Meiji Milk Chocolate exhibition brings manga collaborations to Tokyo
Meiji’s centenary exhibition will pair a century of packaging and advertising history with new work from 40 manga creators and 21 artists.
Meiji Milk Chocolate is turning its centenary into a pop-culture exhibition, with 40 manga creators and 21 artists contributing newly drawn work for a limited run in Tokyo. The exhibition opens at Tokyo International Forum on 23 December and runs through 30 December 2026.1
The event marks 100 years since Meiji Milk Chocolate first went on sale in Japan. Meiji says the exhibition will trace the brand’s history through packaging, advertising and historical material, while also looking at the memories people have built around the chocolate over the decades.1
What will be on display
The exhibition’s manga section will feature anniversary illustrations and messages from 40 creators. The announced line-up includes creators associated with NANA (ナナ), Case Closed, City Hunter, The Apothecary Diaries and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (葬送のフリーレン), among many others. The event will also include work by 21 artists from different disciplines, giving the exhibition a broader art-and-design focus than a standard product retrospective.1
The historical displays will cover Meiji’s packaging designs, advertisements and transport advertising from different eras. The organiser also plans a large chocolate-block entrance display, a photo spot and a merchandise area. Additional guest talks are expected during the run, although Meiji says details will be announced later.1
Tickets go on sale from 10am on 29 October. Advance tickets cost ¥500, while same-day tickets cost ¥700. Each ticket also comes with one Meiji Milk Chocolate bar as a visitor benefit. The exhibition will be held in Hall E2 at Tokyo International Forum, with opening hours of 11am to 8pm and final admission at 7:30pm.12
Why this matters
This is more than a gallery of old packaging. Meiji is using a century-old product as a meeting point between commercial history and the Japanese creative culture that grew alongside it. The manga collaborations give the exhibition a clear reason for anime and manga fans to pay attention, while the advertising archive gives the event a wider historical frame.
The official announcement also says the collaboration artwork and messages will be published on Meiji’s anniversary brand site, giving people outside Tokyo another way to see part of the project.1
Our opinion
The strongest part of the exhibition is its combination of familiar pop-culture names with the less glamorous material that explains how a product becomes part of everyday life. The creator line-up should provide the immediate draw, but the packaging and advertising archive is what can give the event staying power. For fans travelling to Tokyo in late December, the short run and relatively low ticket price make this a more focused proposition than a generic brand pop-up.
The Meiji Milk Chocolate 100th Anniversary Exhibition runs at Tokyo International Forum from 23 to 30 December 2026. Its official ticket information and further event updates are available through the organiser and Meiji’s announcement.12