Security measures

Information about the festival security rules may be modified at any time and until the event. On site, only the security agents will be allowed to tell which items are allowed in or not.

On top of the security measures below, please read the list of forbidden items on this page to make your visit at Japan Expo easier.

France is currently under a strict security plan (Vigipirate) and thus, the security measures at the festival have been strengthened. All the attendees will undergo security checks at the entrance, before entering the festival, and then will be led to the lines in hall 7. All the attendees, their bags, and their belongings will be checked and palpated. Metal detector checks may be carried out if necessary.

This plan of action is set up for the attendees’ security and it may cause delays at the entrance, even though we’re doing our best to make the delay as short as possible. To make things easier and faster, please read this page and the list of forbidden objects carefully before coming to the event, and open your coat and bag(s) when your turn is coming for security checks. We remind you that your face has to be uncovered when you are checked for security.  

Anyone refusing to be checked at the entrance by our security agents will be denied access to Japan Expo, even if they have an entrance ticket. 

The security level has been raised, some items are forbidden at the entrance. If you bring one of these along, you can leave it at the checkroom.

THE LIST OF FORBIDDEN ITEMS IS AVAILABLE ON THIS PAGE. Generally speaking, all items made of metal, fully or partly, as well as weapons and weapon replicas, are forbidden.

We remind you that only the security agents can tell which items are allowed in or not.

Weapon replicas

The festival rules remain strict about weapons, according to the French law: BEARING ANY WEAPON OR WEAPON REPLICA IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN AT THE FESTIVAL, whatever it is made of. As a reminder, this is valid for all public areas, including public transportation.

ONLY HARMLESS REPLICAS OF FANTASY WEAPONS ARE ALLOWED, ON THE CONDITION THAT THEY BEAR STRICTLY NO RESEMBLANCE WITH A REAL WEAPON. The latter and all the accessories that may be brought to the festival must abide by the following rules, valid for cosplayers as well as all attendees:

• It can absolutely not be confused with a real weapon.
• It must be made of harmless material only, such as foam, cardboard, light wood, or worbla.
• It mustn’t have any part made of metal, metal items being strictly forbidden.

To allow the attendees coming with forbidden items to get into the festival, a checkroom is set before the security check, on top of the one checkroom inside Hall 5A.

The checkroom allows all the attendees who have come with forbidden items to leave them in the morning and collect them in the evening. As for the checkroom inside the festival, there are fees to pay. The checkroom is open from 7.00 am to 6.30 pm.  

For the attendees who wish to change clothes and carry their costumes in baggage too big to be allowed in, changing rooms are available for them to put on their costumes and then leave their belongings at the checkroom before going through security.

We remind you that those rules apply to all attendees, with no exceptions, including cosplayers.

Concerning cosplayers entering the contests, questions can be addressed to the cosplay team on www.facebook.com/epicassociation. 

More information about the French government’s security instructions on www.gouvernement.fr/reagir-attaque-terroriste