Anime NYC had just concluded, after a myriad of anime and manga announcements. Amid all of these events, there was one that stood out. The consul general of Japan in New York City showing support to the convention with a cover of LiSA’s Gurenge from Demon Slayer‘sseason 1. Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York, Kanji Yamanouchi even dressed up as Tanjiro.
In a YouTube video, he remarked on the return of Anime NYC. focusing on how Japanese culture had created a ‘strong cultural bond’ between the US and Japan, amplified by a Western preference for Japanese anime and manga.
The consul also visited Anime NYC in person, where he posed with cut-outs of Hololive members Gawr Gura and Nanashi Mumei.
Cover Corp., Hololive parent company, announced that they worked closely with the Consulate in regards to their Anime NYC debut. For context, the agency’s Hololive EN -Council- participated in a panel at the convention.
Yamanouchi first took the position as the consul general of Japan to NYC in 2018. Since then, he has shown passion in strengthening US-Japan relations by utilizing Japanese culture to communicate better. This wasn’t the first time he attended Anime NYC, since he graced the same convention in 2019.
He went viral in 2020 after he uploaded a rock-and-roll cover of the US’s anthem The Star-Spangled Banner, as part of July 4th celebrations.
In an interview back then with Nippon, he mentioned that while cooperation in topics such as politics and security is important, the use of soft-power such as Japanese pop culture is also beneficial in bilateral relations. “The way Japanese culture has been embraced in the United States and elsewhere proves to me the importance of the work that we do,” Kanji Yamanouchi said for Nippon
Source: Japan Consulate NY Twitter / PR TIMES / Japan Consulate NY YouTube
Copyright: © Consulate-General of Japan in New York