Akihabara & beyond
Akihabara shops, maid cafés, TCG tournaments, figure shows and anime films & conventions — verified, beautifully shown, and explained for foreign fans: tax-free, English-OK, photo rules, how to get in.
The big cons worth planning your trip around — verified dates & how foreigners get in.
Aug 15–16, 2026 at Tokyo Big Sight: the world's largest doujinshi fair, and the finale of Comiket's 50th-anniversary year. Paid wristband admission — how foreigners buy one, inside.
The world's largest garage-kit and figure festival, held for one day at Makuhari Messe on July 26, 2026. Theme: "Exploration."
Sept 17–21, 2026 at Makuhari Messe: one of the world's biggest gaming expos, marking its 30th anniversary with a record-long 5-day run.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2026 hits Tokyo Aug 28-30, finals at Tokyo Garden Theater on the 30th. The honest answer for overseas fans: you can't buy a spectator seat — but here's the global livestream and what to do in Tokyo that week instead.
Niconico Chokaigi 2027 is officially confirmed for April 2027, but exact dates, venue and tickets haven't been announced yet. Here's what Chokaigi is, how its 2026 edition topped the year before (though still short of the pre-pandemic 2019 turnout), and how to catch the official announcement.
The world's largest garage-kit and figure festival returns to Makuhari Messe for a two-day event — the first in 36 years — officially confirmed for February 13–14, 2027.
The 13th Autumn Reitaisai, Japan's biggest Touhou Project doujinshi fair, runs Sunday, October 4, 2026, at Tokyo Big Sight East Hall — English go-info for it is almost nonexistent, which is exactly the gap this guide fills.
Comic Market 109 (Winter Comiket) runs December 29–31, 2026, at Tokyo Big Sight — a rare 3-day edition after several 2-day Comikets in a row, with East Halls 4–6 still closed for renovation.
Jump Festa 2027 is expected over one weekend in mid-to-late December 2026 at Makuhari Messe, with free admission — though the official dates are not yet announced (as of July 2026). Here's what to expect (exclusive goods, voice-actor stages, big Jump announcements) and how overseas fans can plan the trip.
Suruga-ya's TCG/board-game specialty store in Osu, Nagoya — Yu-Gi-Oh!, Duel Masters, Pokémon Card Game and import/domestic board games, with an in-store duel space, open daily 12:00–20:00.
Suruga-ya's Nagoya Osu flagship, spanning floors 3F–5F near Kamimaezu Station: figures, plastic models and modeling tools, toys, games, books and anime CDs/DVDs, open daily 10:00–21:00 with no closed days.
A secondhand anime-goods store inside the MultinaBox building on Osu's arcade, about 4 minutes from Kamimaezu Station — figures, doujinshi, Blu-ray/DVD/CD and used games, open daily with buyback until 18:00.
Toranoana's Ikebukuro Store B is one of the shops that defines Otome Road — a women-only 7th-floor doujinshi and BL/otome goods floor a minute from Ikebukuro Station.
A single-floor retro video game specialty shop on Osaka's Otaroad, billed by the operator as having the largest retro-game selection in western Japan. Open every day, no closures.
A four-floor Mandarake branch in Nagoya's Osu shopping district, open every day of the year, buying and selling secondhand manga, toys, doujinshi, idol goods and cosplay.
From November 1, 2026, Japan's tax-free shopping switches from an instant register discount to a pay-first, refund-at-departure system. Here's exactly what changes for buying figures, gunpla and manga — and what stays the same.
Tokyo runs Pokémon TCG tournaments almost every weekend, mostly at three Akihabara card shops — Hareruya2 Akihabara Tower (daily, English site), Card Rush Akihabara and BIG MAGIC Akihabara (both registered Pokémon Card Gyms). Here's how to check this exact weekend's schedule via the official event search, and how foreigners actually walk in and play.
2.5D musicals are live stage adaptations of anime, manga and games (Tenimyu, Sailor Moon, Haikyu!!, Touken Ranbu). Tokyo runs are almost always Japanese-only, sold through Japanese-only ticket sites, and strictly no-photo — here's an honest guide to what to expect and where to see one.
For BL specifically, everything worth checking sits on Ikebukuro's Otome Road: animate's 3rd floor for new manga, K-BOOKS Otome-kan for goods, and Lashinbang or Mandarake LaLaLa for secondhand doujinshi.
Osu is Nagoya's otaku shopping district — a covered arcade of ~1,200 shops around a 14th-century temple, about 10 minutes by subway from Nagoya Station. Here's how to get there and what to expect.
Tokyo has no VTuber mall: hololive's only permanent shop is Harajuku's OMOKADO; Nijisanji has none. Real picks: Kotobukiya's VStore AKIBA, animate, Gamers, plus secondhand and X-only pop-ups.
