COMIKET – COMIC MARKET

Everything you need to know before you attend this comics and cosplay event so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Comiket (or Comic Market – the Japanese language loves shortening and compressing words) is the largest fan-driven comic and pop-culture convention of its kind in the world. And it’s not even close.

I’m not going to bore you here with how it was born, why, or how long ago. You can find all that HERE.

This is a survival guide, and if you think you won’t need it, stop reading and see you there in December, crying in a corner wishing you’d bookmarked this article.

I had been outside of Comiket once, many years ago. I was walking my dogs in that area and saw, not far from where I was standing, a bunch of people cosplaying and taking pictures. It looked like fun, so I approached. I had heard of Comiket by then and knew more or less what it was, but I had never seen it from the inside, or even really understood who participated.

That day was my first approach. It felt friendly, casual, fun, colorful.

My day ended early because my dog decided to get nervous and leave a giant poop in the middle of the bridge that happened to be one of the cosplayers’ favorite spots for photos. I cleaned it, ran back and forth for some water to wash the mess, and left in shame.

My memory of Comiket remained unchanged, so when it was time for the summer edition on August 15-16, I contacted the media department, got my pass, and moved my schedule around so I could attend two days filled with fun, photos, and new encounters.

The first hour of the first day taught me how naive I’d been and made me want to write this article specifically for those of you who may have felt the same and therefore been discouraged from attending again, or those of you who simply have no idea what you’re walking into when you participate in Comiket for the first time.

The next one, by the way, will be December 29-31, 2026.

First problem: getting there

Let’s dive in. Or should I say drive in… or attempt to.

Most of you attending Comiket will likely do so by public transportation, but for the few who decide that driving there would be more comfortable, note that unless you arrive ungodlily early to park, you will find that almost all parking areas around the venue are either full, or reserved by Comiket.

That was actually something that bugged me, as I could see parking spots right there. Empty. Lonely. Just a few meters away from me, ready for anyone to occupy them and walk a minute or so to the venue.

But no. You can’t park there because reasons. Even as media or professionals.

The obvious solution is to use public transportation. Otherwise, you can head there very early on the day you’re attending. Alternatively, book a hotel if you plan to participate for multiple days and use the hotel’s parking facilities, but make sure parking spots are actually guaranteed for guests.
Finally, you could have someone available to drive you there and pick you up.

Now meet the crowd.

Once you arrive in the area around Comiket, you will see insane crowds everywhere: at crossroads, traffic lights, shops, stations. All of them converging on Tokyo Big Sight, where the convention takes place.

Once you’re inside, you start realizing just how many people actually attend.

Comiket 108, the edition I attended, brought approximately 260,000 people to Tokyo Big Sight over two days, around 130,000 people per day.

And believe it or not, this isn’t even Comiket at its craziest.

Before COVID, Comiket 97 in December 2019 recorded approximately 750,000 visits across four days, the highest total attendance in the event’s history.

For comparison, Tokyo Game Show 2025 attracted 263,101 visitors across four days, two of which were business days. Tokyo Comic Con is smaller still. Its 2025 edition attracted roughly 97,000 people over three days.

So yes, when you’re standing there wondering where the hell all these people came from, you’re not imagining things.

People flow through predetermined lanes to avoid literal collisions and massive clusters forming in the halls. From this moment on, it can feel like being inside the busiest train station in the world for most of the event.

That doesn’t have to be a bad thing per se, but you need to know what you’re getting into. Bring water. Wear comfortable shoes. Get ready to walk. A lot.

This isn’t really Comic Con or Tokyo Game Show

This is where I think understanding Comiket becomes important.

If you’ve been to Tokyo Game Show or Comic Con, you may arrive expecting something similar, but it isn’t.

Tokyo Game Show is fundamentally an industry event. Giant gaming companies build enormous booths, unveil products, organize presentations, hire models and influencers, run demos and spend enormous amounts of money competing for your attention.

Comic Con follows another recognizable convention formula: celebrities, massive franchises, movie memorabilia, merchandise, autograph sessions, photo opportunities, stages and corporate exhibitors.

