Spirit of Japan Miami is a first-year convention at Miami Beach. Literally located in the big con center (that was renovated last decade) just to the side of South Beach, this new con brought big con guests which drew people like myself. It also is the Funko Pop Private Signing Wonderland that you might have heard about. Still I got to see Fruits Zipper and that made things all OK? Maybe.
The story really started at around AX time, because Sayaka Ohara went to AX and I want her to sign my Aria stuff, naturally. Of course, because MangaGamer, it couldn’t be done there, nor did I get a ticket anyway due to POS fail at MG booth first day of AX. I didn’t really get a chance to go back to do that either. So I said to my self, “Ohara is going to this first-year con in Miami, let’s just do that.” So I did.
I didn’t think much about Hiroaki Hirata much, or that Yuki Kaji will do a zoom panel there. Then the con added Ryo Horikawa, who is a staple of this kind of events nowadays. Oh, Burnout Syndrome? I guess Fake Star is involved. Then there was Satomi Akesaka??? Fruits Zipper???? Wow they called in that A-Kon rain check! Wow Diana Garnet (again)! The list is impressive say the least, not to mention for a first-year con.
Turns out, this con is largely run by One Guy who is a Japanese-American business man who really want to bring the stuff he loves together. The face he made when talking about Yui-chan on Sunday says it all. I was able to talk to him briefly and it was pretty fun to see this sort of thing being thrown down.
The event is a combination of a cultural festival and a pop cultural con. There was a “dealer room” setup with AA art walls and random lifestyle brands, mixed in there some vendors with merch. And by merch, I just mean walls of Funkos. There was a board game part with tournaments. There is a corner with actual arcade games and a few playstations set up. I give them props for that. There is also just a corner with all the autographs, across from the one and only stage. Lastly the entrance and exit is right by the cultural booths where you can learn tea ceremony (I wanted this but it didn’t pan out time-wise), wear a yukata, learn to draw manga, calligraphy, and what have you. There is also a sake tasting thing in a corner that is gated (of course).
The first-year con had some predictable first-year problems. They were a tad under-staffed, the attendance was, all said, pretty good. The VIP package and the food ticket situation is really pay-to-win vibes, so it was a bit oddish. In order to purchase food and drinks from the food vendors, you had to buy tickets ($5 each). Most food items were 3 tickets each and most drinks were 2 tickets each. It was expensive even for South Beach standards, but I’m fine with having 6 Gindako taokyaki for 3 tickets I guess? It’s cheaper than Dodgers Stadium maybe? What’s more weird was that the tickets weren’t being sold inside the venue, but outside by registration. Probably some legal loophole here.
Fake Star guests had autographs at their booths, and I was able to see all three Diana Garnet, Burnout Syndrome, and Fruits Zipper there. Well, FZ did it at the “VIP” area on Sunday, which was set up for cheki as well as for their autograph session. The whole FZ experience was fun–about 10 Japanese flew in to see the show, some of them were full whales (with VIP badge and bought 100s of cheki tickets). Others were glad to see this intimate experience with a hot idol group that just finished at Budokan earlier this year. Fruits Zipper is so popular that they priced out some of their fans back in 2022 and 2023, it is that hot. Some other wotas flew in from parts of the US, as well, which is always enjoyable to see, especially those who are in this as actual idol fans and not from the 2D side of fandom.
The autograph session needs a more thorough write-up. There are several badge types, including 2 VIP tiers. There is a $400(?) tier which gives you access to the VIP autograph session (or meet and greet it said). It also gives you 1 free autograph for 1 guest all weekend. VIP (both tiers) can get additional autographs at the VIP sessions at $100 each, up to 4 total (inclusive of the free one). You’re suppose to loop the line for that. The $800, higher VIP tier gives you 1 free autograph for every VIP autograph session. In addition, both VIP tiers give you 3 plates of food per day (I guess that’s 9 tickets worth?), dedicated security line to enter, and early entry to the stage (not sure if this one was listed).
Each guest has a VIP autograph session and a pleb autograph session. In practice, what happened was that the VIP sessions went basically as long as there were VIP who were interested in lining up for the session. This worked naturally because of conflicts between different autograph sessions. At some point people stop lining up for A because B begins, etc. What did not happen was the looping, and rather all the VIPs were able to get their items signed all at once (up to 4 per person). There were not enough staff to manage all the lines they had (maybe 3-5 concurrent lines max between the different VIP and non-VIP sessions). Not so much cutting occured, but badge swapping did (eg., I’m done, so here my VIP badge for you to loop), and so did consignment/mules (asking people who have extra slots). People were definitely doing the rubbing alcohol trick to erase personalization, even though there was a straightforward provided-sharpie-only rule. All autographs were personalized also, including the “SOJ” name.
As a result of the loosy-goosy enforcement at the VIP lines, the pleb lines were pretty much affected both in terms of start time and length. “Free” autograph lines still costs $150 each, so that’s a big barrier as is. More over, the sessions were definitely capped for 1 hr or less in some cases, because VIP ran over, although some of them went a bit longer (Ohara gets big props for this from me). I think being paid might have helped them to be short, so it kinda worked out in the end.
There was the proverbial “child” case while we were waiting in line Saturday. This middle? elementary? schooler “wants to meet Sanji” (Hirata-san) and basically was told the rules and left the line. In reality, far majority of autographs were on Funko Pops and collectable cards, for all the Japanese guests. It’s really the only way charging $150 or whatever the amortized VIP badge cost is after maxing out on Funkos is justifiable. I personally thing having a per-item price makes all of this just that much less problematic, even if I am curious how this plays out on the side of the talent management and GR. However, this is a BAD look. If cons want guests and fans to meet, this is not the way to go. If cons want to get autographs out as such, then this is certainly a less problematic way than Funko pop gangs pushing their ways into free autographs, literally or figuratively.
At the same time, this is a first-year event, so the crowds are fundamentally thin and perhaps a cut more savvy than average. Maybe this system is or is not sustainable, but the bigger question is that is this event sustainable with this quality and quantity of guests? There are many questions remain with Spirit of Japan, and maybe the answers are for another time.
Ultimately I had a good time down in South Beach. There were plenty of things to do outside the con, albeit the area around the con is not so conducive to walking given the average August weather in Miami Beach. Staying at the con hotel on the other side of the con entrance meant about a 8-minute walk all the way around the venue. The hotel is a block away from Collins Ave, which is where all the South Beach action is, so there’s plenty of touristy places to eat and drink. That said I was only around for two days, so maybe next time?
PS. Sake tasting–it was a small area with a handful of vendors on Saturday and just 2 on Sunday. It’s free if you got the right badge type, basically they were promoting their wares while dishing out samplers. The most notable one is Origami, based out of Arkansas. They should have wider distribution across the continental US later this year, so keep an eye out (and let me know because I sure want a bottle or three). It’s delicious and I want some for myself, but please give them a try if you’re into straight up delicious sake. No gimmicks, just the power of rice wine (made in the USA).
PPS. I did stay at “Uma House” which, as mentioned earlier, is 1-block distance away from night life of South Beach. It is also near the aforementioned “Despacito” sign. Other than the con center entrance being in an annoying spot to walk to, it’s not usual to have a con where you can get nice grub at 11pm so close by, because the night life is keep on.
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