I-Doll Tokyo Vol.71 (07/07/2024) - Attending for the first time - Tips please!

I've been to Tokyo Big Site before, though at this point it was nearly 2 decades ago. There is a train that goes there - it has it's own train station. You can get more information on the railways from their website when you click on "Access." I know the JR trains have a particular pass that certain travelers can get - or at least they did pre-pandemic - I would look into getting that for you and your family if it still exists.

As @unoa_im_afreak said, tickets will be sold at the event. They haven't determined the price yet but if your child is under 6, they can get in free!

As for what the vendors will take, I am not sure...if there is someone you can contact for the event, I would ask them. Otherwise, cash is the safest bet - you'll need a lot of yen - or something like Apple Pay/Google Pay. There's no guarantee they have a square reader and can take credit cards or use other methods like Venmo/Zelle/Paypal. I also can't help with the placement/which stalls to avoid, but if they list any vendors and they have a social media presence, see what they're selling? I would avoid anything explicit for your child's sake (like too violent, too sexy) but that is your call.

As for places to eat, there are a lot! They have on their English website a tab called shops and restaurants. And they all accept cashless payment - which I am assuming means electronic payment be it card/Apple Pay/Google Pay. They might be busy on the day of your event but there is a lot to see and do at Tokyo Big Site!

As for not knowing any Japanese, if you bring a dictionary, or a translation app and make an effort, you will be okay. By make an effort, I mean asking for help in Japanese and then using your translation device to help. Tokyo can have English speaking and welcoming people, but remember my last experience there is a decade old (and I could, at that time, speak Japanese pretty fluently). So don't let your lack of language hold you back!

 

Haven't been to this event, but been to Japan a few times, including earlier this year and as mentioned above, Japan is still very much a cash society. If it's similar to events like Dollvie that we have here in Hong Kong, they might have a central cashier that takes credit card payment, in addition to just paying the dealer stalls directly. That said, bringing lots of cash with you is still the safest bet.

(Edit: Just remembered that for Dollvie, the central cashier only takes payment for the participating company stalls and not for the dealer stalls.)

Also seconding pre-installing a translation app. Google Translate should be sufficient and it also has a camera function that allows you to translate signs and stuff in real-time. Personally, I use both Google Translate and DeepL. DeepL tends to be a little more accurate and natural but the camera function on it sucks.

And as mentioned, most people in Japan are very nice and will do their best to help you. Sometimes, above and beyond! One time, my family was visiting a small town when we mixed up the bus schedule, causing us to miss the last bus to the train station from the scenic spot we were in that was kind of in the middle of nowhere... One of the staff at the spot came up to help us when he saw how troubled we looked and even drove us in his car to the train station!

 

I hope you enjoy IDoll! This turned out…longer than expected but I hope it helps you anyway. First of all, if you haven’t checked out the section of the site with info for going as an attendee (‘shopping’), it’s here.2024年7月7日(日)ドール・フィギュア・ハンドメイド関連の展示即売会【I・Doll VOL.71】アイドール 東京ビッグサイトにて開催！
It can be Google translated, although some of the stuff comes out a bit weird.

There are two different IDoll tickets - general admission and advance admission. Advance ticket holders are allowed in first. Advance is what most doll fans will use because the dealers have very limited, highly sought after stock that is often sold first come first serve. You can buy both on the day - advance tickets are the general tickets with an extra fee to be given a random number which determines the order you can enter. The entry numbers are completely random and so it’s common for people to buy multiple advance entry tickets hoping to get a good number. I would normally recommend advance ticket if there’s specific items you’re interested in buying and you were alone or with friends, but since you’re going with your family it’s hard to recommend this, as since the advance tickets are random you most likely won’t be able to line up together. So for convenience I would go for regular general admission.

General admission ticket holders go in after all the advance ticket holders around 11:30, but keep in mind that the line will be extremely long. I want to say that general admission doesn’t sell out and only advance admission does, but hopefully someone who has been more recently than me can confirm that. I would still arrive before 11, earlier if you don’t mind the wait.

