Overview JapanFest Atlanta is a two-day festival of Japanese culture at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia, and the 2026 edition opened on Saturday morning with a kagami biraki, the breaking of a sake cask, before five stages of taiko, rakugo, kendo and J-pop, an omikoshi shrine parade and bon odori dancing. Upstairs, visitors sign up for hands-on workshops. JapanFest Inc., a 501(c)(3), produces it with the Japan-America Society of Georgia and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, with support from the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta, to promote understanding between Japanese and Americans in the Southeast. On site In 2026 the Honda Stage in the Gas South Theater carried taiko, shamisen, rakugo storytelling and martial arts; the Hoshizaki Penguin Stage in the food court ran J-pop, magic and voice acting with live calligraphy; the Aflac Stage held a samurai bootcamp, kendo and karate; the Toyo Tires Stage took school performances, taiko and cheerleading; and the Beer Garden Stage in the courtyard hosted storytelling, yo-yo, kendama and the cosplay contests. The Taiken area on the second floor ran bonsai, ikebana, kimono dressing, food replicas, calligraphy, tatami crafts and sake culture, and kyudo archers demonstrated through both afternoons. A tea ceremony workshop, a children's area, a sensory room and Ginza Vendor Street filled out the building, and the omikoshi parades were for children only. Audience The festival tells visitors to arrive early for performances, to avoid the food court at lunch, to bring cash because some vendors take nothing else, and to sign up early for workshops because they fill. Cosplayers compete on stage, and the anime conventions MomoCon and Anime Weekend Atlanta were both 2026 sponsors. Track record JapanFest began in 1981 as Japan Week, a series organized by the Consulate-General of Japan, and took the JapanFest name in 1986. A picnic and sports day at Mercer University followed in 1993, the festival moved to the Atlanta Botanical Garden in 1995 and to Stone Mountain Park in 1996, when it became annual, and JapanFest Inc. incorporated as a nonprofit in 1997. Brand presence The stages carry sponsor names, as they did in 2026 for Honda, Hoshizaki, Aflac and Toyo Tires, and stage naming sits with the top sponsor levels. Those levels also bring a 30-second video on the exhibit hall's big screen between demonstrations, a logo on the festival tote and the theater screen, and hourly announcements across the building; in 2025 the printed program ran to 20,000 copies. The levels run from Platinum down through three named for Japan: Fuji, Sakura and Tampopo.