My Otakon 2025 Experience

This year I went to Otakon 2025 which took place from August 8-10. Otakon is a Japanese culture convention held in Washington D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This was my third year attending Otakon. I attended last year in 2024 and my first year was in 2021. As mentioned Otakon is a Japanese culture convention as implied from the name of the convention Otakon is a combination of the words otaku and convention. Though it centers around Japanese culture the emphasis on the con is more centered on anime. That may be a result of the community as anime has gotten way more popular since the con's inception in the 90s. Otakon offers events like traditional Japanese dance and music performances, idol performances, a manga library, panels focusing on anime, traveling to Japan, video rooms where you can watch anime, a vendor's hall and artist alley, and so much more. While I was looking forward to Otakon I was a bit hesitant. My experience with Otakon 2021 was po...