Hiro Kawamoto, founder of Ota TOKYO, reveals how his team is bringing authentic Japanese pop culture to India with an immersive, co-created festival experience in Bengaluru from cosplay try-ons and a Maid Café to Beyblade battles, manga and voice-acting workshops, and a first-ever Naruto singer live show in India.
In this episode, we delve into the rise of anime in India and how Ota TOKYO is crafting a hands-on festival that makes every attendee a creator.
- Why many anime events in India feel passive and how Ota TOKYO turns fans into co-creators
- Cosplay in Japan: casual self-expression, stress release, and finding your “other self”
- Cool Japan, government grants, and plans to expand to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and beyond
- Beyblade arenas powered by Takara Tomy for a parents-vs-kids nostalgia showdown
Hiro also shares his journey of bringing Japanese pop culture to India from building Ota TOKYO from scratch to creating a first-of-its-kind immersive anime festival in Bengaluru. We discuss the rise of anime in India, the shift from passive events to co-created experiences, and what it takes to scale a culturally authentic, community-driven festival across cities.
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Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 – Intro
- 01:09 – Ota Tokyo event overview
- 02:00 – Cosplay try-on
- 02:52 – Cosplay culture in Japan
- 06:15 – Why launch in Bangalore
- 07:13 – Family photos and Beyblade fun
- 09:30 – Anime origins and media
- 13:56 – Organizing the event
- 16:52 – Japan culture export
- 20:47 – Misconceptions
- 24:54 – India–Japan synergy
- 29:52 – Anime ? food ? language ? jobs
- 34:10 – Maid café experience explained
- 37:15 – Live singer and workshops lineup
- 40:28 – Closing note and event details
About Hiro Kawamoto
Hiro Kawamoto is the Founder of Ota TOKYO, an immersive anime festival bringing authentic Japanese pop culture experiences to India. He is building a co-created event format where fans actively participate through cosplay, workshops, performances, and interactive experiences.
Full Transcript
Hiro Kawamoto:
What has happened in India is that most anime events and festivals are a bit passive. They feel more like exhibitions, with many brand showcases. It is interesting for sure.
Aditya Anand:
Nowadays there are so many channels to purchase items. Is there a specific reason to go to the venue and buy things on-site? Earlier, many people in India watched through Netflix or Crunchyroll and typically just followed weekly top 10 lists. Shonen Jump, published by Shueisha, is popular, with titles like Sakamoto Days and SPY x FAMILY. How has your experience been putting together this event? Can you take us behind the scenes? It is great to have you here. I have been hearing a lot about Ota TOKYO. What is it all about?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Ota TOKYO is a fast-growing festival focused on Japanese culture. We aim to bring authentic Tokyo and otaku culture from Tokyo to India. Even if people in India do not go to Tokyo, we bring Tokyo to Bangalore so they can get an authentic experience, similar to what Japanese otaku enjoy in Japan.
One of the important topics for the whole experience is cosplay. We want to bring an adult-and-family-friendly experience so visitors can make great memories with colleagues, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, or family. One key content area is our cosplay rental outfits. We brought 120 costumes in total: 60 for kids and 60 for parents. When you come to our venue, we provide a cosplay try-on experience. You do not need to bring any costume. We prepare famous character costumes ourselves, such as One Piece, Naruto, and Demon Slayer. Participants can enjoy their first cosplay experience right there.
Aditya Anand:
I am curious about cosplay culture in Japan. I am sure it is much more common than in India. Is it something people do for events? How does it work?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Cosplay in Japan is quite casual compared with other countries. We do it not only at anime festivals. Japan enjoys many traditions. At Christmas people cosplay as Santa Claus and more. At Halloween, especially in Tokyo, many people cosplay in the streets. We have a culture of enjoying cosplay more casually.
Japanese people often suppress their emotions and are not very extroverted on a daily basis. Sometimes they aim to be another person. Cosplay is a great opportunity to express your uniqueness. Based on the basic Japanese mentality, cosplay is a way to express another side of yourself.
Aditya Anand:
In India there is a more conservative culture, so there is not always that freedom of expression. There is nothing stopping you, but people still do not feel free to express themselves. It feels like Japanese people are more free about expressing their interests and desires.
