The C3 in Hong Kong: Japanese Character and Hobby Exhibition will be held at the Kowloon Bay International Trade and Exhibition Centre from April 24 to 26 to showcase Japanese cartoons, comics and animation.

Organizers, noting a growing popularity of Japanese animation in Hong Kong, decided to bring the event overseas for the first time to cash in on the rising trend.

"Hong Kong people seem to have the deepest understanding of Japanese culture outside of Japan and so we thought it an appropriate city for our popular event," organizer Retsu Tamura explained yesterday.

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"C3 has been the world's largest animation and toys exhibition, and focuses on the three Cs - character, culture and content - of Japanese animation," he said.

It began in 2003 in Tokyo and has attracted hundreds of thousands of fans since, becoming a major annual event.

There will be at least 40 Japanese and some local exhibitors.

C3 in Hong Kong administrative committee officer Marty Tashiro said such names as Bandai, Takara Tommy, MediCom Toy, Sunrise, and Hobby Japan - known for manufacturing cartoon figurines and producing Japanese cartoons and magazines - will be featured.

Tashiro added Asia has always been appreciative of the Japanese animation culture and other countries might be considered for future C3 events.

Hong Kong will host C3 again next year, Tashiro said.

The event is expected to attract about 100,000 visitors and will also feature performances from Japanese pop stars.