After seven years, Jakarta's biggest Japanese festival returns. Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi 2026 at Lapangan Banteng, May 23 to 24.

For ten editions, Ennichisai Blok M was the biggest Japanese cultural festival in Southeast Asia outside of Japan. At its peak, organizer Daisei Takeya described it as the largest Japan Matsuri International in the world, because it was the only matsuri outside Japan visited by more than 300,000 people from various regions in two days.

Then in 2019, after the tenth edition, it stopped.

For seven years, nothing replaced it. Just the memory of 310,000 people filling the streets of Blok M, taiko drums echoing down a South Jakarta neighborhood that called itself Little Tokyo.

This weekend, Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi 2026 opens at Lapangan Banteng. Free entry. No tickets. Just show up.

If you have been watching Jakarta's cultural calendar fill up across 2026, this weekend is the one that costs nothing and gives back more than most events that do.

 
What Ennichisai Blok M Was and Why Its Absence Mattered

Three hundred thousand people. Two days. The last one was 2019

The first Ennichisai was launched in 2010 by Japanese entrepreneurs based in Blok M, led by Daisei Takeya, as a thank-you gift for the people of Indonesia. The first event drew more than 50,000 visitors. The second grew to more than 170,000. The Jakarta government included it in the city's annual tourism agenda by 2012.

Blok M earned the nickname Little Tokyo because of its many restaurants, cafes, and offices of Japanese companies that created an atmosphere similar to the streets of Shinjuku or Shibuya. The festival was supported directly by the Japanese Embassy, Japan Foundation, JETRO, and JNTO, and grew into a cultural institution that the city came to expect every year.

Since around 2014, illegal levies from certain parties made the Japanese expat organizers lose enthusiasm for holding the festival. In addition, the venue capacity could no longer support the ever-increasing number of visitors, and concerns about disturbing nearby residents also became a serious consideration. The 2019 edition was the tenth and the last.

Seven years passed. No replacement. The community that built the festival kept meeting, kept planning, and eventually built something new.

 
What Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi 2026 Is and Where It Comes From

The performance that built the memory Ennichisai is carrying forward

Djakarta Ennichi was born from the long journey of Indonesians who were involved, learned, and grew together through Ennichisai Blok M. The new organizing committee expressed gratitude to the Japanese people who built Ennichisai as a home for those who loved it.

The festival was initiated by the Japanese Culture Association of Indonesia, represented by practitioners of Yosakoi, Taiko Okinawa, and Indonesian cosplay, collaborating under the guidance of Hardiyanto Kenneth, in partnership with Connext Japan, an intellectual property of Japanese company WOWNAS Co., Ltd., which focuses on building bridges between Japan and the international world.

The event is chaired by a member of the DKI Jakarta Regional Legislative Assembly, with the support of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government. Entry is completely free with no tickets required.

This is not a revival with a new name. It is a continuation built by the same community, in a different city, with a broader mandate and a cleaner structure than the one that came before. The Ennichisai name belonged to the South Jakarta City Government and was tied to Blok M. The new name belongs to the next chapter.

 
What Actually Happens at Lapangan Banteng This Weekend

The sound that has opened every Ennichisai since 2010 opens Djakarta Ennichi 2026 at Lapangan Banteng

The festival runs across two full days on May 23 and 24 at Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta Pusat. It is designed as a matsuri in a public park, the same spirit as the original Blok M festivals, now with more space and a cleaner venue to hold it.

Traditional Japanese cultural programming includes taiko drumming, yosakoi dance, mikoshi procession, and kyudo archery. Alongside these, the event features various traditional and modern Japanese cultural activities and what the organizers describe as inspirational cross-cultural collaborations.

The cosplay area features special guests Seolhwa, Tomiaa, and Kong from Cosis Official. Seni Betawi performs on the same stage as the Japanese acts, because this festival has always understood that the most interesting cultural moments happen where two cities genuinely find each other rather than where one performs for the other.

The festival targets between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors across the two days, a realistic figure designed to ensure event safety, with the majority of the expected audience in the 23 to 35 age group with interest in Japanese pop culture and culinary experiences.

Japanese street food occupies its own dedicated zone. The full lineup of food stalls carries the same logic as the original Blok M bazaar: taiyaki, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and everything in between, available on Indonesian pavement with Indonesian weather and a crowd that grew up loving both.

 
Why Lapangan Banteng and Why Now

Lapangan Banteng, a national monument area. The festival's biggest stage yet.

Lapangan Banteng is a historic green open space in Central Jakarta, located at Jl. Lapangan Banteng Selatan, Sawah Besar, Jakarta Pusat, directly across from Masjid Istiqlal and adjacent to the National Cathedral, in one of the most historically layered corners of the capital.

After the long wait, the longing of culture enthusiasts was first answered on September 6 and 7, 2025, when the festival returned under the new name Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi, moving to Kota Tua in West Jakarta. The move to Kota Tua provided more space for visitors to enjoy Japanese culture amid Jakarta's historic buildings. The 2026 edition moves again, this time to Lapangan Banteng, a national monument area with even greater symbolic and physical scale.

The 2026 edition marks the first Djakarta Ennichi held in the Lapangan Banteng area, with the Shinshou theme bringing new stories and traditions for a new generation, connecting the history of Japanese culture in Jakarta with Jakarta's own historical identity.

The location is the argument. Placing a Japanese cultural festival in the shadow of Istiqlal and the National Cathedral, in the heart of old Batavia, is a deliberate statement about what Jakarta considers its own cultural property. Japan has been part of this city for decades. Lapangan Banteng is where the city has always held its most significant gatherings. Bringing the two together makes something neither the Blok M location nor the Kota Tua venue could quite achieve.

The festival is free. No tickets. No registration. Just show up at Lapangan Banteng on May 23 or 24 or both and stay as long as the taiko is playing.

 
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Free Entry. No Tickets. Just Show Up.
Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi 2026 runs May 23 and 24 at Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta Pusat. Entry is completely free with no tickets required. Bring your friends, your community, and your family. Arrive early to avoid queues and get the best spots for the taiko performance. For the full schedule and performer updates, follow @djakartaennichi on Instagram and visit djakartaennichi.com

 
Sources of Photos
All photography from Connext Japan Djakarta Ennichi 2026 at Lapangan Banteng Jakarta and Ennichisai Blok M archive was sourced from official festival documentation and media coverage.

Djakarta Ennichi Official Instagram — @djakartaennichi

Djakarta Ennichi Official Website — djakartaennichi.com

Lapangan Banteng - RRC.co.id