Tokyo Comic Center (Comiket)

Comiket is held twice annually at Tokyo Big Sight, the convention center in the Odaiba area of Tokyo—once in mid-August (Summer Comiket) and once in late December (Winter Comiket). Each event runs for two days and routinely draws over 500,000 attendees across the weekend.

Doujinshi are self-published works—primarily manga, novels, and art books—created by amateur and independent artists, often featuring fan works based on existing anime, manga, and game properties. Comiket has been the primary marketplace for doujinshi since its founding in 1975, when it began as a small gathering of a few hundred creators.

Yes, Comiket is open to anyone and international visitors are welcome, though the vast majority of signage, catalogs, and sales are conducted entirely in Japanese. Purchasing a table to sell doujinshi as a 'circle' requires a Japanese address and payment through domestic banking, but simply attending to browse and buy requires no registration.

Attendees are expected to follow a strict code of etiquette, including queuing in designated areas before the doors open and carrying your own bag, as Comiket does not provide shopping bags. The catalog, available as a thick printed book or a digital app, lists the thousands of participating circles by table number and is essential for navigating the massive halls.