GM, COT❣️ Yuzunoko here.
Want to try cosplaying at Comiket, but not sure where to even start looking?
Comiket, Japan's biggest doujinshi (self-published comics) market, is run by the Comic Market Preparatory Committee, and their official site has a "Cosplay & Cosplay Photography Support Page" that covers registration, changing rooms, cosplay areas and the rules all in one place. What's up right now was written for C108 (the 108th Comiket) in August, and the next one, C109, has been announced for three days, December 29–31, 2026.
I go home to my family for Obon (Japan's summer holiday season) and again at New Year's, so I've never actually been to Comiket (every year I tell myself this winter will be the one).
Since I haven't been, I read the official pages from top to bottom and lined up the spots where a first-timer is likely to get stuck. Here's the day as a diagram first.
No wearing it from home. You register and change at the venue
The first thing to know is that arriving and leaving in costume are both banned. The support page says that even if you come by car, you shouldn't change in the car or come already dressed; you register for cosplay at the venue and change in the changing rooms. Changing anywhere other than the changing rooms, like the restrooms, is also banned.
The order is: get into the venue with a ticket or wristband, then register at the changing room entrance and change. Your entry ticket or wristband and the cosplay registration fee are paid for separately.
Cosplay registration is 500 yen per day. The page says to register at the entrances to the men's and women's changing rooms in the Conference Tower (the Tokyo Big Sight building with meeting rooms) by 15:30. One child of junior high age or younger per guardian is free.
When you register, you get a "cosplay registration badge." Its nickname is "Chenji" (from "change"), and apparently the color is different each day. It doubles as your changing room pass, and if you lose it you have to register again, so keep it on you after you've changed.
Two changing rooms: the Conference Tower and TFT
On the C108 support page, the changing rooms were in two places: the Conference Tower and the 2nd-floor hall of TFT West (Tokyo Fashion Town, a building next to the venue). In the Conference Tower, the men's room is on the 6th floor and the women's is on the 1st, open 10:30 to 17:30 (until 17:00 on the last day).
The C109 information page also lists the changing rooms as the Conference Tower and the TFT Hall, open until 17:30 on days 1 and 2 and until 17:00 on the last day.
If you want to change before the doors open, there's a "changing room early-entry ticket." According to the C108 ticket sales page, it's sold by lottery for 3,000 yen. That includes the 500-yen cosplay registration fee, plus a separate 385-yen system fee.
The page also says that even without this ticket, anyone can use the changing rooms by signing up at the changing room on the day.
There are rules about what you can't do inside the changing rooms, too.
- Taking photos or videos, selfies included
- Leaving your belongings unattended
- Eating, resting or meeting up with people
- Using anything that could stain the venue, like colored spray
- Using the power outlets
Since C107, there have been no tables or chairs in the changing rooms. They also ask you to help keep your time there short, for example by doing your base makeup before you come.
Near the changing rooms there will apparently be a simple space where you can touch up your makeup or sort out your bags after changing.
Cosplay areas: East Hall 8, the rooftop exhibition area, the garden and more
At C108, the cosplay areas were inside and outside East Hall 8, the antenna site outside East Hall 7, the rooftop exhibition area, and the garden outside the north side of the Conference Tower's 1st floor. The C109 information page also lists inside and outside East Hall 8, the rooftop exhibition area, the garden and others.
What surprised me is the explanation that, as long as you follow the rules, you can cosplay and take photos anywhere in the venue, halls included.
The cosplay areas are just spots picked so people can gather easily, and the page asks you to use other places too so the crowds spread out (I had no idea you were allowed outside the areas).
Photographers are asked to get the subject's permission before taking or posting photos, and not to shine strong lights at them. Special gear like infrared cameras is banned, and reflectors and tripods may not be allowed depending on how crowded it is.
The page also tells cosplayers clearly that it's fine to say no to photos.
Rules for costumes and props
The costume rules are pretty detailed. Costumes without underwear, costumes where underwear shows or shows through, and costumes with a lot of exposed skin are banned. Nipple covers and silicone bras count as underwear, and the guideline is that no more than about a third of the chest is exposed with no underwear showing (women only).
Anything that could be mistaken for police or security staff doing their jobs is also banned.
When you're moving around outside the cosplay areas, extra restrictions apply.
- Costumes or items over 2 m tall or 1 m wide have to be taken apart to move
- Skirts or capes that drag on the floor have to be taken off or carried
- Anything that narrows your view, like helmets or masks, comes off while you're moving
- Prop weapons have to be ones that don't fall under Japan's Swords and Firearms Control Law, and go in a bag or case while you're moving
- If you're in a swimsuit or leotard, throw on a jacket when moving between Big Sight and TFT
For toy guns, the page says to take out the pellets and gas and remove the batteries so they can't fire.
Big weapons and winged costumes look cool, which is exactly why you'll want to plan for taking them apart to carry them (collapsible staffs are so cool, though❣️)
Bags go in the cloakroom, 500 yen per item
At C108, the venue operator ran a paid cloakroom. It was on the 7th floor of the Conference Tower and in the 2nd-floor hall of TFT West, at 500 yen per item. If any side (length, width or height) is over 120 cm, there's a 300-yen surcharge. The page also notes it may stop taking items once it's full.
To sum up the money side using the numbers on the C108 official pages: on top of your entry ticket or wristband, cosplay registration is 500 yen per day, and the cloakroom is 500 yen per item if you check a bag.
For the afternoon-entry wristband, the C108 wristband pass sales page listed 440 yen if you buy it in advance online or in stores like Animate (an anime goods chain), and 1,000 yen when sold outside the venue on the day.
About this article
I put this article together from the Comic Market Preparatory Committee's official site: the Cosplay & Cosplay Photography Support Page, the C108 information and ticket sales pages, and the C109 information and schedule announcements. The support page is written for C108, and details for C109 general attendees are due to be published around early November.
Before you go, check the C109 version of the support page and the general notes to see whether any times or prices have changed.
Quotes from Japanese sources are our own translations.
Translated from the Japanese original.
See you next time on COT❣️