It may not be as cool as Brooklyn, but Japan has its points.
The Ditmas Park author of “Cool Japan Guide: Fun in the Land of Manga, Lucky Cats and Ramen,” will host the first event of the Waku Waku Japanese pop culture festival, which takes over a swath of venues in Greenpoint and Williamsburg on Aug. 29–30.
“I’ll be talking about cool pop culture stuff along with more traditional sight-seeing and history,” said author and artist Abby Denson. “Japan is a really cool country and I want to help people find the most interesting stuff in it.”
Her book covers navigating the country’s trains, its food, including the bizarre array of Kit-Kat flavors, and its infamous high-tech toilets. Denson, who works as a cartoonist, fell in love with the country after discovering Japanese comics, called manga.
“I’ve always read comics and I started reading manga around high school, which got me to take Japanese at school,” said Denson. “I went over there, got to meet my penpal, and now I try and get over there once a year.”
Waku Waku aims to show off Japanese pop culture in its entirety, rather than focus on one aspect like many conventions do, says spokesperson Rina Sato.
“I think it’s great because lots of people are really interested in or only experienced one part of Japanese culture,” Sato said. “It’s exciting to see people touch the aspects of Japanese culture they may not have been exposed to before.”
In addition to manga, the festival includes Japanese video games, fashion, music, and food. Highlights will include a Lolita fashion show (a street fashion trend inspired by Victorian-era girls’ clothing), the latest video game from Keiji Inafune, designer of “Mega Man,” and a talk with the writers of the Dragonball cartoon series.
Abby Denson’s “Discovering Cool Japan” at the Wythe Hotel [8 Wythe Ave. at N. 11th Street in Williamsburg, (718) 460–8000]. Aug. 29 at 10 am. $45–60 for festival pass. Waku Waku continues Aug. 29–30 at various venues, visit www.wakuw
