TOKYO, June 30 — Starting tomorrow, the 22nd annual Tokyo International Book Fair — and the concurrent E-Book Expo Tokyo — will gather 70,000 visitors and spotlight the latest in the Japanese publishing industry.

Japan's largest publishing event, the fair is expecting 470 exhibitors from 20 countries, including many Asian and European nations. Exhibiting for the first time this year will be the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran.

The fair is open to the public on the last two days, and new in 2015, those visitors will be able to attend a section called "World Book & Culture Fair," in which exhibiting countries will be able to showcase representative books and cultural colour, potentially as a way of boosting tourism.

Those non-trade visitors will also participate in book signings, presentations of newly launched titles, presentations of binding and publishing techniques and events for children.

Another key component of the book fair is the E-Book Expo, which has in previous years been a platform for displaying new e-book devices, content and services. This year, Sharp is to present a new browser-based, HTML5 e-book viewer, while Media Do will showcase a new electronic library system.

Figures regarding the Japanese publishing industry and Japanese reading habits are often revealed over the course of the fair, revealing insights into the market — such as a 2013 survey by e-book retailer BookLive that revealed seniors were more likely to embrace e-reading than those in younger generations.