The spread of covid-19 has had a significant impact on the world's meetings & events. Even under such circumstances, meetings and events were resumed in Japan immediately after the state of emergency was lifted. In September 2020, a corporate exhibition was held at Makuhari Messe in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with a cumulative total of more than 18,000 visitors in three days. Visitors looked around the exhibits they were interested in, actively engaging in business negotiations without any significant confusion or trouble.
Why was it possible to safely hold such large meetings & events?
Japan is a country with large numbers of international conferences. The number of international conferences organized in 2019 was 527, ranking 8th globally ("ICCA Statistics Report 2019" issued by the International Congress and Convention Association /ICCA: provisional value as of October 2020).
From April to May 2020, many organizers of meetings & events voluntarily canceled or rescheduled the event due to the pandemic's spread. Since mid-May, when the state of emergency was lifted, a guideline for the maximum number of people and the occupant capacity limit of the event venue was set, and meetings & events were resumed within this guideline's limits. During that period, there were also international conferences held online.
After that, the guideline for the maximum number of people and the occupant capacity limit was gradually relaxed. The table below shows some of them (for the situation after September, please download the material at the end of this article).
[ Guidelines for gradual relaxation of event restrictions <Basic idea> ]
Large-scale meetings & events are now being held in Japan due to the relaxation of the limit of the number of people and the occupant capacity. In September 2020, an exhibition held for personnel and managers of general affairs, human resources, accounting, and legal affairs, was held with more than 450 companies exhibiting. A total of more than 18,000 people visited the venue for three days.
This exhibition was held at Makuhari Messe, close to Tokyo, where large-scale events are often held (300-400 events every year). There are several such large venues in Japan, and you can choose the one that suits your purpose.
Various infection prevention measures were implemented in the event venue. Since each visitor properly followed the rules, there were no significant restrictions, and it was possible to look around the venue smoothly.
Listed below were the infection prevention measures taken.
[Measure1]
An unstaffed automatic registration system was introduced, and it enabled applicants to walk through the registration area without conversation or anyone handing them tickets.
[Measure2]
The following rules have been thoroughly implemented to prevent infection for all participants.
- Mandatory masks
- Temperatures taken by a thermography
- Hand sanitization with alcohol
[Measure3]
In crowded areas, there are social distancing floor signs to maintain enough distance between people.
In Japan, the knowledge of how to hold large-scale meetings & events smoothly has been developed, even under the influence of COVID-19.
In the future, when it becomes possible to move across countries, large-scale meetings & events that accept participants from overseas will be resumed. If you are thinking of holding meetings & events, please consider holding it in Japan, which already has many achievements.
We have compiled some materials to show how the restriction on the occupant capacity limit has been relaxed in Japan. You can see the events introduced in this column and interviews with exhibitors with photos in the downloaded documents. Japanese culture that you can experience during your stay for meetings and events is also covered in the documents.
Please download for more details.