Sponsorship & Exhibitor Recruitment: In the Era of 1 Million Yen Cards, Children Are Being Excluded. Japan's First Major Event Featuring 'Cross-TCG Collaboration + Free Admission for High School Students and Under' to Be Held in Osaka on August 1, 2026

Event Overview

The event is titled 'Trade Summit OSAKA 2026'.

The tagline is 'The Crossroads of Trading Card Culture'.

The event will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 10:00 to 20:00 (last entry at 19:30). The venue is Sunrise Building Osaka Hall A (approximately 260 tsubo).

Admission fees are 1,000 JPY for general attendees (advance purchase required; same price for walk-ins), with high school students and younger admitted free of charge. The target attendance is 1,500 people. Supported titles include the five major TCGs—Pokémon Card, Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, One Piece Card, MTG, and Duel Masters—and all related TCG merchandise. Popular TCG-focused YouTubers are scheduled to appear as guests.

The venue will feature a trade area for free card exchanges among attendees, a shop zone with participating retailers, a tournament area for competitive play, a main stage hosting four major programs—live streaming stage, rock-paper-scissors tournament, auction, and talk shows—and a multilingual reception area.

Call for Sponsors and Exhibitors

Trade Summit LLC (Representative: Maio D.I.P.) is now accepting applications for sponsors and card shop exhibitors for 'Trade Summit OSAKA 2026', a large-scale, Kansai-region premier event crossing the five major TCGs, to be held on August 1, 2026, at Sunrise Building Osaka Hall A.

Sponsorship tiers range from 100,000 JPY to 2,000,000 JPY across four levels. Exhibitor fee is 80,000 JPY per booth. Both are on a first-come, first-served basis. Sponsorship categories include seven exclusive sectors, each limited to one company. Founding sponsors and exhibitors of the first event will receive priority negotiation and exhibition rights for future editions.

Why Participate in Trade Summit Now?

The domestic trading card market reached 302.4 billion JPY in 2024 (according to Yano Research Institute), marking five consecutive years of record highs, with projections reaching 350 billion JPY by 2026.

However, while single rare cards routinely trade for over 1 million JPY, and issues like speculative stockpiling and counterfeit distribution are worsening, there currently exists no large-scale event that crosses the five major TCGs—Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, MTG, and Duel Masters—which together account for 81% of the market (over 244.8 billion JPY).

Official events by IP holders are structurally limited to their own titles, and even major TCG companies restrict their events to their own IPs. The position of a 'cross-TCG, experience-focused, neutral platform' represents a structural gap that existing players cannot fill. Trade Summit OSAKA 2026 is designed to be the first event in the Kansai region to fill this gap.

Additionally, by offering 'free admission for high school students and under', the event aims to engage the next generation of customers—children—while attracting families, inbound tourists, and core fans across segments.

Sponsorship Opportunities

There are four sponsorship tiers.

The top-tier 'PLATINUM' (2,000,000 JPY, 1 slot only) includes naming rights, largest stage banner, permanent streaming logo, 7 dedicated social media posts, front cover and double-page spread in the event pamphlet, full program announcements by the MC, free dedicated booth, 30 VIP invitations, full data set and analysis report, complete category exclusivity, and priority negotiation rights for the second event.

'GOLD' (1,000,000 JPY, 3 slots) includes large banners, OP/ED/break logos on stream, 4 dedicated social media posts, double-page spread in pamphlet, 2 MC announcements, 50% discount on dedicated booth, 15 VIP invitations, limited data set and segment analysis, and priority negotiation rights.

'SILVER' (500,000 JPY, 3 slots) includes medium banners, OP/ED logos on stream, 2 dedicated social media posts, one-page pamphlet feature, 1 MC announcement, 8 VIP invitations, summary data report, and priority negotiation rights.

'BRONZE' (100,000 JPY, 5 slots) includes standard banners, sponsor listing on social media, logo in pamphlet, and 3 VIP invitations. In-kind sponsorships are accepted upon consultation—offering prizes or promotional items in exchange for prize announcements during the rock-paper-scissors tournament and one social media post.

Additionally, exclusive category rights are offered in areas such as appraisal services, card supplies, major card shops, payment/Fintech, media/streaming, TCG apps, and auctions—granting sole-company exclusivity per category, with competitive exclusion as the core sponsorship value. Selection priority is given in order from Platinum to Bronze.

Sponsors will receive measurable returns: lead generation via LINE registration and QR code distribution, sampling opportunities through product handouts and booth traffic, exposure via simultaneous YouTube and Twitch live streams, media coverage through industry publications and Kansai-region outlets, and a post-event purchasing behavior analysis report delivered within 30 days. Unlike traditional sponsorship models limited to logo placement, this event is designed as a 'quantitatively measurable customer acquisition sponsorship'.

Confirmed Sponsor

Heritage Auction Japan

Heritage Auctions Japan Co., Ltd. is the Japanese branch of Heritage Auctions, the world’s largest collectibles auction house founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1976. The group handles over 2 billion USD annually, including landmark sales such as the PSA9 'Pokémon Illustrator' card for approximately 220 million JPY. In Japan, it serves as a bridge between global auction standards and domestic collectors.

Call for Card Shop Exhibitors

Exhibitor fee is 80,000 JPY per booth (tax included), with only 10 spots available on a first-come, first-served basis.

What’s included: booth space (1.5m x 3m), 3 exhibitor passes, listing in the official pamphlet and on social media, and move-in/move-out support. Permitted sales include singles, packs/boxes, supplies, authenticated cards, international editions, and all related merchandise. Buyback operations are allowed, assuming cash-based transactions.

Compared to typical TCG event fees of 200,000–300,000 JPY and trade show rates of 300,000–500,000 JPY, this event’s 80,000 JPY fee is among the lowest in the industry. At a target attendance of 1,500, the cost per attendee is approximately 53 JPY—achieving 1/2 to 1/6 the cost-effectiveness of standard TCG events.

Key benefits for exhibitors include:

First, industry-leading cost efficiency at ~53 JPY per attendee. Second, increased family attendance due to free admission for youth, enabling access to high-purchasing-power family end-users. Third, nationwide brand exposure via official YouTube streams and social media at no extra cost. Fourth, broad inventory utilization due to cross-TCG participation.