Anime NYC 2026: Japanese Pop Culture Highlights to Watch

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Anime NYC 2026 runs August 20-23 at the Javits Center, and the guest list announced so far spans well beyond anime voice talent alone — actors, an author, a director, and a musician are all confirmed.

Confirmed Guests So Far

Actor Mackenyu, actor Tetsuo Kurata, and children's author Eiko Kadono — attending as guest of honor — are among the confirmed names. Earlier announcements also included director Mokochan, editor Shihei Lin, manga creator Tsuyoshi Takaki, singer yama, and actor Toshihide Wakamatsu, known for the tokusatsu series Chojin Sentai Jetman.

A Broader Pop Culture Lineup

The spread of guests — spanning live-action tokusatsu, manga authorship, children's literature, music, and directing — reflects Anime NYC's positioning as a Japanese pop-culture convention more broadly, not solely an anime-voice-actor autograph circuit.

Organizers have indicated more guest announcements are expected as the event approaches, so this list reflects confirmed names as of this writing rather than the event's full final roster.

What Fans Are Saying

• "Eiko Kadono as a guest of honor is a huge get — her books shaped so many people's childhoods."
• "Love that the guest list isn't just voice actors this year, the tokusatsu guest is a nice surprise."
• "Hoping for more announcements before August — this list is already solid though."

Original Japanese

• 「かどのえいこさんがゲスト・オブ・オナーなの、本当にすごいことだと思う」
• 「声優だけじゃなく特撮のゲストもいるの、今年のラインナップは幅広い」
• 「8月までにもっと発表があるといいな。今の時点でも十分豪華だけど」

Easy Japanese

アニメNYC 2026が、8月20日から23日まで、ニューヨークのジェイコブ・ジャビッツ・センターで開催されます。俳優や作家など、発表されているゲストを紹介します。