Niconico Chokaigi 2027

What it is

Niconico Chokaigi ("Chokaigi") is Japan's largest internet-culture festival, run by Dwango/KADOKAWA around the Niconico Douga video platform. Since its first edition in 2013, its concept has been to "recreate (almost) everything about Niconico in the real world" for one weekend: hundreds of individual creator booths, Vocaloid and VTuber concerts, voice-actor stage panels, cosplay competitions, e-sports and gaming tournaments, decorated-car (itasha) and Mini 4WD displays, and food stalls, spread across the whole Makuhari Messe convention center. Most stages are also livestreamed on Niconico, so people who can't attend in person can still watch and comment along from anywhere in the world.

For a first-time foreign visitor, Chokaigi works less like a single-fandom convention (Comiket for doujinshi, AnimeJapan for licensed anime) and more like a two-day festival of Japanese internet and otaku subculture broadly — VTubers, Vocaloid, gaming, niche hobbies and mainstream J-pop/idol culture all share the same halls.

Track record

Chokaigi has been held every April at Makuhari Messe, Chiba since 2013 — except in 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic forced a fully online-only "Niconico Net Chokaigi" with no physical venue at all, before in-person editions resumed (at reduced capacity at first) from 2022. The most recent edition, Niconico Chokaigi 2026, ran Saturday–Sunday, April 25–26, 2026, using the entire Makuhari Messe complex (Halls 1–11 plus the Event Hall) for the first time in two years, and drew 138,228 visitors over the two days — up from 132,657 in 2025, according to KADOKAWA Group's official recap, though still below the pre-pandemic, all-time high of roughly 168,000 set in 2019.

What's confirmed for 2027 — and what isn't

In its 2026 post-event recap, KADOKAWA Group confirmed only that "Niconico Chokaigi 2027" will be held in April 2027. As of this writing, the official site (chokaigi.jp) shows just a holding page reading "開催決定！続報をお楽しみに！" ("It's happening — stay tuned for more"). Exact dates, the venue, ticket prices and the program have not been announced. Given the event's long history at Makuhari Messe since 2013 (aside from the fully-online 2020–2021 editions), a return to the same venue is likely, but it is not yet officially confirmed — treat any specific date or venue you see elsewhere as unofficial until chokaigi.jp or the official @chokaigi_PR account confirms it.

What to expect, based on 2026

None of this is guaranteed to repeat, but the 2026 edition's ticket structure gives a sense of the likely shape: a general one-day ticket was ¥3,800 in advance / ¥4,500 at the door, a general two-day advance ticket was ¥7,200, and limited-quantity priority-entry tickets ran from ¥6,000 (one day) to ¥11,500 (two days); admission was free for junior-high-age visitors and younger. Tickets were sold through Japanese platforms (funity, e+), with some overseas fans using proxy/resale services. Assume 2027 pricing and on-sale dates will be announced separately closer to the event.

How to get updates

Bookmark the official site (chokaigi.jp) and follow @chokaigi_PR on X for the first announcement of 2027 dates, which historically lands several months ahead of the event. We'll update this page with verified dates, venue and tickets as soon as Dwango/KADOKAWA confirms them. See also our guides to Tokyo Game Show 2026 and AnimeJapan 2027 for other Makuhari-area conventions, and our otaku Japan etiquette & tax-free guide for practical basics that apply to any big Tokyo-area con.