Tokyo Big Sight

**Tokyo International Exhibition Center** (東京国際展示場), also known as **Tokyo Big Sight**, is a convention center in Kōtō, Tokyo and the largest in Japan. It hosted the Tokyo Toy Show from 1997 to 2002, and has been the current site of the event since 2005. The new Aomi Exhibition Halls were scheduled to host the 2020 Tokyo Toy Show on June 11-14.

## History

The design of the landmark conference tower was inspired by the anime *Laputa: Castle in the Sky*. In 1989, the original design competition proposal set the tower's height at 100m, the maximum allowed for air traffic clearance. This was reduced to 58m due to concerns of safety and accessibility by visitors.

Construction of the site began in October 1992 and was completed in October 1995. The conference tower was constructed by a consortium of companies managed by Hazama Corporation (間組), which included Aoki Corporation (青木建設), Japan Land Development (日本国土開発), Araigumi (新井組), Matsui Construction (松井建設), Fudo Construction (不動建設), Imanishi (今西組), and Tokai Construction (東海建設). The 6,500-ton tower was assembled on the ground and lifted into place over the course of 3 days, after a ceremony on June 30, 1994 that was presided over by Tokyo's then-governor Shunichi Suzuki (鈴木俊一). The convention center was opened to the public in April 1996.

### Tokyo Toy Show

In 1996, the Tokyo Game Show was spun off from the Tokyo Toy Show by the Consumer Entertainment Supplier's Association and was held on August 22-24 at the newly-opened Tokyo Big Sight. Tokyo Toy Show 1997 was the first toy show to be held at Tokyo Big Sight, on March 19-23.

Due to the declining birth rate and shrinking toy market in Japan, the Tokyo Toy Show was briefly moved to the Tokyo Metropolitan Industry and Trade Center's Taito-kan exhibition hall from 2003 to 2004, but the event quickly outgrew it and returned to Tokyo Big Sight in 2005.

### Capacity

The East Exhibition Hall was last used by the Tokyo Toy Show in 2017, where halls 1-3 offered up to 25,690 m2 of available space. In other recent years up to 2019, West Exhibition Halls 1-4 were used, with up to 29,280 m2 of available space.

### Expansion

Newly expanded East Exhibition Hall areas became available in 2017. In December 2016, Shimizu Corporation (清水建設), Zenitaka Corporation (錢高組), Muramoto Corporation (村本建設), and Kyoritsu Construction (共立建設) began work to further expand the convention center complex. The new Aomi and South Exhibition Halls became available in 2019.

### Effect of the 2020 Olympics

The 2020 Tokyo Toy Show was scheduled to be held June 11-14, for the first time at the Aomi Exhibition Halls, away from the main Tokyo Big Sight convention complex, due to the scheduling impact of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Tokyo Big Sight had planned to house international broadcasters and press media during the Olympic Games in Japan. Local businesses have expressed concern that planned closures of parts of the convention center complex between April 2019 and November 2020 would disrupt trade shows during that time. The Japan Exhibition Association submitted a petition with 150,000 signatures at the beginning of 2019 to request that conventions be held at normal capacity, but virtually all of Tokyo Big Sight was scheduled become occupied by Olympics-related activities between May and September 2020. Makuhari Messe, which had previously hosted the Tokyo Toy Show in the 1990s, was also to be used as an Olympic venue and the Pacifico Yokohama, which hosted the Japan Toy Show in 2003, was already fully booked.

### Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, the Olympic Games in Japan were postponed from 2020 to 2021. The Conference Tower and Aomi, South, and West Exhibition Halls will be available again for 2020 exhibitions due to the delay of the Olympics until 2021. However, due to existing construction, the East Exhibition Hall will continue to be unavailable until the end of the Olympic events in 2021.

Many other events at Tokyo Big Sight have been postponed or cancelled because of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, such as AnimeJapan 2020 in March, the 44th Japan Hobby Show in April, the 98th Comiket in May, and the 2020 Tokyo Toy Show in June. With the delay of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo Big Sight became available for other events, effective June 2000 with COVID-19 prevention measures in place.

## Depictions in pop culture

Tokyo Big Sight has been shown many times in anime.

