worlds that have captivated several generations of gamers.

The Gaming Arena perfectly embodies this philosophy. Much more than just a testing area, for four days it becomes a vast hub of interaction where visitors can discover new releases presented directly by their creators, watch technical demonstrations, participate in tournaments, or follow conferences streamed live on Twitch from the Také stage. This sense of closeness has long been one of Japan Expo’s hallmarks. While other conventions prioritize commercial demonstrations, Japan Expo emphasizes the connection between industry professionals and their community. This year, several major figures from the Japanese gaming industry will be in attendance, offering French visitors a particularly rare opportunity to engage with creators who rarely appear in Europe.
Among the most prestigious guests is Shigenori Soejima, considered one of the most influential illustrators in the contemporary Japanese video game industry. Since *Persona 3*, his elegant, instantly recognizable artistic style has profoundly shaped the visual identity of the series developed by Atlus. His creations have played a major role in the franchise’s international success, as have his works on *Catherine* and, more recently, *Metaphor: ReFantazio*. At Japan Expo, Shigenori Soejima will discuss his work as art director on *Persona 4 Revival*, one of the franchise’s most anticipated projects. His presence takes on special significance as Sega and Atlus simultaneously celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Persona franchise through a large-scale exhibition spanning over 120 m² that traces the series’ artistic evolution, from *Revelations: Persona* to its most recent titles. This retrospective will allow visitors to see how the characters, interfaces, and artistic directions have evolved over three decades, while highlighting the studio’s growing influence on modern Japanese RPGs.

Also in attendance will be Kazuhisa Wada, a key figure in the series’ development since *Persona 3* and now General Producer of *Persona 4 Revival*, as well as Atsushi Nomura, Business Producer for the franchise. Their participation underscores the importance Atlus places on the European market and, more specifically, on the French audience, which over the years has become one of the most passionate in Western Europe for JRPGs. Visitors will thus have the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the development of a series whose international success has continued to grow since *Persona 5*, which has sold several million copies worldwide and is regularly cited as one of the best Japanese role-playing games of recent years. Beyond the anticipated announcements, these sessions will also offer a deeper understanding of the creative processes of a team that has profoundly reinvented the narrative conventions of the modern JRPG by blending school life, psychology, mythology, and social commentary within an instantly recognizable universe.

The other highly anticipated highlight of this year’s event is undoubtedly Square Enix’s presentation of FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE. Producer Keisuke Nakashima will personally present this ambitious project, which marks the first installment in the renowned franchise developed using an HD-2D graphical approach—a technology popularized in recent years by Square Enix through titles such as Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Behind this apparent visual simplicity lies a true artistic challenge that blends traditional pixel art, modern lighting, depth of field, and volumetric effects. According to information provided by the studio, Keisuke Nakashima oversaw the project from its earliest research phases in order to experiment with new graphic design techniques even before development officially began. His scheduled talk on the Také stage should therefore offer a particularly interesting look at the technological choices driving the current aesthetic revival in Japanese game production. At a time when the industry is seeking to balance nostalgia with technical innovation, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is already emerging as one of the most closely watched titles at this anniversary edition.

(Source: press release)