Once you have tickets for Makuhari Messe, the first things to look up are the capacity and the nearest station. KCON JAPAN runs for 3 days and COUNTDOWN JAPAN for 5. If you are coming from far away for more than one day, you also need to decide where to stay, and for how many nights. Makuhari Messe is in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, not in Tokyo: it sits on Tokyo Bay, east of central Tokyo, on the JR Keiyo Line out of Tokyo Station. It is a convention and exhibition center, and concerts use only part of it. KCON JAPAN is a large K-pop convention and concert festival, and COUNTDOWN JAPAN is a year-end rock festival that runs through New Year’s Eve.
Here is the worst case. You start looking for a hotel near Kaihin-Makuhari Station (海浜幕張) too late, and your dates are already full. So you plan to go back and forth each day instead. But after 20:00, the Keiyo Line runs only local trains (trains that stop at every station) toward Tokyo, and the ride to Tokyo Station takes about 40 min. By the time you get there, the last Shinkansen (Japan’s bullet train) to Shin-Osaka and to Sendai has already left.
To be clear up front, Makuhari Messe is not a venue that leaves you stranded. The last train toward Tokyo leaves Kaihin-Makuhari at 24:01 (one minute past midnight) and reaches Tokyo at 24:38. If you live along the Keiyo Line, you have time to spare. If you change to another line at Tokyo Station, work backward from the last train on that line at Tokyo Station (changing from the Keiyo Line platforms at Tokyo Station takes 10–15 min). The people who run into real trouble are those who want to get home the same night by Shinkansen toward Shin-Osaka or Sendai, or by plane.
This guide is not here to tell you to book a hotel. It uses official information from the venue and the organizers to help you decide whether to stay, for how many nights and where. It is written for fans who live in Japan. If you are visiting from abroad and flew into Narita or Haneda, getting home the same night is not part of your plan: read “home” in this guide as the place you sleep tonight. Train times come from the JR East timetable as of September 2026 and will change at the next timetable revision.
- Why Makuhari Messe’s capacity cannot be given as one number, and why only the Event Hall has a set seat count
- How to read the Makuhari Event Hall seating chart to see which tier and which part of the stands your block is in
- Which halls are closest to Kaihin-Makuhari Station, and how long the night train to Tokyo takes
- Whether you can get home the same night, based on where you are heading, and if not, how many nights to book
- Where to look along the Keiyo Line when hotels near Kaihin-Makuhari are full
- Your options for the hours until the first train after COUNTDOWN JAPAN on New Year’s Eve (finish at 29:00, which means 5:00 a.m.)
What goes wrong at Makuhari Messe (and who it happens to): looking for a hotel too late
Fans traveling from far away get stuck here because three things stack up.
- After 20:00, trains toward Tokyo are local only (the last Wakashio express train leaves at 19:18). A rapid train skips the smaller stations; a local stops at every one. The venue’s official “about 30 min from Tokyo by rapid train” holds only while rapid trains are running. The last rapid train toward Tokyo leaves Kaihin-Makuhari at 16:02 on weekdays and at 16:59 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (JR runs a separate timetable on those days). At night you ride a local, and the trip to Tokyo Station takes about 40 min (37–42 min on the trains in the table below).
- No route bus leaves from in front of the venue after the show. The last route bus from the Makuhari Messe Chuo stop to Makuhari-Hongo Station leaves at 17:17 on weekdays and 18:21 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The last one to Makuhari-Hongo Station from the Makuhari Messe Higashiguchi (East Entrance) stop leaves at 19:59. At night, plan on walking to Kaihin-Makuhari Station.
- There is no permanent cloakroom, and the coin lockers are open 8:00–20:00 (hours can change by event). Organizers sometimes set up a temporary cloakroom, but plan on leaving large luggage at your hotel before you come. Whether you can bring a suitcase in is set by each organizer’s notice for the show.
