Event guide · Fri 30 Oct 2026
Countdown Japan 26/27: ending the year at Makuhari
Japan's big indoor year end festival runs on five days at Makuhari Messe, Chiba: 26, 27, 29, 30 and 31 December 2026, with no show on the 28th. The full 179 act lineup is out, tickets move by lottery in the J Fes app, and the year ends with a countdown under a roof.
The short answer: Countdown Japan is how Japan does New Year indoors. The 26/27 edition, run by rockin'on, takes over Makuhari Messe in Chiba City on five days: Saturday 26, Sunday 27, Tuesday 29, Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 December 2026. There is no show on Monday 28 December, and that gap catches people out every year. The full lineup was announced on 28 October, 179 acts in total, and tickets are sold by lottery through the J Fes app rather than at a box office. Our Countdown Japan listing is the calendar entry; this guide is the shape of the week and how to plan it.
Five days, with a gap in the middle
| Day | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 26 December | Opening day, in the International Exhibition Halls 1 to 11 only. The Event Hall joins from the 27th, and parts of the food area and the countdown shrine are not yet open on this day. |
| Sunday | 27 December | Full site: halls 1 to 11 plus the Event Hall. |
| Tuesday | 29 December | The run resumes after the Monday break. |
| Wednesday | 30 December | The last full day before the countdown. |
| Thursday | 31 December | New Year's Eve, closing with the countdown into 2027. |
The venue is the point. Makuhari Messe sits on the bay side of Chiba City, close enough to Tokyo to be a day trip and big enough to hold a festival of this size entirely indoors. December weather, wind off the bay included, stays outside.
The lineup and the lottery
The organisers completed the lineup on 28 October: 179 acts across the five days, under a site concept they call Rock'n'Roll Universe, with the halls dressed in neon and lasers. Tickets are not first come, first served. Applications run through the official J Fes app in lottery rounds, and the second advance lottery opened on 28 October and closes at 16:00 on Monday 2 November. The organisers are blunt about the odds: for the past three editions, every day sold out at this second advance stage. Capacity is slightly larger this year, but the working assumption should be that waiting for a general sale is a gamble. The area directly in front of each stage is also allocated by advance lottery, artist by artist, with marked standing positions, so there is no camping at the barrier.
Inside the halls
More than 50 food stalls gather in the festival's food area, with New Year themed menus alongside the standard festival fare, and the official goods range leans into the season, zodiac and New Year designs included. Between sets, this is a warm, lit, seated kind of festival, closer in feel to a small city than to a field.
Getting there, and getting home
The organisers put JR Tokyo Station to Kaihin-Makuhari at about 30 minutes on the JR Keiyo Line, and the station is about five minutes on foot from the halls. That same Keiyo Line is a JR line, so a Japan Rail Pass covers the ride out to Makuhari, one of the few festival journeys where the pass earns something on a short hop. Whether the pass pays across the whole trip is a different sum, and our rail pass guide does it route by route.
Buy the Japan Rail Passvia Klook · affiliate link
One warning belongs in every New Year plan. Intercity trains in this week run on peak rules, with the fastest Nozomi services reserved seats only from 25 December, so a festival ticket is only half the booking. Our New Year in Japan guide covers what closes, what stays open and which trains to reserve, and the December guide sets the festival in the month around it.
Sources: the Countdown Japan 26/27 official site (the five show dates and the Monday gap, the Makuhari Messe halls, the 179 act lineup announcement of 28 October, the second advance lottery window and the J Fes app, the front stage lottery, the food area, and the access times from Tokyo Station). Checked 29 October 2026.
More reading on the articles page, or go straight to the events calendar.