How old is the child? As already mentioned kids under 6 get free admission, but keep in mind the line may be crowded and overwhelming for a small child, so it would be good to being something to keep them occupied/calm while waiting. (If it’s a phone/ipad/game, this goes without saying anywhere I think but please give them headphones…), I assume a child of a doll hobbyist knows this already, but make sure they’re aware of the rules about not touching displays, running, eating or drinking in the aisles etc. Make sure they understand they need to look and not touch. Hopefully it’s a fun day for them too!

Others answered the questions you had but I also wanted to say that the train does depend on where you’re coming from, so check the Access page of the Big Sight page linked above. Hopefully you can catch the Yurikamome monorail, it’s a lot of fun - especially if you’re at the front of the first carriage - and you get great views of the bay.

As mentioned there are many restaurants, cafes and convenience stores within Big Sight. However, I would advise against constantly entering and leaving the hall too much. I think it would be best if you filled up on decent breakfast at one of the cafes before going to get your ticket, and then having a late lunch after you get out again.

I’m not sure what you mean by tips on vendors/placement, but the dealer list is here. 2024年7月7日(日)ドール・フィギュア・ハンドメイド関連の展示即売会【I・Doll VOL.71】アイドール 東京ビッグサイトにて開催！ Some of the names will go to their sites, some to their twitters, some don’t have links (and some use old links to sites that don’t update anymore). I think when you buy the ticket you also get the pamphlet with a map, so you can mark anywhere you’d like to check out. But keep in mind that the advance ticket holders with good numbers are going to be getting the most desirable items, so try not to have your heart set on anything in particular with a general ticket.
A lot of dealers for doll events in Japan don’t tend to say what they’re selling until a week or less before the event, so there’s not much use on checking before then. Also, if you don’t want to check every dealer individually you can can check the hashtag #アイドール東京 on twitter on the days leading up to the event to see what kind of items are being sold, and bookmark/take note of dealers that interest you. It takes a long time so I recommend doing it the day/week before, but if you plan on getting there early to wait in line it gives you something to do while waiting.

My other miscellaneous advice:

1. Re: photography - There is a lot of etiquette surrounding photography at events in Japan (hobby or otherwise) and sadly the increase in tourists has created an increase in people who do not respect this (or so I’ve gathered from the amount of JP tweets I see about this every week). But that doesn’t mean you can’t take pictures at all. I think the Google translate on the site doesn’t make this very clear - what it means by ‘taking photos of the entire venue is prohibited’ is taking photos of the event space itself, in a way that shows multiple booths, people and dealers. Taking photos of individual booths and dolls is completely fine, as long as you ask permission each time. You can use phrases like ‘shashin wa ii desu ka?’ or ‘shashin wa daijoubu desu ka?’ or even ‘shashin wa OK desu ka?’ but if you’re worried about remembering that, holding up your camera/phone camera, pointing to it and asking ‘ok?’ will still be understood. If you want to post these photos online, be sure that no human is visible - and if they are, cover them up with an emoji or blur.

2. You’re going in July. July is HOT in Japan and punishingly humid! Make sure you have water or bottled tea or something to stay hydrated throughout the day - but don’t drink around the booths or dolls, do off to the side and out of people’s way. Make sure you pace yourself as the crowds combined with the heat and humidity can make you very exhausted - even in the air conditioning. I recommend getting some cooling stuff from one of the convenience stores beforehand - there are things like ice scarves and cool packs you can stick on the back of your neck.

