If you have ever wanted to experience Tokyo’s art scene beyond anime merchandise and corporate conventions, there is one event that stands above almost everything else: Design Festa.
Held twice a year at Tokyo Big Sight, Design Festa is less of a convention and more of a celebration of raw, genreless creativity. Painters, photographers, sculptors, fashion designers, performers, musicians, handmade accessory brands, and artists of all kinds all gather under one roof for two packed days of unbridled self-expression.
It is one of June Lovejoy’s absolute favorite events in Japan (after FetiFes!). The next Design Festa will be held on 5/23 and 5/24 at Tokyo Big Site from 10:00~18:00.
What Is Design Festa?
Founded in 1994, Design Festa has grown into the largest original art event in Asia. Unlike many conventions or gallery spaces, artists here are encouraged to create freely without strict genre expectations. The result is an event that feels wildly different from typical commercial conventions in Japan.
Over 10,000 artists and performers participate across the weekend, with more than 50,000 visitors attending each event. Booths range from tiny handmade jewelry brands to live body painting, avant-garde fashion shows, experimental performance art, and everything in between.
The heart of the event is the massive Booth Area, featuring thousands of creators selling:
- Original paintings
- Photography
- Handmade fashion
- Accessories
- Sculpture
- Zines and books
- Plushies and toys
- Ceramics
- Live art pieces
- and more!!!
One of the most exciting parts of Design Festa is that you are buying directly from the artists themselves. Many creators only sell at events like this, making it an incredible opportunity to discover underground Japanese artists.
Alongside the booth area, the event also includes:
- Live painting performances
- Fashion shows
- Dance and stage performances
- Live music
- Theater and film screenings
- Interactive workshops
- International food vendors
It is a loud, crowded, colorful, and crazy fun time!
Tokyo Love District’s Artist Spotlight
As mentioned earlier, over 10,000 artists are attending Design Festa. It is impossible to see them all, but we have compiled a list of 7 artists we highly recommend checking out!
Yuuki Kuniyasu (國安ユウキ)
Manga artist and illustrator Yuuki Kuniyasu is perhaps best known for the manga adaptation of Mori Ōgai’s once-banned novel Vita Sexualis (ヰタ・セクスアリス, KADOKAWA), a work deeply concerned with sexuality, repression, and internal conflict. That fascination with the emotional and psychological interiority of his characters carries heavily into his visual art as well.
Kuniyasu’s work often feels intimate in a way that is difficult to describe at first glance. His illustrations lean sensual without becoming purely erotic, capturing moments of vulnerability, longing, and emotional tension through soft expressions, body language, and layered texture work.
One particularly striking aspect of his physical pieces is his incorporation of resin elements, creating glossy, dimensional surfaces that almost make the artwork feel wet, living, or suspended in time. The effect gives many of his works an unusual tactile eroticism that stands out immediately in person.
Beyond his published manga work, Kuniyasu has spoken openly in interviews about manga and art serving as a way to create a place for himself in the world. That sense of emotional honesty comes through strongly in his work, making his booth one we highly recommend stopping by if you enjoy art that explores sensuality and human fragility.
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booth: C17 / C18
Social Media:
Instagram
Twitter/X
Shimura (志村っ)
Shimura is one of those artists we make a point to visit no matter what! One of our absolute favorites!
Her art perfectly captures that difficult balance between cute, playful, and sensual. Her illustrations range from soft and sweet to more openly lewd works.
She has an incredibly recognizable “ero-cute” style, full of flushed cheeks, expressive eyes, and intimate body language. We especially love the way she draws blush and sweat! She carries a wide variety of items, including stickers, original prints, keychains, and more!
If you enjoy soft ero-cute art, we highly recommend stopping by Shimura’s booth!
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booths:
A-380
Social Media:
Instagram
Twitter/X
HENXXI HERO
HENXXI HERO creates bold, rebellious pieces that fuse street art aesthetics with underground Japanese subculture motifs. Their work spans canvas pieces, stickers, skateboards, and apparel, often carrying an intentionally rough, confrontational energy that feels pulled straight from the walls of a back alley in Tokyo.
Most notably, we’d like to highlight their skate wax in the form of a woman’s body titled “ONSEN”. The set includes two stickers and handcrafted skate wax. Even in their own event announcement, they joked that if 99% of visitors look at their work strangely but 1% truly connect with it, that alone makes it worthwhile. If you are part of that 1%, be sure to stop by their booth!
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booth:
B-245
Social Media / Website:
Instagram
Official Website
Leather Shop Cuir (レザーショップ キュイール)
Leather Shop Cuir (レザーショップ キュイール)
Leather Shop Cuir specializes in playful handmade leather goods. Cuir creates everything from hyper-realistic baseball and basketball pouches to adorable fruit-shaped accessories, all handcrafted with impressive attention to detail. But the item that completely won us over personally was their original “Bottle Lingerie” series.
As the name suggests, these are tiny lingerie outfits designed specifically for bottles of wine, sake, and alcohol.