Comiket has some corporate booths too, but that’s not really what makes Comiket Comiket. At its core, this is a community event.

Comiket doesn’t even traditionally think of the people walking through its doors as “customers.” Creators, cosplayers, general attendees, staff and companies are all considered participants in the same event.

And suddenly, a lot of things I initially found confusing started making slightly more sense. There are tens of thousands of independent creators and circles selling or distributing their own work. Some of it is fan art. Some of it is original. Some of it is extremely niche. Some of it is professionally produced. Some looks like something somebody printed yesterday in their bedroom. That’s part of the point.

A lot of the creators aren’t even there primarily to make money. Comiket’s own philosophy has historically emphasized creators meeting other people who share their interests, distributing their work, communicating, inspiring each other and then creating more.

Which also explains something I initially struggled to understand:

Why is this event so unbelievably popular when, superficially, there isn’t actually that much to “do”?

There aren’t attractions everywhere. There aren’t constant giant announcements. There aren’t endless interactive experiences. There are booths, creatord, books, art, cosplay, and people. THAT is the attraction.

People find each other there. That is Comiket.

Fine. I suppose I have to give you some history.

Remember when I said I wasn’t going to bore you with the history of Comiket?

Well, Comiket started in December 1975 with just 32 circles and an estimated 700 participants. It was created partly out of dissatisfaction with the existing manga conventions of the time, with the idea of creating a place where independent creators and fans could actually meet and exchange their own work.

From 700 people, it eventually grew into an event capable of attracting hundreds of thousands. That’s basically all you need to know for this article.

If you’re the kind of person who now wants to disappear down a 50-year Japanese doujinshi rabbit hole, Comiket itself maintains a detailed historical chronology, which you can find HERE.

Now back to trying to survive the thing.

Cosplay: where things get complicated

A very big aspect of Comiket’s appeal is the cosplay culture and showcasing.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of cosplayers come to the same place, find people in their community, and are there to take pictures and have their picture taken… or so you would think.

This is something worth expanding on for a while because it’s likely going to be one of the most confusing aspects for any first-time visitor, or even for people used to cosplay events outside Japan.

Japan in general, and Comiket in particular, have a very unique relationship with cosplay and cosplay culture.

Generally, we associate Japan with cosplay. In some cases, fashion itself even resembles cosplay. Then we see maid cafes, girl bars and countless other businesses following cosplay-like themes: maid, bunny, church, hospital… the limit really is one’s imagination.

Nevertheless, there is a very strong separation between cosplay events and ordinary public spaces. I initially believed cosplaying outside these events was actually prohibited by law. That’s not quite correct.

There is no blanket Japanese law making it illegal to walk around dressed as a fictional character. However, venues and events establish their own rules, and Japanese social expectations surrounding cosplay in everyday public spaces are considerably stricter than what you might be used to elsewhere.

Comiket itself explicitly prohibits participants from arriving at or leaving the event in cosplay. You arrive in normal clothes, register, use the designated changing rooms, and change back before leaving.

The organizers themselves explain that Japanese society generally does not accept people walking around the city in costume.

So while creators in other countries might happily walk through a city center, train station or shopping district dressed as a character for a TikTok video, don’t assume you can simply do the same thing here.

That’s one of the reasons why cosplay events like Comiket are so important to people who want to engage in cosplay. They create a designated place where that culture can exist.

And then we get to photography.

You cannot simply photograph cosplayers

Here is where I found the discrepancy between my logic and reality.

When you participate in these events, do not assume you’re welcome to take pictures of cosplayers at will. The event itself tells you time and again, on the website, tickets and information material, that you’re supposed to always ask cosplayers before taking their pictures. Always.
Forget candid shots. Forget long-distance portraits.

Comiket’s official rules are extremely clear: individual permission is required from every cosplayer before you photograph them. Even in the designated cosplay areas. The reasoning behind it is simple.

After talking to some friends who are cosplayers, especially women, I understand that there seems to be a fringe of fans and photographers who may not be the most wholesome.

