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Riyadh Season 2022 Hosts Middle East’s Largest Anime Event

Conan Edogawa, a fictional character in Japanese anime (PHOTO CREDIT: Saad al-Anzi)
Conan Edogawa, a fictional character in Japanese anime (PHOTO CREDIT: Saad al-Anzi)
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Riyadh Season 2022 Hosts Middle East’s Largest Anime Event

Conan Edogawa, a fictional character in Japanese anime (PHOTO CREDIT: Saad al-Anzi)
Conan Edogawa, a fictional character in Japanese anime (PHOTO CREDIT: Saad al-Anzi)

The Saudi Anime Exhibition, the largest anime expo in the Middle East and part of Riyadh Season 2022, kicked off in the Saudi capital on Thursday.

The three-day celebration offers fans the chance to tour a world of Japanese anime with more than 30 pavilions featuring the most popular anime characters. The fair will also present visitors with various activities that add to their experience and match all age groups.

“The exhibition is evidence of the diversity of the Riyadh Season in its third edition and meets all interests,” said the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) CEO Faisal Bafarat.

Bafarat reaffirmed that “the success of the exhibition’s first edition had resulted in expanding the partnership with the Japanese side.”

Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Iwai Fumio said he was happy to see the world of anime present and influential in the Kingdom. He recalled the successful experience of the movie “The Journey,” which reflected production cooperation between Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“The Journey” is a Saudi-Japanese animated film and is a collaboration between Riyadh-based Manga Productions and Tokyo-based Toei Studios.

Essam Bukhary, the CEO of Manga Productions, a subsidiary of MiSK Foundation, noted that Saudi Arabia had become a content producer under the leadership and vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Bukhary pointed to “The Journey” screening on over 40 international platforms.

Flocking to the exhibition, which is being held at the Riyadh Front, anime fans gathered in large numbers to discover personalities, competitions, and artistic evenings. Famous Japanese artist Miho Karasawa, also known as True, will perform at the expo alongside a lineup of other Japanese bands.

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Varieties

Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
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Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the eastern Aegean island of Chios Tuesday, with authorities issuing multiple evacuation orders.

Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have declared a state of emergency and have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos, said the Associated Press.

By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts. Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.

Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island’s main town. The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze.

“We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island — a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios. Authorities, he said, were “very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.”

The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.

“Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,” Kefalogiannis said. “Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.”

Wildfires are frequent in Greece during its hot, dry summers. In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.