It is exactly as ridiculous, charming, and weirdly stylish as it sounds.
Seeing an elegant wine bottle suddenly dressed in tiny leather lingerie is the kind of absurd visual joke that perfectly captures the playful creativity that makes Design Festa so special. It immediately turns an ordinary bottle into something memorable. We ended up buying some ourselves during the last event to help spruce up some souvenirs we got for friends and family. Absolute knockout hit with the people who were gifted them.
What we love about Cuir’s work is that, despite the cheekiness and humor, the craftsmanship itself is genuinely excellent. The leatherwork is clean, tactile, and clearly made by someone who deeply cares about both quality and originality. Their booth feels full of objects that could easily become conversation pieces or unforgettable gifts.
If you enjoy novelty fashion, erotic humor, clever design, or simply artists creating things that make people smile, Leather Shop Cuir is absolutely worth stopping by.
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booth:
West Hall 4F M-216
Connect with Leather Cuir
Instagram
Twitter/X
Panty Glass (パンティグラス)
“Wait…are those glasses wearing panties?”
Yup!
Created using traditional blown-glass techniques, these handcrafted drinking glasses feature tiny sculpted panties wrapped around the cups, transforming ordinary glassware into something playful, elegant, and undeniably memorable. Even after 20 years of creating them, the artist continues to refine and expand the concept, truly highlighting how much love exists behind the work.
Beyond the iconic Panty Glass series, the artist will also be exhibiting the “After the Rain” (雨上がり) collection, featuring delicate rainbow-patterned glassware, as well as the increasingly popular “Zombie Hanako-chan” vases designed specifically for displaying dried flowers.
We especially love creators like this because they embody something we think Japan’s underground art scene does extremely well: taking something silly, committing to it completely, and executing it with genuine artistic skill.
If you appreciate playful design, erotic humor, unusual home goods, or simply want one of the most memorable gifts imaginable, Panty Glass is absolutely worth visiting.
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booth:
H-230, H-231
Connect with Panty Glass:
Instagram
Twitter/X
Wonderful Sweet Orange (WSO)
Wonderful Sweet Orange creates work that feels pulled from a collision between American vintage advertising and pop surrealism.
Describing their style simply as “sexy” would honestly undersell it. Their illustrations have an intentionally restless energy to them, something the artist themselves describes as expressing a kind of “disturbance of the heart” (心のざわつき). Beneath the mellow pop colors, retro Americana influences, and playful character design is an undercurrent of tension, loneliness, nostalgia, and emotional noise that gives the work real personality.
For Design Festa Vol. 63, WSO will be bringing a huge variety of material, including a new art book, posters, stickers, acrylic keychains, apparel, one-of-a-kind analog works, and even interactive art experiences. The artist has also teased an entirely new vibe compared to previous works.
Be sure to stop by and check out what WSO has been cooking up!
Design Festa Vol. 63 Booth:
West Hall 1F F-51 / F-52
Connect with Wonderful Sweet Orange:
Instagram
Twitter/X
YURIKA
YURIKA creates some of the cutest wearable accessories we have seen at Design Festa, blending playful femininity with cheeky lingerie-inspired design.
While she produces a variety of softer SFW accessories and goods, the pieces that immediately caught our attention were her miniature lingerie-themed clips and keychains. Tiny bras and panties adorned with delicate ribbons and lace are transformed into adorable fashion accessories.
They feel like the kind of accessories that perfectly complement jirai-kei, ryousangata, fairy-kei, or other cute alternative fashion styles while still carrying a mischievous little edge.
If you are looking for cute accessories for yourself or someone special, be sure to stop by Yurika’s booth to pick up a pair of panties or two!
Design Festa Booth:
P-102 / P-103
Connect with Yurika:
Instagram
Twitter/X
How to Attend Design Festa
Design Festa is held at Tokyo Big Sight, one of Tokyo’s largest convention venues.
You can usually purchase tickets in advance through Japanese services like Ticket Pia, convenience stores, and other local ticketing platforms. However, if you do not speak Japanese, navigating those systems can honestly be more frustrating than it is worth.
Our recommendation?
Just buy your ticket at the venue on the day of the event.
Day-of tickets are generally around ¥1,000, the process is simple, and it removes the headache of trying to navigate Japanese ticketing websites as a foreign visitor.
Make sure to bring cash as well. While more artists accept card and QR payments these days, many smaller creators still operate cash-only booths.
You can also pick up a ticket by stopping by Design Festa Gallery before the event and purchasing one there.
Want Help Exploring Japan Beyond the Tourist Spots?
Tokyo can be overwhelming, especially if you are interested in nightlife, underground culture, alternative art spaces, queer venues, fetish communities, or events that are difficult to navigate as a foreigner.
If you are looking for someone to help guide you through Japan’s more hidden subcultures, we also offer private guiding and interpreting services.
Whether you are interested in underground art events, BDSM bars, queer nightlife, happening bars, erotic culture, or simply seeing a side of Japan most tourists never experience, feel free to reach out to us!
