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Comic Market 76 Draws 560,000 Over Three Days (Updated)

According to early estimates provided by the Mainichi Shimbun's "Mantan Web" news portal, the 76th Comic Market (or "Comiket") welcomed over 560,000 over the weekend, up from last year's attendance total of 550,000. The dōjinshi convention's organizing body reported that the attendance figures also indicate a spike in newcomers attending the convention. The event takes place twice a year at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center, located on the man-made island of Odaiba in Tokyo.

The heavy attendance numbers, combined with other events taking place in Odaiba, contributed to an unprecedented spike in mass transit use in the area. The Yurikamome Line, which runs from Shinbashi to Odaiba, was forced to limit the number of people who boarded trains due to overcrowding. Meanwhile, people attending Comiket used the popular online service Twitter to inform other attendees that the ATMs at Tokyo Big Sight were completely out of money.

Comiket is held twice a year, in August and December, and runs for three days. Each day of the convention features sales of dōjinshi devoted to different genres. For Comiket 76, the first day of the convention was devoted to dōjinshi based on popular manga from Shonen Jump and similar magazines, while day two featured dōjinshi based on mainly Shonen Sunday titles. Original manga was the central focus of the third day of the convention. The next Comiket will be held from December 28 until December 30 this winter.

Update: Since Comic Market does not charge admission or issue passes for entry, its attendance statistics do not account for people who attended on multiple days; each of these people would be counted twice or three times. There were a cumulative total of 560,000 entries into the event on three days — 180,000 on Friday, 180,000 on Saturday, and 200,000 on Sunday.