Animelo Summer Live 2026 Is Underway at Makuhari Messe — Japan's Long-Running Anisong Festival Turns 21

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Known to fans by its nickname "Anisama," Animelo Summer Live is an annual anime song festival held every summer. It started in 2005 and reached its 21st edition in 2026. This year's event runs from July 10 to 12 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. Because the event's usual venue, Saitama Super Arena, is currently under renovation, this year's festival moved to a different location and was held earlier in the year than usual. Around 40 voice actors and anisong artists are performing across the three days.

What To Know

For anisong fans, an event that's been running continuously since 2005 says a lot on its own — it's become one of the fixed points of the anime music calendar, the kind of event people plan their summer around. Seeing dozens of voice actors and artists share one stage over several days is also a rare chance to experience how wide the anisong world really is, beyond any single series or artist.

This year's move to Makuhari Messe, instead of the festival's usual home at Saitama Super Arena, comes from a practical reason: Saitama Super Arena is currently undergoing major renovation work, which also pushed the event more than a month earlier than its typical schedule. Large-scale anime and music events in Japan are often built around specific arenas like these, so a venue change like this is a real, visible sign of how much planning goes into an event of this size.

What Fans Are Saying

• "21 years running and still going strong — that's wild."
• "Kind of interesting that it moved venues this year, didn't expect that."
• "Almost 40 artists over three days is such a huge lineup."

Original Japanese

• 「21年も続いてるのすごい」
• 「今年は会場が違うんだ、意外」
• 「3日間で40組はさすがに豪華」

Easy Japanese

毎年開かれるアニソンのライブイベント「アニサマ」が、今年は幕張メッセで開催されています。2005年から続く、21回目の開催です。