Staff is now investigating alternate ways for overseas ticket buyers
Image via Comiket'sTwitter account © Comiket
The staff for the Comic Market ( Comiket ) dōjinshi event in Japan reported on Wednesday that the Japanese ticketing service Ticketpay is banning access from users outside of Japan "for the forseeable future to guard against cyberattacks." This restriction would block international users from entering the lottery to purchase tickets for Comiket 109 next month, as well as other future events that use the ticketing service.
The event staff noted that they are currently investigating alternative methods for people outside of Japan to purchase tickets, but added that given the short timeframe between the announcement and the event's opening on December 29, finding a solution will be difficult.
Comiket 109 will take place at Tokyo Big Sight from December 29 to 31.
Comiket 108 ran on August 15 to 16 earlier this year, and drew 260,000 attendees.
The first Comiket drew an estimated 700 attendees for 32 exhibiting circles in December 1975. Tokyo's Harumi area, Chiba's Makuhari Messe venue, and other places hosted the event before it moved to its current Tokyo Big Sight location for Comiket 50 in 1996.
The event has historically been free for general attendees, but began charging a fee in August 2019 due to a temporary venue change caused by preparations for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It then began selling tickets to limit attendance in the first in-person event during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2021. It stopped limiting its attendance in August 2023, but continuing charging for tickets to general attendees.