According to the official website, Anime Contents Expo 2012 (ACE 2012) was announced to be held from March 31st – April 1st at Makuhari Messe. ACE 2011 was launched as an objection to Tokyo government’s regulation of anime and manga enforced this year, but the exhibition was canceled due to the earthquake that hit Japan this March. Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011 (TAF 2011), whose executive committee was chaired by the governor of Tokyo, was also canceled for the same reason. The competition between ACE 2011 and TAF 2011 for invitation of the exhibitors had been a hot topic since the schedules of the two exhibitions coincided with each other. ACE 2012 has avoided the overlap of the schedule. TAF 2012 will be held from March 22nd – 25th.
Inoue Shinichiro, the President of Kadokawa Shoten, announced on his twitter that Kadokawa will not participate in TAF 2012 under the present conditions. According to Yomiuri News, Aniplex will also boycott TAF 2012 and will exhibit their anime at ACE 2012.
Sources: ACE 2012 official website, TAF 2012 official website, Inoue’s tweet, Yomiuri
