The International Otaku Expo Association (I.O.E.A.) is an international no profit organization that gathers events and festivals all over the world dealing with Japanese and Otaku culture, the passion for Anime, Manga, Cosplay, J-Pop. IOEA aims to promote cultural exchanges and encourage the development of the otaku community, by linking events, operators of the sector, fans, creative talents, private or public entities.
Worldwide, there are over 1000 events and exhibitions each year dedicated to Otaku Culture. The total number of visitors involved in these events is more than 20 millions!
The I.O.E.A was founded thanks to Takamasa Sakurai and Kazutaka Satoh who have always worked to enhance Japanese Pop and Otaku culture, specifically the passion for manga, anime, cosplay and the J-Pop music which has conquered the world. IOEA was founded in 2015 during the Otaku Summit – Comic Market Special held in Tokyo, thanks to the contribution of a group of international events and Romics is among the founders of IOEA togheter with AniCom (Hong Kong, China), Anime Friends (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Comic Marke(Tokyo, Japan), NicoNico Chokaigi (Tokyo, Japan), Otakon (Baltimora, USA), Sakura-con (Seattle, USA), Salon del Manga (Barcellona, Spain).
The I.O.E.A has now reached 128 events from 47 Countries.
At Romics the I.O.E.A will present the novelties for 2020, including the Otaku Summit that will be held at Tokyo which will be part of the cultural program of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games and where Romics will be present with exhibitions and a specific panel.