Listing policy

What we list

Anime Passport maps Europe's anime and J-culture scene: the events anime fans and cosplayers actually go to. We judge each edition by its programme, its community and its size — not by its name.

Anime, manga or Japanese pop culture is a programmed part of the event. Anime-adjacent cosplay contests and areas count.

Listed

• Anime & J-culture events

  Anime and manga conventions, J-pop and anisong concerts, pop-ups and collab cafés.

  e.g. DoKomi, Japan Expo, AnimagiC, Hyper Japan

• J-music & anime cinema

  Concerts of anime and game music, anime film festivals, and premieres with special guests. Regular screenings and cinema releases aren't listed.

  e.g. Hatsune Miku Expo, Joe Hisaishi, AKIBA PASS Festival

• Major Japanese game tournaments

  Big public championships with spectators — not League Cups, shop tournaments or local meetups.

  e.g. Pokémon Regional and International Championships

• Comic cons, game shows and fairs

  Listed when they have at least two of these four:

  1. An official anime or cosplay area, village or stage
  2. A major cosplay championship with an anime-cosplay field
  3. Anime, manga or Japanese game publishers exhibiting
  4. A special Japanese guest or exhibition: a mangaka, director, voice actor or anisong artist

  A country's biggest comic con is listed with one of the four, as long as it has an anime and cosplay area — it's where that country's anime fans and cosplayers go.

  e.g. Gamescom, MCM Comic Con, Lucca Comics & Games, Fantasy Basel

Not listed

• ✗Small local meetups and shop tournaments (under about 200 people), unless a special Japanese guest is there
• ✗Comic cons built around Western film and TV, autographs and photo ops, with no anime programme
• ✗K-pop on its own, or cosplay that isn't anime-related
• ✗Regular cinema screenings and releases

Questions

Why is Gamescom here but not every comic con?

Gamescom has a Cosplay Village and Japanese publishers like Bandai Namco and Nintendo on the floor, which is two of the three. A comic con that's mostly Hollywood guests and autographs doesn't get there.

Can an event be listed some years and not others?

Yes — we check each edition, not the brand. Frankfurter Buchmesse is listed for 2007–2024, the years it hosted the German Cosplay Championship final, and not since the final moved away.

Why is Fantasy Basel listed?

It's Switzerland's biggest comic con, and its anime and cosplay crowd has nowhere bigger to go in the country. The biggest con in a country counts with one of the four, not two.

Why is a small event listed?

A special Japanese guest makes it worth the trip whatever the size — a voice actor's panel at a university anime society, say. The same goes for one edition of a comic fair with a big Japanese exhibition, like Jiro Taniguchi at Erlangen's Comic-Salon in 2016.

Why do some events show an extra line under the name?

Mixed events keep their official name, and we add the part anime fans come for — “Pop Asia” at MCM, “Cosplay Village & J-Gaming” at Gamescom.

Why not K-pop?

K-pop is its own scene with its own calendars. A K-pop stage inside an anime con is fine; a K-pop-only event isn't listed.

I think an event doesn't belong here.

Every event page has “Doesn't fit our listing rule? Tell us why” at the bottom. A moderator checks the edition against its programme.

Know an event that fits? Submit it.