Ticketpay Blocks Overseas Access, Disrupting Comiket 109 Ticket Lottery
Organizers are exploring alternatives before the event opens on December 29, but say time is short.
Ticketpay’s overseas access ban will prevent international users from entering Comiket 109’s ticket lottery. Organizers are investigating other purchase options.
Fans outside Japan will be unable to enter the ticket lottery for next month’s Comic Market (Comiket) 109. The event’s staff reported Ticketpay’s overseas access restriction on Wednesday.
Staff for the Japanese dōjinshi event said Ticketpay is blocking overseas users "for the forseeable future to guard against cyberattacks." The restriction also affects future events using the Japanese ticketing service.
In their announcement on X, organizers said they are investigating alternative ways for people outside Japan to buy tickets. They said finding a solution will be difficult given the short time before the event opens on December 29.
Comiket 109 will run at Tokyo Big Sight from December 29 to 31.
Comiket 108 ran from August 15 to 16 earlier this year and drew 260,000 attendees.
The first Comiket drew an estimated 700 attendees and featured 32 exhibiting circles in December 1975. Tokyo’s Harumi area, Chiba’s Makuhari Messe and other venues hosted it before it moved to Tokyo Big Sight for Comiket 50 in 1996.
Comiket historically offered free general admission. It introduced a fee in August 2019 after preparations for Tokyo’s Summer Olympics forced a temporary venue change.
The event began selling tickets to limit attendance in December 2021, when it held its first in-person edition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance limits ended in August 2023, but general attendees continued paying for tickets.
Sources: Comiket on X via ANN
