Japan’s meetings industry has successfully adapted to COVID-19 in 2020

Paris, the 7th January 2021 – Thanks to efforts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic by the set up new sanitary protocols, Japan has successfully resumed business events in 2020 while ensuring the safety of its participants.



From an early stage of the epidemic, Japan launched a prevention campaign towards citizens and businesses, encouraging them to avoid the “3 Cs”: closed spaces, crowded spaces, close contact points. Without imposing a lockdown, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency (April – May 2020) calling on to the citizens to reduce travel and contacts to a strict minimum. The respect of these instructions by a large part of the population came in addition to a widespread use of facemasks, already a common practice in Japanese society. 

While pursuing its efforts against the next waves of contamination, Japan has been able to resume its events in 2020, including large-scale ones. Since 19th November, restrictions on the size of events have been eased. In most of the country, venues with a capacity of 5,000 people no longer have event size restrictions, while bigger venues for 5,000 to 10,000 have a cap of 5,000 people, and large venues for over 10,000 people can only be filled up to 50%. The limit was however brought back to 5,000 people in Tokyo until early January at least.

The resuming of events is accompanied by new strict sanitary protocols, summarised in guidelines from the Japanese meetings institutions, including the Japan Congress & Convention Bureau (JCCB), the Japan Convention Management Association (JCMA)  and the Japan Exhibition Association (JEXA). The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and its department dedicated to the meetings industry, the Japan Convention Bureau, share this information with foreign event planners and accompany them in the preparation of their future projects. JNTO also supports the adoption of the new prevention technologies and hygiene protocols by Japan’s representatives for international events: during the annual gathering of its Conference Ambassadors in September, guests had the opportunity to try out the latest equipment for themselves.

In its latest publication, “Planning the Ideal Business Event in Japan“, JNTO shares examples of event suppliers who adapted their offer to the post-COVID-19 world. These companies cover all the levels involved in an event, from airlines and railways to congress centres, hotels and DMCs. Among them, the conference centre PACIFICO Yokohama introduced its new sanitary policy at various levels: seating arrangements to preserve social distancing, frequent disinfection of contact points, provision of alcohol sprays, thermal cameras at entrances and stringent precautions relating to food and beverages… Applying these measures, PACIFICO Yokohama hosted on 15th and 16th December 2020 the Asia-Pacific Summit of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), and showcase the recently extended exhibition hall “PACIFICO North”.



Many events have already been successfully held in Japan, and without provoking notable contaminations. As early as this summer, from 9th to 11th August, Kobe hosted the International Jewellery Exhibition, which gathered almost 6,000 buyers, exhibitors and visitors. The Tourism EXPO Japan, the largest tourism fair in Japan, was held for the first time in Okinawa from 29th October to 1st November and welcomed 24,080 visitors as well as 30 stands from foreign countries and regions. One Young World Japan, the local section of the international association of young leaders, organised from 23rd to 25th October the One Young World Tokyo Caucus, a hybrid event giving a voice to young social entrepreneurs, which concluded with OYW announcing that it will hold its World Summit in Tokyo in 2022. More recently, the INTERPHEX Week Tokyo, Japan’s largest pharma and cosmetics tech show, gathered from 25th to 27th November 1,000 exhibitors and almost 20,000 visitors. In each of these events, the sanitary regulations have been followed to the letter. 



“Japan is setting an example of how we can hold events again and continue to ensure the safety of attendees. While remaining vigilant about the evolution of the epidemic, JNTO is here to remind planners abroad that, when the time is right, Japan will be ready to host their meetings again”, commented Ms Etsuko Kawasaki, Executive Director of the Japan Convention Bureau.