How L.A. Celebrates East Asian Culture and Media

What comes to mind when you hear the words “Los Angeles”? Do you think about Hollywood? About celebrities? About the warm weather? Well, there’s a lot more to L.A. than just that. I’ve been living in Los Angeles County for about a year now, and while it’s far from a perfect place to live, one of the things I appreciate is the different cultures. L.A. and southern California are known for having racial diversity and a very large Asian and Latin American population. And these different cultures aren’t going unnoticed.

This Summer, L.A. is going to be taken over by events celebrating East Asian Media. It shouldn’t be surprising, as this past decade has seen a rise in popularity for anime, manga, K-dramas and K-Pop. Japan and Korea have taken the entertainment world by storm, and these two major L.A. events are proof of that.

From July 4th through the 7th, downtown Los Angeles is seeing the return of Anime Expo, celebrating not only anime but Japanese media of all kinds. The convention has been around for over thirty years, and with a history of up to 100,000 guests attending, the event is the biggest of its kind in North America. 

While there’s the standard convention fare of artist allies, panels, and exhibitions, there are also unique events like maid cafes and concerts. There have also been iconic events that have cemented the expo’s fame. In 2011, the one and only virtual pop sensation Hatsune Miku performed her American debut at Anime Expo. Then, in 2016, they hosted the world premier of the beloved Japanese animated film “Your Name” (Kimi No Na Wa).

Korean culture is also getting a spotlight this summer at K-Con, the international convention celebrating all things K-Pop from July 26th to the 28th. K-Pop fans will be coming together to get the chance to see some of Korea’s most popular idols perform, including headlining groups NCT 127 and ENHYPHEN. Fans who pay for premium tickets also get to attend a meet and greet with their favorite idols. 

There’s no other event like this in the U.S., and it’s only growing in popularity. Last year, K-Con 2023 occurred on the same weekend Los Angeles saw some of its harshest weather in history, including a hurricane and an earthquake on the same day. Despite the conditions, fans were undetered and the convention saw over 140,000 total attendees.

 With such huge events like these, maybe this is a sign that more forms of Asian media will start to become appreciated — media outside of just East Asia. I’ve already noticed many more events appreciating Asian cultures popping up around L.A., including AAPI food markets selling varieties of Asian cuisine. It’s clear that America is becoming more open to showcasing and commercializing Asian media, and a cultural hub like Los Angeles is the best place to do it.