17th JBAN 2013

JBAN - Japan's Balloon Artist Network with Emily's Balloons presents it's 17th Convention in Tokyo, Japan!

This is the second time that I have been invited to teach at JBAN and on each occasion I have found it to be a truly magical experience.

This years JBAN theme was 'CARNIVAL', a truly great theme used as inspiration for some of the competitions and of course the final night party!

There were 5 competitions including Large Sculpture -no theme, Photo Spot (a place to take photographs) - Carnival theme, Helium Bouquet - no theme, Hat - Carnival theme and a Twister Live... twisters showing off their skills to an audience.

The very talented Takehiro Kai 'Jacky' took 3 very worthy first places in the Hat, Helium Bouquet and Twister Live competitions!

Carnival Hat by Takehiro Kai 'Jacky'

Helium Bouquet by Takehiro Kai 'Jacky'

Takehiro Kai 'Jacky' with his 3 awards!

Large Sculpture 1st Place Winner:

1st Place Large Sculpture

1st Place Large Sculpture - by Balloon Messenger

Large Sculpture 2nd Place winner:

2nd Place Large Sculpture - by Masako Nomura - FuwaFuwa

Photo Spot 1st Place winner:

1st Place Photo Spot

Photo Spot 2nd Place winner:

2nd Place Photo Spot

(I apologise, I do not have all the winner's names in English, but will try and add these when I can find them).

The education classes were a great mix of skills and designs taught by both Japanese and European Instructors, and of course the final night party which was designed by the very talented Azusa Ieizumi and Akane Shibata, which I believe took them 11 days to construct... incredible decor!

I have made a short clip that shows a little bit of the JBAN magic, from the classes to the competitions and of course the final night party... and if you watch it through to the end you can see a little bit of the final night excitement!

Balloon Conventions such as JBAN and The World Balloon Convention offer so much more than can ever really be expressed in words... I hope that some of you can join us at the World Balloon Convention next year in Denver, where you will enjoy the magic of an amazing balloon convention and take your business to a whole new level!

On a personal note, I would like to say a huge thank you to Tamami Ono and Emily's Balloons co, who made my trip to Japan a very happy and memorable experience.

Tamami Ono - Pioneer Balloon Company

Happy Ballooning!

Sue 

www.suebowler.com