OC Japan Fair 2026 at the OC Fair & Event Center

OC Japan Fair is Friday through Sunday, October 16–18, 2026, at the OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. The official clock is Friday 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

This is the 19th edition of the fairgrounds weekend Japan Product Promotion has run in Orange County since 2009. The About page also lists a spring run, April 3–5, 2026, on the same campus. This listing is the October weekend.

Buy on the official ticket page before you treat Eventbrite as the clock. That listing sometimes compresses the weekend into a shorter window. Use oc-japanfair.com/ticket.

Posted general admission climbs as the weekend gets closer: $11.44 through August 31, $13.58 in September, $15.71 from October 1 to 15, then $17.85 after midnight on October 16. Children 6 and under and guests over 65 are free. Parking is $15. Enter through Gate 1 and follow the signs; the gate assignment can shift on arrival.

The organizer’s own shape for the floor is food, shopping, and Japanese culture rooms. The page flags a cosplay show, a tuna-cutting show, Japanese artists and comedians, traditional instruments, family games, shodo, kimono, and anime-goods vendors. Treat that as the menu, not a locked hour-by-hour card. Well-behaved dogs are welcome on leash. Owners clean up.

Costa Mesa already hosted a 626 Night Market earlier in the year. That run is over, and the 626 site now points fall traffic at Pleasanton. This weekend is the Japanese cultural fair on the same campus, not a night-market rerun.

JANM’s Kokoro Craft Show is the Saturday before, October 10, a free indoor market at Nishi Betsuin in Little Tokyo. If you want one Japanese weekend and one crafts Saturday, you can do both. Do not try to stack Sunday’s 11 a.m. fair opening with a long drive from downtown after a late night.

The 55 and the 405 dump you onto Fair Drive. The lot fills when a big rental is on. OCTA buses serve the fairgrounds on some event days; check the weekend before. The fairgrounds phone through the OC Fair office is the campus contact if a gate moves. Organizer mail for the fair itself is info@jpp-usa.com through Adentope / Japan Product Promotion in Torrance.

Our take: buy the September price if you already know you are going. Pick Saturday if you want the full afternoon, or Friday if you only have a night. Sunday is the earlier close. Eat one proper plate and one snack. Leave before the last tuna show if you have a long drive north.

When: October 16–18, 2026; Fri 4–10 p.m., Sat 12–10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Where: OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa, CA 92626