The first point hits hardest if you are changing to a Shinkansen toward Shin-Osaka or Sendai at Tokyo Station. Tokyo Station is the terminal for both the Shinkansen and the regular JR lines, but the Keiyo Line platforms sit far from the others. The walk from them to the other JR lines and the Shinkansen takes about 10–15 min (per JRE Media, a JR East publication).
| Departs Kaihin-Makuhari (local train) | Arrives at Tokyo Station |
|---|---|
| Weekdays 21:01 | 21:39 |
| Weekdays 21:29 | 22:08 |
| Weekdays 22:02 | 22:39 |
| Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 21:08 | 21:48 |
| Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 21:33 | 22:11 |
| Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 21:57 | 22:39 |
Counting only trains that run every day, the last Shinkansen trains from Tokyo Station are the 21:24 Nozomi to Shin-Osaka on the Tokaido Shinkansen (arrives at Shin-Osaka 23:45) and the 21:36 Hayabusa to Sendai on the Tohoku Shinkansen (arrives at Sendai 23:06). Extra trains run on some days, which is why the daily trains are the yardstick here. As the table shows, even the 21:01 from Kaihin-Makuhari reaches Tokyo Station at 21:39, after both have left. Once the last Shinkansen is gone, the next one does not leave until the following morning.
If the show ends around 21:00, these times leave no way to get home the same night by Shinkansen toward Shin-Osaka or Sendai. That is why fans traveling from afar decide first where to stay, and for how many nights. For other arenas, we compare last trains and whether to stay the night before or after at 12 venues across Japan (Japanese only for now).
Makuhari Messe has no single capacity number: how the halls differ
The venue does not publish a capacity for Makuhari Messe as a whole. Makuhari Messe is a group of 4 facilities of different sizes, originally built as a trade show and convention center.
Official sizes, facility by facility
| Facility | Official size | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| International Exhibition Hall, Exhibition Halls 1–8 | 54,000 sq m (6,750 sq m × 8 halls); ceiling up to 30 m | No official figure |
| International Exhibition Hall, Exhibition Halls 9–11 | 18,000 sq m; ceiling up to 34 m | No official figure |
| Makuhari Event Hall | Arena floor 3,098 sq m; ceiling up to 27 m | 3,948 fixed seats (including box seats) / 912 movable seats / about 3,000 temporary seats |
| International Conference Hall | 22 rooms in all, including the Convention Hall | Convention Hall holds 1,600 |
The exhibition halls are described only by floor area. How many people fit at a concert depends on how each show lays out the space. Only Makuhari Event Hall has a set number of seats, and even there no official total of fixed, movable and temporary seats exists. You may see “7,000–10,000 people per hall” online, but that figure could not be confirmed in the venue’s official materials, so this guide does not use it. The International Conference Hall is not used for concerts, so it is left out from here on.
Each show uses different halls
| Show | Halls used |
|---|---|
| KCON JAPAN 2026 (May 8–10, 2026) | Exhibition Halls 1–8 / Makuhari Event Hall (venue’s official site) |
| COUNTDOWN JAPAN 25/26 (December 27–31, 2025) | Exhibition Halls 1–11 / Makuhari Event Hall; on the 27th, Exhibition Halls 1–11 only (organizer’s official site) |
KCON JAPAN itself did not use the Event Hall in 2025. The halls change by year and by show, so a ticket that only says “Makuhari Messe” (幕張メッセ) does not tell you which hall you are in. Check the hall on the organizer’s venue map. The walk from the station also depends on the hall (see the next section).
