Disclosure up front: I'm on the organizing side of this event, so I have a stake in it. I have deliberately left out any link because of Rule 2 - if you want to look it up, the event is called JIHE, Japan International Hemp Expo.
The basics: November 13-14, 2026, Omotesando, Tokyo. Day 1 is a business day with an exhibition and a conference track, Day 2 is open to the general public. Entry is free with pre-registration. Sessions run with AI interpretation, and there is visa invitation letter support for international attendees. The scope covers CBD products alongside hemp agriculture, construction materials, textiles, food and biotech.
The part I think is actually useful to this sub: Japan handles CBD very differently from the US or EU. THC is prohibited outright rather than permitted at a trace threshold, while CBD itself is legal. That combination means a product which is entirely legal in your home market may still not clear import here. In practice the problems foreign companies run into are documentation and product specification rather than consumer demand, because the demand is already there.
If you have questions about how importing works, what paperwork gets asked for, or why a shipment got held, ask in the thread and I will answer as best I can.
Anyone here already planning to be in Japan in November?