The Tokyo International Book Fair (TIBF) will take place from July 9-12, 2009. In 2008, the international rights and trading event attracted more than 61,000 visitors from around the world and 763 exhibitors from 31 countries. The trade show is organized by the TIBF Executive Committee and Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.
Specialized Fairs and Special Exhibition Zones at TBIF
The fair organizers have divided the Tokyo International Book Fair venue into six specialized fairs and four special exhibition zones, guaranteeing visitors quick access to the areas they are most interested in. The specialized sections are:
- Educational Book & IT Solution Fair,
- Digital Publishing Fair,
- Children’s Book Fair,
- Editorial Production Fair,
- Natural Sciences Book Fair,
- Humanities & Social Sciences Book Fair,
- Digital Contents Zone,
- Distribution Solution Zone,
- Language Education Zone and
- Art Book Zone
The Digital Publishing Fair at TIBF in 2009
The Digital Publishing Fair deserves special mention because it is supposedly the “world’s leading e-book fair.” According to the Japanese E-Book Industry Report, the Japanese e-book market has seen an increase of 195% from 2006 to 2007, growing from a sales volume of $182 million to $355 million (see statistic below for details).
International exhibitors will get a chance to present their latest e-book technologies and services to Japanese and Asian publishers and to build partnerships with the following counterparts:
- digital content providers and distributors,
- e-publishing service providers,
- e-book publishers,
- e-magazine publishers,
- printers and
- editorial production companies.
Tokyo International Book Fair Dates and Opening Hours
The exhibition will be held at the Tokyo International Exhibition Centre, also called Tokyo Big Sight, accessible via the Kokusai Tenjijo or Kokusai Tenjijo Seimon transit stations. Note that the first two days of the trade show are reserved for trade visitors; the fair is open to the public on the weekend:
- Thursday, July 9: 10 am – 6 pm; trade visitors only
- Friday, July 10: 10 am – 6 pm; trade visitors only
- Saturday, July 11: 10 am – 6 pm; open to the public
- Sunday, July 12: 10 am – 6 pm; open to the public
Tokyo International Book Fair – Gateway to the Asian Market
With annual gross sales of $19 billion, Japan is the world’s second largest publishing market. The country is also the leading importer of translation rights, spending almost $390 million and publishing over 5,700 new translated titles every year. Therefore, TIBF is a good opportunity for many international publishing professionals to tap the strong and growing Asian market.
Says David Fielder, CEO of Tango (UK) of his rights negotiations at TIBF 2008: “I have had 16 meetings with my main Japanese customers and some Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese publishers…. Asia has become a very important market region for both my rights business and English language book sales. I am satisfied that many of the prospects I met at TIBF were strong leads and will most probably lead to publishing contracts.”
With its specialized interest areas and focus on the digital book market, the Tokyo International Book Fair covers a wide spectrum and has become increasingly popular with international visitors wanting to tap the promising Asian book market. For more information, check the official TIBF website or view the floor plan for an overview of the different sections.
Readers interested in this article may also like to know about the upcoming World eBook Fair, the ALA Annual Conference or the Hong Kong Book Fair.
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