First-Ever Urban Snack Festival Attracts Approximately 3,000 Visitors! "YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO" Concludes with Great Success

Snack Yokocho (Operation: Online Snack Yokocho Culture Inc., Representative Director: Mayuko Igarashi), which redefines the unique Japanese nightlife culture of "snack bars" as a tourism resource, held the urban snack festival "YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO" (hereinafter referred to as "Snafes") for three months from April 16 to June 20, 2026, at Tokyo Square Garden in Kyobashi, Tokyo.

This event was a unique nighttime event by Snack Yokocho, re-editing snacks into an experience that anyone can enjoy in an open urban space. Over the three months and nine days, 38 snack bar 'mama-sans' (proprietors) from across the country gathered, and advance tickets for all dates sold out. Approximately 3,000 people attended. At the venue, many attendees experienced snack bars for the first time through conversations with the mama-sans, karaoke, toasts, and bar hopping. After the event, there was a movement to visit the real establishments of the mama-sans they met. This event is not just a food and drink event. It is an implementation model of the Japanese-style nighttime economy that creates new fans starting with the snack bar mama-sans, connecting them to real stores, regions, tours, and subsequent consumption.

What is the Urban Snack Festival "YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO"?

Neon lights illuminate the station-connected building of Tokyo Square Garden in Kyobashi, Tokyo, from the evening. Below them, snack bar mama-sans gathered from all over the country lined up. Visitors, with their bar-hopping tickets in hand, moved to the next establishment. From workers returning from their jobs, Gen Z, groups of women, solo attendees, families, to foreign tourists, a diverse range of people experienced snack bar culture. Conversations began with the mama-san's simple question, "Where are you from?" Strangers sitting next to each other toasted, sang, laughed, and naturally connected. What was born there was not just a lively atmosphere. "I want to see that mama-san again," "I want to visit the actual shop," "Snack bars are this fun!" Such voices led to subsequent visits and local exploration. Snafes transformed snack bars from "places that are hard to enter" into "cultural experiences you want to revisit." And, using Tokyo Square Garden as a stage, it created a reason for people to gather in the city at night, generating economic activity that continues even after the event.

Three Values Created by Snafes

Snafes is not an event that simply gathers people and ends. It gathers mama-sans. It opens up to the city. Mama-sans tell stories. They captivate with songs and conversations. And it connects to real stores, regions, tours, and subsequent consumption. It is a showcase that allows you to see the economic zone model of Snack Yokocho all at once.

POINT 01: Encounters between Mama-sans and Customers Create New Snack Fans

At Snafes, snack bar mama-sans carefully selected by Snack Yokocho gathered from across the country. Each mama-san's personality and charm were expressed in their conversations and hospitality, allowing visitors to enjoy encounters with multiple mama-sans within two hours. Conversations sparked from a mama-san's remark, leading to toasts, singing, laughter, and natural connections between neighboring customers. It provided an opportunity for even those new to snack bars to experience the warmth and fun of snack bar culture. Snafes is a unique nighttime economy model of Snack Yokocho that creates new snack fans starting with "wanting to meet again" and leads to the desire to visit real establishments.

POINT 02: Creating New Circulation in the City at Night within a Realistic Yokocho Space

The venue featured signs, noren (curtains), and lanterns, creating a space reminiscent of a real snack bar alley. Visitors enjoyed conversations with mama-sans and the local atmosphere while bar-hopping to multiple snack bars. Furthermore, events such as mama-san's amateur singing contests, talk shows, and a retro content corner were held, creating a lively atmosphere throughout the venue. Digital tickets, guidebooks, and stamp rallies were integrated on smartphones, encouraging circulation both inside and outside the venue. By combining analog human encounters with digital circulation routes, it functioned as a nighttime economy revitalization model that generates nighttime stays, conversations, and consumption.

POINT 03: Experiencing a Unique Japanese Night Culture Open to Inbound Tourists

Snack bars are a unique Japanese nightlife culture. However, for foreign tourists, they have been areas that are difficult to enter and experience. In this Snafes, with its open venue design and secure pathways, foreign visitors naturally participated. Conversations, karaoke, and toasts. Even if the language wasn't perfectly understood, exchanges were born through toasts and smiles. Snafes also demonstrated the potential to promote snack bar culture as a nighttime tourism content for inbound visitors.

Snafes Starts Here

Snack bars are not just places to drink alcohol. They are a unique Japanese night culture with mama-sans, conversations, and natural connections with the people next to you.

At "YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO," held in Kyobashi, Tokyo, 38 snack bar mama-sans from across the country gathered over three months, and approximately 3,000 people experienced snack bar culture. Seeing the smiles and conversations born at the venue, I am convinced that snack bar culture is a "real exchange asset" that is necessary for the current era.

Snafes does not end here. We will expand this model, proven in Tokyo, to cities, tourist destinations, commercial facilities, and ground-level spaces nationwide, utilizing the charm of local snack bars and mama-sans as nighttime tourism resources. Snack Yokocho will nurture snack bar culture as a social asset for the future and promote it nationwide and globally.

Mayuko Igarashi, Representative Director, Online Snack Yokocho Culture Inc.

Meet the Mama-sans, explore the snack bars. Six scenes expanded by Snafes.

Snack bar mama-sans from across the country gather in Kyobashi, Tokyo. Toasts with mama-sans create new encounters.

Encounter the unique charm of snack bars at each establishment. Singing voices unite the yokocho.

Enjoy snack bar culture across generations and nationalities. These encounters lead to real establishments.

YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO Overview

Event Name: YOKOCHO WONDERLAND in TOKYO ~Connecting Generations, Cultures, and the "Night"~

Event Dates: April 16 (Thu) - 18 (Sat), 2026 May 14 (Thu) - 16 (Sat), 2026 June 18 (Thu) - 20 (Sat), 2026

Event Hours: 16:00 - 22:00

Venue: Tokyo Square Garden, 1st Floor Passageway

Number of Participating Establishments: 38 (9 days over 3 months)

Number of Visitors: Approximately 3,000

Tickets: Advance and same-day tickets sold out for all dates

Organizer: Online Snack Yokocho Culture Inc.

Sponsors: Sanko Seika Co., Ltd., Jinro Co., Ltd., Suntory Holdings Limited, Xing Inc., Hitomairu Inc. ■ Co-organizer: JTB Global Marketing & Travel Inc. ■ Cooperation: Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd.

Advisor: Japan Nighttime Economy Promotion Council

*This project is supported by the "Nighttime (Early Morning/Late Evening) Tourism Promotion Subsidy" from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Event Official Website: https://yokochowonderland.tokyo/ For details on Snafes, including event overview and reports, please visit the official website.

What is "Snack Yokocho," an Entertainment Group Collaborating with Various Companies to Energize the Snack Industry?

Online Snack Yokocho Culture Inc., headed by Mayuko Igarashi, a "Suna-jo®" (woman who visits snack bars) who has visited over 1,400 snack bars nationwide, is a company that re-edits Japan's unique snack bar culture into a "real exchange asset" that companies, local governments, and regions can utilize. Leveraging its nationwide snack bar network, it develops snack bar tours, corporate training, regional events, office snack bars, nighttime economy measures, and product promotions. By utilizing the conversational skills and community-building abilities of mama-sans, it expands experiences where people naturally connect to tourism, town development, and corporate co-creation. Snack Yokocho views snack bars not merely as eateries, but as a unique Japanese cultural resource that conveys regional charm, generates visits and consumption, and fosters interaction across generations and nationalities. Moving forward, together with mama-sans nationwide, it will create new vibrancy and economic circulation in nighttime entertainment districts.

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