There are cases of inappropriate pictures, invasive angles, harassment and people simply crossing boundaries that should be obvious. In my analysis, it goes even beyond that.

Many of these cosplayers do it professionally. They are online personalities, they are invited to events, they sell photo books and content, they have sponsors, followers and businesses built around their image. Their image can literally be their product. From that perspective, wanting some control over where and how that image appears online starts making more sense.

Even with that in mind, though, the whole situation for me was very unique.

I should mention that I had been accepted as media.

That means my company and I had been vetted. My team and I were wearing armbands, badges and shirts clearly showing that we were media.

I’m not gonna sit here and say media cannot be creeps, because I know for a fact some of them are, but I still thought media would receive some kind of different treatment. We did not and I genuinely believe small changes would improve the experience for professionals massively (and in turn create a better coverage for the event).

However, the silver lining is that by being unable to bypass the social norms and rules of the event, I was able to understand them and report them to you.

Welcome to the cosplay photography line

Comiket organizes people who want to take pictures of cosplayers into lines.

Each person waits their turn and then takes their pictures. Sometimes a person will take their sweet time, so be ready to wait.

Generally, cosplayers will appreciate you taking note of or photographing their social-media information, which many display on signs.

I also noticed that speed is not necessarily appreciated. In fact, I think it may sometimes be frowned upon.

I observed that while many people took two to five minutes to feel satisfied with the pictures they took of a cosplayer, I was usually done in 30 seconds maximum. And I could almost feel people wondering why.

I had to move on to the next cosplayer, booth or area because I was covering the event, but I don’t think people necessarily registered that.

In one case, I was told, not asked, not to post the pictures I had taken without previously communicating with the cosplayer.

Since I was talking to her at that very moment, I asked if I could post them and offered to show her the images. I also mentioned, since the uniform apparently may not have been enough, that I was in fact media. She told me I’d have to send her the pictures first. I smiled, frustrated, thanked her and left.

I also encountered spots where cosplayers were posing together in groups. I asked to take a picture and was told that some of the people in that group, actively posing together, were OK with being photographed while others weren’t.

In many cases, when asking someone for a picture while they were standing in their chosen spot specifically to pose, I was looked at like I’d asked a random person in a grocery store if I could take their picture. Even today, as I write this, I truly can’t divine the reason why in every individual case. And that’s important.

Because my confusion doesn’t override their decision.

Personally, shooting at Comiket as media was one of the hardest, least rewarding experiences of my professional life as a photographer.

But I’m here to make sure you don’t feel the same.

How you should approach cosplay photography

Remember, cosplayers may be there knowing that photography is a major part of the event, but they still want to know who is photographing them.

They want control over the situation.

Do not shoot from afar. Do not jump the lines. Do not assume everyone is OK with you taking their picture. Even when it seems obvious, just ask.

And do not – and I can’t stress this enough – be inappropriate or creepy.

We will dive more into this later, but even though a lot of cosplayers choose to impersonate characters with very little clothing, there are boundaries that must be respected at all times.
If you’re not sure how to proceed, ask the cosplayers themselves. I’m sure many would be happy to help.

The staff may not always be very helpful with unusual questions because, in my experience, they often seem extremely specialized in whatever specific role they’ve been assigned.

Lack of Japanese language kknowledge may also become an issue. There are many foreigners at Comiket, but the vast majority of participants are Japanese.

Learn a few basic phrases. Be polite. Ask. You’ll save yourself a lot of confusion.

So what are all those booths actually for?

Let’s talk about the other major aspect of the convention: booths.

Comiket hosts an enormous number of small publishers, freelancers, artists and independent creators, as well as larger publications and corporations.

At C108 alone, there were approximately 23,000 circle spaces over the two days, alongside a record 121 companies in the corporate area. This is actually the main reason Comiket exists. And this was probably the part I understood least before attending.

