Feedback on Japan Expo: Extreme heat, a lot of photoshoots.

Hello, dear friends!

This is the first time I'm writing in English on my blog. The idea is to reach those of you who don't speak French and, until now, couldn't keep up with my updates. (Fortunately, my French readers usually have no trouble reading English!)

It's been a while since I last wrote here, so I'm back with my thoughts on Japan Expo, which took place just north of Paris.

So... where do I start?

Let's begin with a few numbers. The convention lasted four days, and I attended all four. During the event, I completed 10 scheduled photoshoots and 99 spontaneous mini-shoots, taking a total of 2,900 photos.

The weather conditions were honestly terrible. The extreme heat made every day physically demanding. Unfortunately, this is something we're probably going to have to get used to during summer—and even spring, as I already mentioned in my previous blog post about Japan Party.

From an organizational standpoint, however, I really have nothing to complain about.

Access to the convention was surprisingly smooth on all four days, especially compared to the 2025 edition, which was a real nightmare. The exhibition halls were very well air-conditioned—which was absolutely essential given the temperatures outside. I also used the shuttle buses between the parking area and the venue. The service was decent; adding two or three extra buses would have made it even better, but overall it worked well enough.

Even the 37 km drive from my home to the convention was relatively free of major traffic jams, probably thanks to the holiday season.

Now, let's talk about the convention itself.

Day 1

I managed to complete all my scheduled photoshoots in the morning. One of them had originally been planned for the end of the day, but fortunately we were able to move it earlier. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the convention, meeting people, and doing spontaneous shoots.

By around 4:30 p.m., though, my batteries were completely drained, so I headed home as soon as I could. As it turned out, that became the pattern for the following days as well.

Day 2

Very similar to the first day. The cosplayers I was supposed to photograph early in the day arrived later than planned—which, unfortunately, happens quite often. Despite that, I really enjoyed the photoshoots, even with the constant crowds all around us. The rest of the day was again dedicated to spontaneous portraits.

Day 3

A pleasant surprise! The cosplayer actually arrived early at our meeting point... although I was already there. 😄 The shoot went smoothly, and we had a great time.

Day 4

Definitely the most demanding day.

I had four scheduled photoshoots, two of which were arranged at the very last minute because of scheduling changes on the cosplayers' side. It made for a very busy—but enjoyable—final day.

As always, Japan Expo isn't the easiest convention for catching up with friends.

For one thing, even when I do run into people I know, I often don't recognize them immediately once they're in costume! And with such an enormous crowd, it's incredibly easy to miss people altogether.

Every year, friends travel from all over France, as well as from Belgium, Germany, the UK, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, and many other countries. When I don't get the chance to see them, I always leave the convention with a slight feeling of disappointment. The same goes for some of the "usual suspects" that I normally meet at almost every convention but somehow never crossed paths with this time.

I even tried posting Instagram Stories explaining exactly where I would be throughout the day, hoping people would find me. Unfortunately, as usual, Instagram's algorithm had other plans—my Stories typically reach only about 10–15% of my followers.

Anyway... now it's time to dive into the editing process.

As always, I'll begin with the scheduled photoshoots, while also editing photos of the new people I met so they don't have to wait too long. My longtime friends already know how I work—they're patient, and I'm very grateful for that.

I expect the whole editing process to take around three weeks. After that, I'll finally be able to catch my breath before I start preparing for my next convention: Harajuku Paris.

That's all for now!

I'll be back every Monday over the next few weeks with updates on my progress, so stay tuned!

P.S. Before I forget: some of you asked me about the poll to choose my two best photos from the first half of 2026.

Everything went well, and the two winning photos are now pinned at the top of my Instagram profile.

However, I noticed that a few people misunderstood the purpose of the poll, so I'd like to clarify it once again: the goal was to choose my best photographs—not the best cosplay or the best cosplayer. I'm not a cosplay judge or coach; I'm a portrait photographer. 😊

Cheers, everyone!

Khaled