Methodology

This database exists because JETRO discontinued J-messe on 31 March 2026 after 25 years. The surviving directories monetise listings, so their incentive is volume rather than accuracy. The distinguishing commitment here is that every field says where it came from and when it was last checked.

Series and editions

A series is the recurring fair — its stable identity across renames and translations. An editionis one dated instance. Keeping them separate is what makes it possible to answer “when is the next one”, “is this fair growing”, and “what was this called before 2019”.

How much to trust a date

Confirmed	Stated by the venue or organizer for this specific edition.
Announced	Organizer-stated, not yet corroborated by the venue calendar.
Estimated from cycle	Inferred from the series cycle. Provisional — do not book against it.

Attendance figures

Figures marked

UFI audited

AUMA audited

have been independently verified. Everything else is self-reported by the organizer and should be read as marketing. Where figures bundle co-located events, that is stated.

Sources, in order of precedence

Venue calendars — authoritative for dates and halls.
National association registries (AUMA, UFI) — authoritative for audited figures.
Organizer sites — the long tail.
The recovered J-messe archive — used for historical identity, taxonomy and contacts. Because that service stopped updating in March 2026, nothing sourced from it is ever marked confirmed.

What this project will not do

Listing position is not for sale. The moment prominence can be purchased, provenance is worthless — which is precisely what happened to the incumbents.