How to read the Makuhari Event Hall seating chart
Makuhari Event Hall has an oval arena floor (the flat main floor) surrounded by stands of fixed seats. On the venue’s official seating chart (PDF), the stands are divided into blocks A to K (there is no Block I) plus box seats. A is the end with the lighting and sound control room, and F is the opposite end. B, C, D and E run along one long side; G, H, J, K and the box seats run along the other. The stands have two tiers, the second floor (lower tier) and the third floor (upper tier), marked 2F and 3F on the chart. A, F and the box seats are on the second floor only.
| Block | Second floor (lower tier) | Third floor (upper tier) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (end) | 200 | — | 200 |
| B | 210 | 232 | 442 |
| C | 260 | 240 | 500 |
| D | 180 | 240 | 420 |
| E | 210 | 232 | 442 |
| F (end opposite A) | 200 | — | 200 |
| G | 210 | 232 | 442 |
| H | 150 | 240 | 390 |
| Box seats | 60 | — | 60 |
| J | 170 | 240 | 410 |
| K | 210 | 232 | 442 |
| Total | 2,060 | 1,888 | 3,948 |
Blocks C and J each have wheelchair space for 5 (the space doubles as a TV camera position), according to the venue’s official seating chart.
All this tells you is roughly where your seat sits in the stands. Which end the stage goes at, and how the arena-floor seats are divided, are decided by the organizer for each show. The official seating chart also shows a layout that adds 456 movable seats on each of the A and F sides, so the same block name can be a different distance from the stage depending on the show. That is why this guide does not say which blocks have the best view.
Kaihin-Makuhari is the nearest station: Halls 9–11 come first, and night trains to Tokyo are local only
The nearest station to Makuhari Messe is Kaihin-Makuhari Station on the JR Keiyo Line. The venue’s official site lists two other ways to get there.
| Station | Line | To the venue (official) | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaihin-Makuhari Station | JR Keiyo Line | About a 5-min walk | The first halls you reach from the station are Exhibition Halls 9–11. The other halls are farther on |
| Makuhari-Toyosuna Station | JR Keiyo Line | About a 20-min walk | Opened in 2023 (news reports). Rapid trains do not stop here |
| Makuhari-Hongo Station | JR Sobu Line / Keisei Chiba Line | About 17 min by bus bound for Makuhari Messe Chuo | Return route buses stop running in the early evening (point 2 in the first section) |
The venue’s own site says, “The facility is large, so we recommend allowing plenty of time.” Follow the second-floor skywalk (a raised walkway) from Kaihin-Makuhari Station, and the first halls you reach are Exhibition Halls 9–11. Exhibition Halls 1–8 and Makuhari Event Hall are beyond the Central Rotary (the bus and taxi circle) and Messe Odori (Messe Avenue). The “about a 5-min walk” is to the venue in general; the venue gives no walking time for each hall. “North Hall,” a name you may see online, is an informal name. The official name is Exhibition Halls 9–11.
Exhibition Halls 1–8 form a long east–west row, with Hall 1 (parking side) at the west end and Hall 8 (hotel side) at the east end. Makuhari Event Hall is next to the Central Entrance and connected to it on the second floor.
About luggage. The venue’s coin lockers cost ¥700 for large (86.6 cm high), ¥500 for medium and ¥400 for small, and you can keep one for up to 3 days. After 24:00 (midnight), an extra day’s fee applies. The lockers in the Event Hall lobby are for Event Hall visitors only and take cash only. The total number of lockers is not published, so there is no way to know in advance whether there will be enough on the day.
Minami-Funabashi Station, also on the JR Keiyo Line, is the station for LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY. How to get to and from that venue is covered in our LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY guide (Japanese only for now).
Decide whether to stay, and for how many nights, by where you are heading
Whether you need a hotel depends mostly on where you are going after the show, more than on the finish time. Here is how each way home works out. If you are visiting from abroad, read the first column as where you sleep tonight; the airport rows are the ones to check if you fly out of Haneda or Narita.
