Djakarta Ennichi 2026 Abruptly Cancelled; Booth Renters Disappointed After Long Registration and Hotel Bookings

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A number of booth renters at the Japanese culture festival Djakarta Ennichi 2026 have said they are disappointed after the event, which had been planned to take place at Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta, was suddenly cancelled on Saturday, 23 May 2026.

Mario (not his real name), one of the booth renters from Surabaya, East Java, said he had prepared for the festival for three months and had even booked accommodation near the event site.

‘For opening the tenant here I registered as early as February. Now I’m disappointed because the event has been cancelled,’ Mario said when approached by Kompas.com in the Lapangan Banteng area on Saturday.

‘If you look at the loading and all that, there are already some oddities. After all, in the organisers’ group there isn’t any definite information. It should be busy if the event were happening,’ he said.

According to Mario, from the outset the organisers were seen as not providing clear guidance to the booth tenants. Even up to the point the event was confirmed cancelled, participants said they had not received detailed information about next steps or refunds.

‘We’re also puzzled why it was cancelled. So far there’s been no news from the organisers,’ he added.

He believes the organisers should show good faith by providing direct explanations to the tenants who had paid the participation fees.

‘Or perhaps there is good faith in the group, telling us if it doesn’t go ahead how the refunds would work or what. After all, the event owner is the one who has it; we here are paying as participants,’ Mario said.

Mario said he had been at the site since Saturday morning. However, some of his tenant crew had to return to their accommodation due to fatigue after the preparation process.

He also criticised the lack of technical signage at the event site. According to Mario, tenants have difficulty locating their booth because the festival area is quite wide and not equipped with adequate markers.

‘There should at least be someone giving directions or something. The loading teams are also confused about where the placements are, where the booths are,’ he said.

Mario said he had rented two booths whose locations were far apart, making the preparation even more challenging.