The 2017 Japan Teddy Bear with Friends Convention in Tokyo

In July, we attended the Japan Teddy Bear with Friends Convention in Tokyo. It was our first visit to Tokyo and we had an amazing time. The hall was filled with artists, tables full of teddy bears and many, many collectors. What follows are a few photos taken at while we were at the show.

This was taken on the way to the venue.  It was a very nice atmosphere.  Next year it will take place in a new location.

A few animals were on display to greet the visitors to the show.

The following photo shows just a small portion of the people waiting for the show to open. This line wrapped around the entire hall and then some.

This is one view of the show from above.

This is another.

The arrow in this photo is pointing to me and my table.

Here we are!  A few of the American contingent!  Sharon Barron, Dolores Austin, me and George Weber.  We had a great time together!

Here are all the American artists together.

Left to right:  Bev White, Ginger Brame (me), Christy Firmage, Sharon Barron, George Weber, Dolores Austin and Maggie Anderson

Sebastian had a great time too.  Here he is with the show mascot!

He also met a fellow ‘Sebastian’ from Germany.  What a couple of charming guys!

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International artists were invited to a traditional Japanese pub meal.  This is the president of the Japan Teddy Bear Association, Mr. Takeshi Morii demonstrating the evening’s entertainment.  Fireworks!

The long white tables at the front displayed the artist contest entries.
My little fairy bear won second place in its category.

We also met the creator of these extremely tiny teddy bears.  So sweet – both the bears and the creator. You get an idea of how small they were next to one of my bears 5.5” (14cm) tall.

Sebastian got into the spirit of things at the dinner.  He took quite a liking to the gift bag I won and turned it into his own personal sleeping bag.

And finally a random photo of the showroom floor.

While in Tokyo we took a ton of photos.  I hope to share a few here shortly.

Thanks for reading!