Anime Events in Japan: Comiket, AnimeJapan and Jump Festa
TripToJapan.com Editorial Team
Oct 22, 2026
Contents
At 9 a.m. on the last days of December, the queue outside Tokyo Big Sight already stretches along the waterfront. Thousands of people hold shopping lists and plastic folders, and some have mapped the exact booth numbers they plan to reach first. By the end of the event, a few hundred thousand visitors will have passed through the doors.
That is Comic Market, and it is only one of the major anime events in Japan. The big three are Comiket in August and December, AnimeJapan in late March, and Jump Festa in mid-December. Comiket's next edition runs December 29 to 31, 2026, in Tokyo. AnimeJapan moves to Osaka for March 27 and 28, 2027, and Jump Festa returns to Makuhari Messe on December 19 and 20, 2026. Every one of them needs a ticket or advance registration, so plan ahead.
What are the biggest anime events in Japan?
Japan's anime calendar has a clear rhythm. Each major event fills a different niche, and each draws over 100,000 people:
Comic Market (Comiket): the world's largest fan-made market, held at Tokyo Big Sight in mid-August and at the end of December.
AnimeJapan: the anime industry's big public fair, held in late March. It was in Tokyo through 2026 and moves to Osaka for 2027 and 2028.
Jump Festa: Shueisha's festival for Weekly Shonen Jump series, held at Makuhari Messe near Tokyo in mid-December.
Smaller events fill the gaps, from figure fairs to street cosplay festivals. If your travel dates are fixed, check which ones overlap with your trip before you book.
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