Tokyo eSports Festa, an e-sports event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, was held at Tokyo Big Sight from January 11.
The de facto standard for e-sports events organized by local governments is to plan and execute the event with zero budget and gather sponsors, but this was an unprecedented event that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government budgeted more than 50 million JPY to execute.
In fact, Tokyo is not the first local government to allocate a budget for e-sports.
Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture in Hokuriku, an advanced e-sports area, has been working to make e-sports a local industry as of 2018, and has set a budget of 1.2 million JPY per month (at the time) for "e-sports utilization study expenses".
The Funglr Games website was launched in October 2018 (full-scale operation will begin around April 2019), and our first article also covers the e-sports situation in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures.
The fact that Kanazawa City had budgeted for the project had such a big impact, and was also the reason why we started Funglr Games.
As a side note, we also provided the photos we took for Clubism, a publication of Kanazawa Club Co.
A record 50 million JPY of Tokyo's taxpayers' money was spent on games.
The budget may not sound like much, but the money is taxpayers' money.
In a so-called "regional" municipality like Kanazawa City, a budget of around 1 million yen would be enough to gain the understanding of the local citizens for a variety of initiatives to revitalize the local community.
However, 50 million yen is a figure that will have a large impact on the people of Tokyo. Whether one considers it a small amount or a large amount depends on one's impression, but since there have been no examples in the past, I think it is safe to conclude that it is a large amount.
If you say, "We can't do it because there are no examples, then we can't do anything." In particular, there are many cases in which local governments are interested in e-sports and want to make efforts in e-sports, but are unable to set up budgets for it.
The "Tokyo eSports Festa", for which the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has allocated a budget of 50 million JPY, will be a tailwind not only for local governments, but also for companies.
Many corporate booths exhibited not only e-sports tournaments
Now, it is time for me to report on the event.
To be honest, I did not cover the matches of the game titles used in the "Tokyo eSports Festa" this time.
(I did watch the Pokemon GO final, which I will report on separately.)
So what did we cover? I could not visit all of them in detail, but I would like to introduce some of the booths that caught my attention.
IXPASS
![IXPASS](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-00-1024x683.jpg)
IXPASS offers high-spec seats (folding chairs) with the No. 1 market share in NBA.MLB.NFL.NCAA.
The seats are extremely comfortable and fold up to a surprisingly compact size.
There is also considerable demand in the e-sports scene and Fangler Games' e-sports We even wanted to have them in our space.
http://www.ixpass.com/
SteelSeries
![SteelSeries](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-02-1024x683.jpg)
SteelSeries is a popular gaming device manufacturer.
In Japan, the company is handled by Gate Corporation, a general trading company.
Many children crowded the booth to experience the new gaming devices.
I-O DATA DEVICES
![アイ・オー・データ機器](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-03-1024x683.jpg)
I-O Data Device, headquartered in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Exhibits included a double SSD ported for PS4.
Ultra-compact portable gaming SSD,SSPH-UTseries!
NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
![NTTドコモ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-04-1024x683.jpg)
NTT Docomo is Japan's largest mobile telecommunications carrier, and at the NTT Docomo booth, visitors were able to experience 5G.
Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures of the 5G experience smartphone, but 5G was really fast.
![NTTドコモ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-05-1024x683.jpg)
Next to the booth was the "Puyopuyo eSports" booth.
![CLIP-LIVE×ぷよぷよeスポーツ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-07-1024x683.jpg)
CLIP-Live x Puyopuyo eSports. The game screen projected on this wall...
![NTTドコモ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-08-1024x683.jpg)
You can touch the screen.
スクリーンにタッチできる😲❗#東京eスポーツフェスタ #ぷよぷよ #EPSON pic.twitter.com/1S6Bi6BK3w
— Saiga NAK (@saiganak) January 11, 2020
![CLIP-LIVE×ぷよぷよeスポーツ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-09-1024x683.jpg)
![CLIP-LIVE×ぷよぷよeスポーツ](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-10-1024x683.jpg)
Exhibition Match!
![NTT東日本"TERA HORNs"](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-11-1024x683.jpg)
Two members of NTT East's e-sports team "TERA HORNs"! NTT East is not sponsoring a professional team or professional players, but is working on e-sports in a business model where employees make up the team and back them up.
Currently, there are about 50 players in the team.
![VRバトミントン](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-12-1024x683.jpg)
There is also a VR badminton corner...
![VRバトミントン](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-13-1024x683.jpg)
I will actually experience it.
ファングラーゲームズのVR大好きマンによるVRバトミントン体験🤣#eスポーツフェスタ #5G #VRバトミントン pic.twitter.com/Mb3V5Kblzm
— Saiga NAK (@saiganak) January 11, 2020
When we asked him what he thought, he said, "It was fun."
Taiko Drum Master
![太鼓の達人](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-14-1024x683.jpg)
A booth where visitors could play Taiko Drum Master. It was impressive to see families stopping by the booth.
The "Taiko Drum Master Nintendo Switch version!", which was chosen as the title of the event.
![G-STAR Gaming](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-report-20-1024x683.jpg)
Members of "G-STAR Gaming", a familiar face at e-sports events.
They were introduced on Twitter at each company's booth on the day of the event.
The highlight event of the first day
!["ポケモンGO"ゲット&バトルトーナメント決勝戦](https://i0.wp.com/saiganak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tokyo-esports-festa-pokemon-go-finalreport-01-1024x683.jpg)
The finals of the "Pokemon GO" Get & Battle Tournament have begun.
(A report on the finals will be posted separately.)
I would like to report more about each company's booth, but I will report on the booths that caught my attention individually.
While it is difficult for e-sports tournaments to monetize participation fees and prize money, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government budgeted for the event, and corporate booths were able to exhibit at a reasonable price.
In the future, if corporate booths can support tournament operations, even when hosted by private companies, the possibilities will continue to expand.