Tokyo: The Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008, one of the largest trade fairs in the world for animation, kicked off today at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center, showcasing a variety of animation works as well as related goods and services.

A total of 289 companies and organisations, including 79 from overseas, are taking part in the annual event, said its organiser, the Tokyo International Anime Fair Executive Committee. The committee hopes the fair will provide an opportunity for international businesses to network, it said.

Besides being an international trade fair, the four-day event includes business symposiums and live performances by actors in costumes of popular cartoon characters, as well as an award ceremony to honour new talent. "Tokyo is now the center of the international animation business and drawing attention, and I believe this fair will transmit up-to-date information on anime to the world," Kazuhisa Yamaguchi, vice chairman of the committee and vice governor of Tokyo, said at the opening ceremony.

"We hope a large number of people will visit this fair to feel the amusement and the greatness of animation." "The annual event started in 2002, when the Tokyo metropolitan government took the initiative to host the fair in a bid to promote the animation industry and to make Tokyo the industry capital." The fair has grown since, with the number of exhibitors and visitors increasing yearly.