Hiro Kawamoto:
Japan is a single-ethnicity society, which makes regulation and social rules very strict. If you live in Japan there is a lot of pressure. If you slightly break rules, people will call you out. It can be a frustrating country to some extent, so people need extra space to release daily frustration and stress. I am not saying cosplay is only a way to release frustration, but it is definitely one way to express yourself without hassle or pressure from parents, friends, or seniors.
Aditya Anand:
Japanese culture is famous worldwide, but many Indians are just beginning to understand it. There is something beyond sushi. I am curious what to expect from this event. What kinds of activities will be there? Will it give us a taste of Japan here in Bangalore?
Hiro Kawamoto:
We will have many experiences. As I mentioned, we will provide a cosplay try-on experience.
We are starting in Bangalore partly because I live here, but also because Bangalore is India’s tech hub, and arguably one of Asia’s. Many startup folks are putting in full effort into their work. Ideally there should be balance. Sometimes you need to release daily frustration. We want to invite parents so they can spend meaningful time with their kids, because on a daily basis many are workaholics. To help parents and kids create meaningful time together, we are involving parents’ experiences as well: cosplay outfits with kids, a memorable experience, and a photo. Fujifilm Instax is a sponsor, so once you try on outfits, you can take instant photos. This is a great experience.
We also have a lot of Beyblade content through Takara Tomy. They are sponsoring us and providing 12 Beystadiums and 25 Beyblades. We will host parent-child Beyblade competitions so two generations can enjoy together. The senior generation may feel nostalgic, “Oh, I used to play that.” I had completely forgotten, but I used to be a huge fan of Beyblade. We would go to the terrace with friends, take a big bowl, and play in it. It will be an interesting trip down memory lane.
In India, most anime events and festivals are a bit passive, more like exhibitions with many brand showcases. That is interesting, but nowadays you can purchase items through many channels. Is there a specific reason to go to the venue just to buy stuff? On-site, impulse purchasing happens, but beyond that, we realized that experiences matter more. Often people just see a performance and a merchandise shop. To make a great memory, we think people should be involved more proactively in the festival. We are the organizers, but everyone can be a co-creator. This content is made by you, the fandom, and participants. I do not want isolation between organizers and attendees. Everybody can put it together and create memorable moments.
Aditya Anand:
I used to watch a lot of Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. Do those fall under anime, or is that a different category?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon are anime. In Japan, everything typically starts from manga. Dragon Ball started as a manga, then stepped out to animation, then to multiple media such as gaming, cinema, live events, and merchandising. Pokemon started from gaming, then spread to manga, anime, and merchandise. The starting points are different, so people can get confused.
Aditya Anand:
What are the top anime shows these days?
Hiro Kawamoto:
For myself, I like Kaiju No. 8 and Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. They are very different. Orb is fascinating. In the ancient era, people believed Earth was stationary and that the planets moved. There was one person who insisted that Earth moves. If you declared that, you could be killed. Even if 99 percent of people opposed him, he never gave up. As a startup founder, I feel a strong motivation in that theme: never give up, have grit, even when most people say the idea will not work.
Generally in India, many people watch on Netflix or Crunchyroll and follow weekly top 10 lists. Shonen Jump, published by Shueisha, is definitely popular, with titles like Sakamoto Days and SPY x FAMILY. Shonen Jump titles are very popular in India now.
Aditya Anand:
How has your experience been putting this event together? Can you take us behind the scenes?
Hiro Kawamoto:
To be honest, it is super hard. It is the first time, and I have never even organized a small home party with 15 or 20 people. How can we organize a 10,000-person festival for the first time without backup from an event management company? Everything started with zero sponsors. No one believed us. But we never gave up. We had a hypothesis that importing Japanese culture to India is crucial for both countries. We never doubted that. We kept telling our story with high motivation and enthusiasm to stakeholders. Eventually, big companies started sponsoring us, like Mi, Fujifilm, and VComba Jetta, as well as Japanese government institutions. Gradually, government and big enterprises started supporting us.
It is still tough to acquire sponsors, but thankfully many big sponsors support us now. Production is also tough. Volunteer hiring is tough. Ticket sales are tough because no one knows about us yet. It is even a bit hard to communicate with existing anime communities. Building consensus is challenging, but we are moving forward.