3. If there’s something you wish to ask one of the dealers, showing them your phone with Google translate on the screen may not always be ideal, but it’s a good deal more polite/appreciated than asking in increasingly louder/angrier English (another thing I keep hearing about people doing recently)

4. You will see a section where there are many tables that aren’t dealers but owned dolls on display. This is a paid service for people to show off their own dolls or gather socially. The same rules apply here as the dealer booths - you can take photos of specific dolls, but make sure you ask first. This is one of my favourite parts of doll events - especially ones like IDoll where all kinds of brands are welcome (as much as I love Volks events!). I’m not someone who has the chance to go to a lot of meetups so spaces like this are a really great way to see a wide variety of dolls in person that you might not otherwise have gotten the chance to see. Beware, though. You might end up with more on your wish list after seeing how cute they look in real life.

That’s all I can think of at the moment - but good luck and have fun! I would love to know your impressions of the event as a first timer too.

 

I would agree with more or less everything Torino said, with a few other thoughts!

1) I think that, if you have a partner or family visiting Japan with you, it might be more comfortable for everyone involved if your child went somewhere else with some other family members. You won't be able to see everything with as much time as you want if you're minding your child, and though children are allowed, it's not common to see a child under 12 or so who is independently mobile at doll events. Occasionally people with children have babies/toddlers who stay in a stroller or carrier. There are lots of parks that your child might enjoy more than a doll convention (Shinjuku Chuo/Central park isn't near Big Sight, but it has a really large children's play area, fwiw). Being alone at the convention isn't unsafe, either (thought it might be a little nerve-wracking, it will be fine!).
1b) In the event that you do have to bring your child, there will be a conbini within a 15 minute walk. It might be totally picked over after the morning, but there are several conbini inside the different areas of Big Sight. Going in and out of iDoll isn't a problem; you might have issues if you go out quite early and a line has formed again behind you, but that usually resolves pretty early on.

2) General admission tickets haven't ever sold out that I've experienced. But, in my humble opinion, unless you're really gunning for, like, a specific doll or outfit, the advanced tickets are not worthwhile. Just arriving at 11 or so to line up for general admission will give you plenty of things to browse and buy. If you arrive right at 11:30, it'll take 15 to 20 minutes for the earlier parts of the line to go in before you can enter. But, you'll still have plenty of things to see and do.

3) I would recommend the Google Translate app, and you can download and pre-install Japanese as a language so that the app doesn't need a connection to translate. The camera function is good. Torino's recommendations for ways to ask about taking a photo are good. Generally, don't record video and definitely don't stream. "Kawaii" and "kireii" are cute and pretty, respectively, if you just want to say that something looks nice. "Sumimasen" is excuse me, if you need to get someone's attention or you bump someone (most people don't say anything if you bump into each other, though), and "gomenasai" is "I'm sorry," like if you bump someone and it's definitely your fault. If you point to an item and say, "kore onegaishimasu," the vendor will know you want to buy that one (there are also lots of booths where you can just pick something up). iDoll has more international vendors than Dolpa, so you may be addressed in English by some people. If you don't know beforehand, speak in Japanese as much as you can or use the app. If someone addresses you in English, you can reply in English. When you're going to pay, most vendors will type your final price in a calculator and show it to you instead of trying to say the number. You usually put money on a tray in Japan, though some vendors may not have one at the event, it just depends.
3b) Please don't ask in English for someone who speaks English unless, like, someone is having a heart attack or lost a limb ("kyuu kyuu" means you need first aid; it's also what you'd say if you were calling 119 in an emergency, since the other option is fire).

4) I would strongly recommend bringing cash. The entrance fee must be in cash. If you come with only cash, you'll also have a budget for yourself. I wouldn't say that Japan has no crime or that you definitely won't be pickpocketed, but you're much less likely to have that occur than you would be in many other touristy places in the world. Using a credit card is a pain.

5) In most stores in Tokyo, plastic shopping bags cost money. Having a few big reusable bags that fold up is very helpful! Some vendors will give you a bag, and some won't.

6) iDoll will have lots of non-BJD dolls! There's usually a moderately sized Blythe/Licca section, and 11cm Obitsu dolls and the, like, plush fandom/make-your-own dolls are well represented, too.

I hope you have lots of fun! I really like iDoll (second favorite after Dollshow), and I'm planning to attend!