One of Japan's best-known voice actors has dropped out of the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair after receiving explicit threats against her life. Sumire Uesaka, whose credits include Sanae Dekomori in "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!" and Fubuki in "Kantai Collection (KanColle)", had been booked to appear on both days of the event, known to fans as Kyomaf.
According to her agency, several emails arrived explicitly naming Uesaka and threatening to kidnap and murder her with a group of people by September 27. After consulting with police, the agency and event organisers decided her appearance could not go ahead. The two-day fair still runs in Kyoto on the Saturday and Sunday as scheduled, but fans who had hoped to see Uesaka lost their chance. Both her agency and the organisers apologised publicly for the cancellation.
For anyone travelling to Kyoto for the fair, the practical takeaway is simple: check the official programme before you go. Appearances by celebrity guests at fan events can be cancelled at short notice when security concerns arise, and line-ups published weeks in advance are not guarantees. If a specific guest was the main reason for your trip, it is worth following the event's and the guest's official channels right up until the day itself.
The episode is also a reminder of how seriously Japanese event organisers treat threats, even ones sent by email. Kyoto is one of the safest major cities a tourist can visit, and incidents like this almost never affect visitors. Travellers already booked into Kyoto for the fair weekend can go ahead with their plans — temples, food streets and the city's other draws are unaffected. The story matters mostly to anime fans who planned their trip around Uesaka's stage appearance and now have a gap in their itinerary, which Kyoto's many manga and anime shops, plus the nearby Toei Kyoto Studio Park, can help fill.
Reported by Japan Today.