Aditya Anand:
Is this the first such event in India, or were there others before?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Strictly speaking, at an abstract level people may perceive similar Japanese culture events. There are holistic Japanese culture festivals such as Konnichiwa Japan in Delhi and Japan Habba in Bangalore. We, however, sharply narrow down into animation, manga, pop culture, cosplay, and indulging experiences. We believe this is a unique, original festival. If you come, you will feel our uniqueness and originality.
Aditya Anand:
You talked about Japan exporting culture. Is this something the Japanese government explicitly focuses on? Are they trying to support people like you?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Certainly. Recently, the Prime Minister changed, and for the first time a female prime minister became the head of the government. She has said Japan should focus on a few industries, including aerospace and semiconductors, but definitely the entertainment sector as well.
Over a decade ago the government launched the Cool Japan strategy to promote cultural exports, not only animation but also food, traditional crafts, and more. During COVID-19, people consumed a lot of animation content because of the expansion of OTT platforms and staying at home. Because of those factors, many people discovered Japanese culture. Anime viewership in India has grown dramatically over the last five years. Before COVID, maybe around 10 million people were watching anime. Now it is around 120 million, almost equivalent to Japan’s total population. The government sees this. Previously, automobiles and semiconductors were the top export priorities. Now we should highly prioritize animation and entertainment too. Anime, manga, and gaming are fully in scope. If we complete proper procedures, we can apply for grants to promote these activities.
Next year, if this festival is successful, we will bring the track record to the government and request grants so we can expand to Delhi, your hometown, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and other cities where people are inviting us to host Ota TOKYO. We want to realize this, but we need funding, so we will work more closely with the Japanese government.
Aditya Anand:
Because you interact with fans of anime and overall Japanese culture a lot, what do you think Indians still get wrong about Japanese culture, or what myths are out there?
Hiro Kawamoto:
I see a kind of classification. The top 10 percent truly understand authentic Japanese culture and its high morality. They do not treat anime culture casually or in a shallow way. If they purchase authentic merchandise, they tend to avoid pirated items. They understand the ecosystem.
Making one anime episode is expensive. For a hit like Demon Slayer, a single episode can cost around 2 crore INR. For a 12-episode series, the total can reach 3 to 4 million USD. How do studios recoup this investment? Around 80 percent of recoupment comes from merchandising. The top 10 percent of Indian anime fans understand this business structure. They feel gratitude toward creators because anime helps them relax, reflect, and find themselves amid competitive environments. They reward creators by paying for subscriptions and buying authentic merchandise. That is a way to express gratitude.
The rest are still casually enjoying anime. Even in cosplay, you can see Japan’s precision. Top cosplayers achieve incredible precision in makeup, eyeliner, wigs, and props. Japan is a precision country in semiconductors and automobiles, and likewise in pop culture. We will provide many workshops: cosplay makeup, prop making, and more. We want the broader audience who are still casual to have an opportunity to understand more deeply through authentic people.
Aditya Anand:
I saw a recent article about Japan opening up a large number of visas and inviting Indians to work in Japan. How do Japan and India differ culturally, and how do you see this collaboration panning out?
Hiro Kawamoto:
I strongly believe Japan and India make a wonderful team. I have lived in India since 2015. Japan is good at operations, at taking things from 10 to 100. Indian people are very good at 0 to 1, jugaad, and finding a way from scratch. Japanese people take time, observe, and only act when it feels safe, so speed is slower. Indian leaders often take initiative at a global level. That indicates Indian people are good at leading and initiating something new.
Japan is good at building great operations, managing details, finding bottlenecks, and solving them. So a good structure is: an Indian CEO starting something new and a Japanese COO supporting operations. If the opposite happens, it can be awkward. Of course, if the company is in Japan, top management might be Japanese. There is a famous Japanese snack company expanding in India where the CEO and chairman are Indian. That is great. They understand the strengths of both sides and build a complementary relationship.