*Lucky Star* (s1e12)*Oreimo* (s1e4)*Oreimo* (s2e5)*Steins;Gate* (s1e21)*YuruYuri* (s1e5)*YuruYuri* (s2e6)
## Gallery

１９９７年東京おもちゃショー メガレンジャー ウルトラマンティガ(Tokyo Toy Show 1997)1999年東京おもちゃショー ゴーゴーファイブ ウルトラマンガイア(Tokyo Toy Show 1999)2000年東京おもちゃショー(Tokyo Toy Show 2000)Tokyo Toy Show 2005 catalogue promoting its return to Tokyo Big Sight.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 '97 東京おもちゃショー (Japanese) by Hiroshi Tsujimura, Tsuporone's Page. 2007-08-29.
2. ↑ 2002 Tokyo Toy Show, The Japan Toy Association. Archived 2002-04-05.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tokyo Toy Show 2005 - Guide (PDF), The Japan Toy Association. Archived 2005-04-15.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 2020年の「東京おもちゃショー」はどこで開催！？ (Japanese), ヒットを探そう！流行サイト. 2019-06-24.
5. ↑ ラピュタになりそこねた会議棟 by Takashi Tsuda. 2018-08-16.
6. ↑ 東京ビッグサイト誕生秘話 by Takashi Tsuda. 2018-08-16.
7. ↑ Tokyo International Exhibition Center Congress Tower, Hazama Corporation. Archived 2003-08-04.
8. ↑ Rescheduling of the "Tokyo Game Show", Consumer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2001-10-12. Archived 2003-11-23.
9. ↑ Tokyo Game Show 1996, Consumer Entertainment Supplier's Association. Sega Retro. Accessed 2019-01-18.
10. ↑ 東京おもちゃショー 2003 (Japanese), The Japan Toy Association. Archived 2003-04-03.
11. ↑ Exhibitor's Guide - Tokyo Toy Show 2017 (PDF), The Japan Toy Association. Archived 2017-08-03.
12. ↑ Exhibitor's Guide - Tokyo Toy Show 2019 (PDF), The Japan Toy Association. Accessed 2019-01-07.
13. ↑ East Exhibition Hall / New East Exhibition Hall, Tokyo Big Sight. Archived 2017-02-04.
14. ↑ Lifting up the Large Roof in the Tokyo Big Sight Expansion Project, Shimizu Corporation. 2018-12-04.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Aomi Exhibition Hall, Tokyo Big Sight. Archived 2019-01-15.
16. ↑ South Exhibition Hall, Tokyo Big Sight. Archived 2019-01-15.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Businesses fear big losses with Tokyo Big Sight shutdown for 2020 Olympics by Shusake Murai, *The Japan Times*. 2017-01-18.
18. ↑ IBC/MPC Tokyo International Exhibition Centre (Tokyo Big Sight), Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation. Accessed 2019-09-24.
19. ↑ Tokyo Olympics knock hundreds of conventions off track by Hisashi Tsutui, *Nikkei Asian Review*. 2019-03-19.
20. ↑ Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic by Noriyuki Suzuki, Kyodo News. 2020-03-24.
21. ↑ Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony rescheduled for July 23, 2021 by Associated Press, ESPN. 2020-03-30.
22. ↑ Changes in the Suspension Period of Renting Tokyo Big Sight Due to the Postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tokyo Big Sight Inc. 2020-04-21.
23. ↑ Notice: Cancellation and Postponement of Events in Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo Big Sight Inc. 2020-03-19.
24. ↑ コミックマーケット98の開催中止について (Japanese), Comiket. 2020-03-27.
25. ↑ 開催中止のお知らせ (Japanese), The Japan Toy Association. 2020-04-20.
26. ↑ Tokyo Big Sight Resuming Information, Tokyo Big Sight, Inc. 2020-08-14.
27. ↑ Tokyo Big Sight by MikeHattsu, MikeHattsu Anime Journeys. 2014-05-03.

## External links

* Tokyo Big Sight official website
	+ Tokyo Big Sight event calendar archives (Japanese)
* 東京ビッグサイト誕生秘話 (Japanese) by Takashi Tsuda (2018-08-16)
* Tokyo Big Sight at Wikimedia Commons
* Tokyo Big Sight at Wikipedia

***This stub article needs more data!**
You can help by expanding it.*