| Way home | Last connection | Home the same night? |
|---|---|---|
| Along the Keiyo Line | The 24:01 from Kaihin-Makuhari toward Tokyo (arrives at Tokyo 24:38) | Yes (last train 24:01) |
| Connecting lines from Tokyo Station | The last train on your line at Tokyo Station | The 24:01 misses the last train on many lines. Work backward and board earlier |
| Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo Station (toward Kansai) | The 21:24 Nozomi to Shin-Osaka | Not with a finish around 21:00 |
| Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station | The 21:36 Hayabusa to Sendai | Not with a finish around 21:00 |
| Flight from Haneda Airport | The 22:45 limousine bus (airport express bus) to Haneda from Kaihin-Makuhari Station | Check it against your last flight yourself |
| Flight from Narita Airport | The last limousine bus to Narita leaves at 16:56 | No bus to Narita at night |
For COUNTDOWN JAPAN 25/26, extra trains starting at Kaihin-Makuhari ran on the 27th, 28th and 30th (21:38 to Tokyo and 21:46 to Nishi-Funabashi), according to the organizer’s notice. Whether extra trains run depends on the show, so check each organizer’s notice.
You don’t need a hotel near the venue if you are heading home along the Keiyo Line, or if you can make the last train on your line from Tokyo Station. If you live along the Keiyo Line, walk to Kaihin-Makuhari Station after the show and take any train toward Tokyo up to the 24:01. If you change at Tokyo Station, the 24:01 misses the last train on many lines. Work backward from the last train on your line at Tokyo Station (including the 10–15 min change from the Keiyo Line platforms) and take an earlier train. The same applies if you are visiting and already have a room on the Keiyo Line or within walking distance of Tokyo Station. If you are coming by Shinkansen or plane, choose how many nights from the 3 options below.
The question is not whether to stay but how many nights. Choose by how many days you are attending and how you are getting home.
Along the Keiyo Line, or you can make the last train on your line from Tokyo Station → commute without staying
If you are heading home along the Keiyo Line, or you can make the last train on your line from Tokyo Station, you can come and go each day without a hotel. The last train toward Tokyo leaves Kaihin-Makuhari at 24:01 (arrives at Tokyo 24:38), on weekdays and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays alike. Later trains toward Tokyo terminate at Shin-Narashino (they go no farther). If you change to another line at Tokyo Station, the 24:01 misses the last train on many lines, so work backward from the last train on your line at Tokyo Station and pick your train in advance.
There are two things to do. First, allow about 40 min (37–42 min) for the local train toward Tokyo at night. Do not plan your trip home on the daytime “about 30 min by rapid train.” Second, leave large luggage where you are staying. The coin lockers are open 8:00–20:00, and some shows end after they close.
Even if you attend several days, you don’t need a hotel as long as you can get home each night.
Coming by Shinkansen or plane + attending one day only → stay 1 night
If you attend only one day, one night after the show is enough. The same goes if you attend only the last day of a multi-day event. The next morning, take the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station, or fly home from Haneda or Narita.
If you fly home from Narita, note that the limousine buses to Narita end in the late afternoon (the last one leaves at 16:56).
Coming by Shinkansen or plane + attending several days → stay at the same hotel for every day you attend
If you are coming from far away for 2 days or more, staying at the same hotel for every day you attend is the easiest plan for your luggage. Makuhari Messe has no permanent cloakroom, and the coin lockers are open 8:00–20:00, for up to 3 days. If you switch hotels each day, you end up hauling a suitcase around every day. Keep it at one hotel, and you can go to the venue each day with only what you need.
If the show dates and the days you attend are not set yet, there is nothing you need to do now. You can book once your dates are fixed; the decisions come in the same order.
You don’t need a hotel near the venue if you are heading home along the Keiyo Line, can make the last train on your line from Tokyo Station, or already have a room on the Keiyo Line or within walking distance of Tokyo Station. If your show dates are not fixed yet, you do not need to book anything now. This button is for readers whose dates are set. The Trip.com link opens search results for hotels around Makuhari Messe (the Kaihin-Makuhari area). Re-enter your dates and number of guests on the page that opens; checking whether rooms are free is as far as you need to go.
