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Governor Koike Plans to Still Hold Summer Comiket 2020 at Tokyo Big Sight

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike stated during a press conference last Friday that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is currently in discussion with "all involved" to formulate a plan to use the Tokyo Big Sight convention center for conventions and exhibitions – including the bi-annual Comic Market (Comiket) – in 2020, alongside the facility's planned use as the main press center and international broadcasting center for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Koike stated that summer Comiket is tentatively planned for the WEST. hall on May 1 to 5 during Japan's Golden Week holidays (summer Comiket is typically held in mid-August).

The Tokyo government initially prohibited Tokyo Big Sight from public use from April 2019 to October 2020. Under the original plan, Comiket would not have been able to take place at the Tokyo Big Sight for three consecutive sessions. Aside from Comic Market, approximately 300 events use the facility yearly.

The Tokyo government is still moving forward with plans to provide a temporary exhibition space for exhibitors and events at an area near the Rinkai! LINE's Tokyo Teleport station, itself located in the same Odaiba area as Tokyo Big Sight. Koike clarified that this plan is still in place, and that the space will be available for a total of 35 days during 2020 (July 1-14 and September 10-30), and that it will continue to operate until November 2020. The planned area for the temporary space is 24,000 square meters (5.9 acres), and will be available beginning April 2019. Comparatively, Tokyo Big Sight's exhibition area is 80,000 square meters (19.7 acres) in size.

The government began construction for a new hall and renovation on Tokyo Big Sight in summer last year in preparation for the 2020 Olympics, which caused industry booths at last year's summer Comiket in August 2016 to close after two days (instead of the usual three). The new hall will open in July 2019, but will be closed due to security reasons for the Olympics from April to October 2020.

Comiket circulated questionnaires to dōjin circles and exhibitors last year. It gauged whether people would attend the event if it was held in Osaka or Nagoya.

The latest Comiket event was Comiket 92, this year's summer Comiket, held from August 11 to 13. It drew a total of 500,000 attendees across all three days. Comiket 93 will be held on December 29-31.

Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, The Japan Times (Shusuke Murai) via Hachima Kikō