A “circle” can essentially be an individual creator or a small group of creators producing doujin works.
That could mean comics, illustrations, novels, photography, games, music, software, accessories, criticism, fan works or things so incredibly specific that I wouldn’t even know what category to put them in. People don’t necessarily come to browse randomly. Many arrive knowing exactly which creators they want to visit.

Remember what I said earlier about Comiket being a community rather than a conventional exhibition? This is where you really see it.

A creator might produce something for an incredibly small fandom and have people waiting specifically for that work. Some releases are limited. Some material will never appear in normal stores. Some creators may only distribute certain works at events like this.

Now for the 18+ part

There is a large amount of adult-oriented material at Comiket, and adult-oriented circles are grouped where possible so that they are not mixed indiscriminately with creators producing material for minors.

On that note, I personally would not recommend Comiket to families with young children. Not only because adult material exists, but because the overall atmosphere in some areas is simply not particularly PG.

This does not mean Comiket has no rules. Adult material remains subject to Japanese obscenity laws and other legal restrictions, and creators are expected to identify adult-oriented works appropriately. There are also restrictions on cosplay that could legally constitute indecent exposure.

But don’t confuse those legal boundaries with the kind of sanitized environment you might expect at a family-oriented convention.

This is not just another anime and manga convention. Comiket was built around giving creators an unusually high degree of freedom to express and distribute their work while still operating within Japanese law.

And sometimes that work is adult. Very adult.

So if you’re bringing children because they like anime and you’re imagining a giant Pokémon store with people dressed as Naruto walking around… research the event first.

Back to the booths

The smaller booths, to me, are more interesting and friendlier to interact with, both in the adult-oriented areas and elsewhere.

If you want to film or photograph, ask ahead of time, and assume customers, bystanders and other people around the booth do not want to be filmed or photographed.

On a personal note, I really do believe that events in Japan should add a disclaimer to every ticket stating that by participating in a large public event, you understand that you may appear incidentally in photographs and videos taken by accredited media.

We even had an issue at Fuel Fest Japan where we were official media and had to take down a video because, in one frame, a young lady appeared in the crowd during a concert by ONE OR EIGHT. She reached out to Fuel Fest Japan to say she didn’t want to be on video.

Sorry, but to me that is absurd in this day and age. Anyway.

Some will allow photography but not video. Others are OK with whatever. In all cases, ask first, especially in the independent-publications area. The corporate area is different.

There you’ll find larger booths, recognizable companies, elaborate displays and organized lines of people walking past booths while taking pictures.

People often shoot on the go, hardly stopping, and there isn’t necessarily a dedicated media section from which you can work.

In the corporate area, I was run into by people who acted like they didn’t see me more often than I had been in the rest of my life collectively. I’m not exaggerating by much.

So, should you go to Comiket?

Comiket will be a fun event if you want to participate in the fanbase-led anime, manga and broader doujin subculture. You will find art and work that you literally cannot find anywhere else. You will see more cosplay in one place than you’d likely be able to see during the rest of the year.

You’ll also experience an event that, despite having hundreds of thousands of participants, somehow still feels like it belongs to the communities that built it rather than the companies sponsoring it.

And I think that’s ultimately what makes Comiket interesting.

If you participate as media, however, you may have some issues.

Given the very limited additional access media has, and the absence of any real preferential path or treatment once you’re inside, trying to cover the full event, especially with a small team, is practically impossible.

You are covering an event spread across enormous halls filled with more than 100,000 people per day while following essentially the same movement, photography and interaction rules as everybody else. Plan accordingly.

Despite that, I have to say that the media department was the kindest, most professional and most responsive media department I’ve so far encountered in Japan.

My experience was probably a little skewed by the fact that I was expecting to move a little more freely and have less strict rules to abide by. I went there as a photographer and media professional expecting one kind of event. I found something completely different.

However, if I look at this experience through the lens of a regular attendee rather than someone desperately trying to cover everything, Comiket was an impressive event unlike anything else you could see in Japan or probably anywhere else.

And it is absolutely wild.

But now, at least, you know what you’re walking into. So bookmark this article. Or don’t. See you in December. I’ll recognize you. You’ll be the one crying in the corner.