Once you book, open the address in your confirmation email on a map and check whether the hotel’s nearest station is Kaihin-Makuhari or another station (if it is another station, see the table in the next section for the night travel time). Also check the hotel’s information on the booking page for how late check-in is accepted, and whether the hotel can take you when you arrive after the show. Some hotels in Japan do not accept late-night arrivals.
If you have decided to stay and want to narrow it down to one hotel, we have a separate guide, 3 hotels for a Makuhari Messe trip (Japanese only for now). It compares a budget pick, the closest pick and a pick that is comfortable for a woman traveling alone, all in Kaihin-Makuhari and Shin-Narashino. For each one, it lists front-desk and entrance hours, and how much rates rise on exhibition days and Saturdays (Makuhari Messe hosts trade shows, and nearby hotel rates go up on those days).
LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY, also on the Keiyo Line, works the same way when you decide whether to stay. Our guide on whether to stay overnight for LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY (Japanese only for now) is worth a look as well.
If Kaihin-Makuhari is full, where to stay: fallback areas along the Keiyo Line
If you got a room near Kaihin-Makuhari Station, or you are commuting without staying, you can skip this section. If you could not, look along the Keiyo Line: you can then go to and from the venue with no transfer. The catch is that rapid trains do not run at night. Plan on the travel time by local train at night, not the daytime “so many minutes by rapid train.”
| Area | From Kaihin-Makuhari (weekday local train at night) | About the hotels | Night notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Makuhari-Toyosuna Station | 1 stop toward Tokyo, 2 min | A hotel right by the station (JR East Hotel Mets Premier Makuhari-Toyosuna, opened in 2024) | Rapid trains pass through. About a 20-min walk to the venue (official) |
| Shin-Narashino Station | 2 stops toward Tokyo, 5 min | Hotels near the station | Trains run up to the 0:32 (after midnight) from Kaihin-Makuhari bound for Shin-Narashino |
| Minami-Funabashi Station | 3 stops toward Tokyo, 7 min | Same nearest station as LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY | The last train toward Tokyo is the 24:01 to Tokyo |
| Maihama Station | 22 min toward Tokyo | The Tokyo Disney Resort hotels | Same as above |
| Hatchobori Station / Tokyo Station | 36 min / 38 min | Some say there are many business hotels (Japan’s compact, no-frills city hotels) | The last train to Tokyo is the 24:01 (arrives at Tokyo 24:38) |
| Inagekaigan Station | 2 stops toward Soga, 5 min | A hotel 3 min on foot from the station (per the official Hotel Tetra site) | The opposite direction from Tokyo. The last train toward Soga leaves at 0:44 |
| Soga Station | 13 min toward Soga | Hotels near the station | Same as above |
The times come from following one weekday local train at night through the JR East timetable. The hotel column includes secondhand information, and rates and availability are not compared.
If closeness comes first, pick Makuhari-Toyosuna, Shin-Narashino or Minami-Funabashi, 2–7 min from Kaihin-Makuhari. If you are staying several nights, add one condition: you can ride the Keiyo Line to the venue with no transfer.
Maihama is 22 min from Kaihin-Makuhari by local train at night. The Tokyo Disney Resort hotels are clustered around the station, so it is an option if you are spending the next day around Tokyo Bay in Chiba or Tokyo. You don’t need a room in Maihama if you already have one near Kaihin-Makuhari or in central Tokyo, or if you are leaving the area right after the show. If your dates are not set yet, just looking is fine for now. The Trip.com link opens search results for hotels in the Maihama area.
Once you book, check the hotel’s information for how to get there from Maihama Station (some hotels are reached by shuttle bus or by the Disney Resort Line, a monorail that links the station with the resort hotels) and for the check-in hours. Both add to the time it takes to reach your room after the show.