Japan needs 0 to 1 now because many industries are already mature. The government is pushing startups: both pure startups from zero and intrapreneurial startups inside enterprises. New industries come from startups. We also need people who can navigate globally. Japan is an island nation, English proficiency is low, and the domestic market size has been large enough to sustain 20–30 million USD businesses domestically, so there was little incentive to go global. Now the population is declining and aging. We cannot rely only on the domestic market. From day one we should build strong teams with Indian people. Indians are everywhere in Africa, Europe, the Americas, Brazil. We should ask Indian people to help navigate from Japan to the global market. Japan should more seriously and strategically involve Indian people.
Aditya Anand:
Before we started, you described levels of exploring the culture: you start with anime, then food, language, jobs, and more. Can you explain that for the audience?
Hiro Kawamoto:
We see growing demand from multiple industries, not only anime, but also food, beverages, education and language learning, and recruiting. Many people request booths. The starting point for consuming Japanese content is usually anime and manga. Imagine a building:
The first floor is anime and manga. Once people enjoy those, the second floor is food, because anime features lots of food. People see mochi or ramen and want to taste them. The third floor is language. Subtitles are not always great. People want to enjoy content in the original language, so they start learning Japanese. If language comes, the fourth floor is jobs. Japan has a huge labor shortage and needs motivated people who can work in Japan or with Japanese companies. Before or alongside work, the fifth floor is travel. Inbound tourism is growing fast because of the currency exchange rate. Visitors find Japan affordable, and they can enjoy authentic ramen at a reasonable price. Anime also features real places, so you can go on pilgrimages to Demon Slayer locations, or visit sites from Kimi no Na wa by Makoto Shinkai. In this way, you can enjoy anime at a deeper level.
We are building a sustainable ecosystem so that any new company interested in the Indian market can come to our festival as a trial marketing platform. For example, ITO EN, a famous matcha brand, will launch its bottled products for the first time in India at our festival to observe how it works among young audiences. If you want to push a Japan brand, targeting anime fans is a very reasonable strategy.
Aditya Anand:
You made a lot of noise on Instagram about the maid café. What is a maid café, and how does the experience work?
Hiro Kawamoto:
I do not want to disclose too much, but a maid café is one of the representatives of Japanese pop culture. It is a concept café: there are maids and guests, and you are treated like a king. When you enter, staff show you omotenashi, which in English is hospitality. Japan is a hospitality country. Even in small shops, people bow and greet you warmly. In maid cafés, staff say “okaerinasai,” which means “welcome back home.” They create a safe, soothing space where people can relieve daily frustration.
There is dancing, where cute maids perform on stage. They also add energy and love to food and drinks. For example, with omurice they draw with ketchup and chant fun magical words such as “moe moe” while preparing it in front of you, infusing warmth and care. People feel relaxed and healed. We are providing such an emotional experience through our maid café. We invited a maid from Akihabara in Tokyo who actually worked at a maid café there.
Aditya Anand:
What other activities will be at the event?
Hiro Kawamoto:
One important thing is live music. This will be the first ever official Naruto singer live show in India. We convinced the singer, and she believed in our passion. She will come to Bangalore to do a live show.
We will also have workshops. We invited One Piece’s Zoro voice artist from Mumbai, Sanket Mhatre, a very famous voice actor. He will run a workshop on voice: how to project from the bottom of your stomach and how your emotions are expressed through voice. This is useful not only for podcasts but also for students in interviews, for recruiting, and for daily life.
We also invited a very professional manga editor from Shogakukan, the publisher of Doraemon. He is a chief vice editor. He will run a manga workshop where you can learn how to write manga, craft narratives and stories, and build characters. Character creation is very important. In India there are manga writers, but very few manga editors. Why are One Piece and Dragon Ball so big? Of course the creators, Oda-sensei and Toriyama-sensei, are important, but another crucial existence is the manga editor. Editors constantly converse with the mangaka as representatives of readers. Before publishing, editors give critical feedback such as clarifying dialogue, changing layouts, and adjusting effects. He will share these essential tips with existing manga writers and anyone interested, including kids.
Aditya Anand:
Thanks so much for doing this. It was great chatting with you, and I am really looking forward to the event. For the audience, when is the event, and where can they book?
Hiro Kawamoto:
Thank you so much for listening. The event is Ota TOKYO, happening in Bangalore. You can book through BookMyShow or our official app. Our official app offers a slightly cheaper price. Prices increase weekly, so do not miss it.