COUNTDOWN JAPAN on New Year’s Eve ends at 29:00 (5:00 a.m.): decide how you will get through to the first train
On December 31 at COUNTDOWN JAPAN 25/26, doors were scheduled for 12:30, the start for 15:40 and the finish for 29:00, the Japanese way of writing 5:00 on the morning of January 1 (organizer’s official site). Every year, the organizer has used the same wording: “There is no all-night service on the JR Keiyo Line or the Keisei Chiba Line” (23/24, 24/25 and 25/26). On New Year’s Eve, some lines in the Tokyo area run all night, but these two do not.
COUNTDOWN JAPAN 26/27 has been announced for 5 days: Saturday, December 26; Sunday, December 27; Tuesday, December 29; Wednesday, December 30; and Thursday, December 31, 2026. It will be held in Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Halls 1–11 and the Event Hall (no show on the 28th, per the notice on the organizer’s official site dated July 13, 2026). Times and transport details are not out yet, so what follows is the organizer’s guidance for 25/26.
| Way home | Times | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Extra bus to Makuhari-Hongo Station → JR Chuo-Sobu Line local (runs all night) | From stop 1 at the Makuhari Messe Central Rotary, 0:25–3:00. About 20 min on board; ¥270 by IC card (a rechargeable transit card) or ¥270 in cash, paid before boarding | Each bus leaves as soon as it fills. Near the end, you may not get on. At Makuhari-Hongo, trains toward Nishi-Funabashi and Ochanomizu leave at 1:15 and then not until 3:16 (a gap of about 120 min) |
| Early-morning extra buses to the airports | To Narita at 3:30, 4:10 and 4:40 (¥2,400) / to Haneda at 3:40, 4:20, 4:50 and others (¥2,600) | No reservations, so you may not get on |
| Keiyo Line on January 1 (toward Tokyo) | 4:45 and 4:52; in the 5:00 hour, 5:02, 5:11, 5:19, 5:38 and 5:53 | If you stay to the end, you will be on a train in the 5:00 hour |
Neither the organizer nor the venue officially says you can wait at the venue until the first train. What the official schedule does show is that on the 31st the finish is 29:00, so the show itself runs until dawn. If you plan to leave early, decide which bus or train you will take before the day. The organizer asks attendees not to sleep outdoors around the venue.
As one way to plan an overnight stay, an attendee’s trip report describes booking a room from the night before (the 30th) and leaving luggage at the hotel before heading to the venue on the 31st (a personal account). A room for the night of the 31st gives you little time in it, since the show ends at 29:00. Decide on a room for the 31st by whether you head home on the first train or stay in Chiba or Tokyo on January 1.
Frequently asked questions
Summary
There are three things to keep in mind for Makuhari Messe.
- Capacity cannot be given as one number. The exhibition halls are described by floor area, and only Makuhari Event Hall has a seat count (3,948 fixed seats). Check which hall your show uses on the organizer’s venue map.
- The night train toward Tokyo is a local and takes about 40 min. If you live along the Keiyo Line, you can get home on trains up to the 24:01, but if you change at Tokyo Station, you need to work backward from the last train on your next line. If you are counting on the last Shinkansen from Tokyo Station (21:24 to Shin-Osaka, 21:36 to Sendai), a finish around 21:00 means you cannot get home the same night.
- If you stay, decide in this order: how many nights, then where to go if Kaihin-Makuhari is full. On New Year’s Eve, also decide how you will spend the hours from the 29:00 finish to the first train.
If you attend several days, staying at the same hotel and leaving your luggage there is the way to travel light. If you cannot get a room in Kaihin-Makuhari, choose along the Keiyo Line by the travel time on a local train at night.
Times are from the JR East timetable as of September 2026 and from the COUNTDOWN JAPAN 25/26 official site. You can check them in the JR East timetable for Kaihin-Makuhari Station, the “Access” and “Facilities” pages of the official Makuhari Messe site, and each show’s official organizer site.
This page was produced from the Japanese original with AI assistance. Every number, station name and time was machine-checked against the Japanese source and its official references. If something is wrong, tell us here -> /en/contact/.