From August 28th to 31st, the 62nd Tokyo International Toy Fair opened grandly at the Tokyo Big Sight.
It covered a total area of 50,000 square meters and brought together more than 200 exhibitors from around the world, displaying more than 35,000 new toy products.
The Tokyo International Toy Show ( TOKYO TOY SHOW ) is one of the most influential toy shows in the world. Hosted by the Japan Toy Association since 1962, it has been held for 61 years as of 2024 .
Until now, there is no exact official statistical information on the specific data of the number of exhibitors and visitors of the 2025 Tokyo Toy Show and the growth of the amount of achievements compared to 2024.
According to existing reports , the 2024 exhibition attracted 193 exhibitors and approximately 13,362 professional visitors. During the two days open to the general public, the event attracted approximately 71,049 visitors, for a total of 84,411 attendees. Regarding performance data, the 2024 show generated over 50 billion yen in on-site orders, with 86% of exhibitors reporting a “significant increase in the number of sales channels.”
Furthermore, Japan's toy retail sales exceeded 1.2 trillion yen in 2024, firmly placing it among the top three globally. 70% of exhibitors achieved cross-border collaborations through the show, tapping into high-potential markets such as Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia. Exhibitors generally believe this show is the best way to expand into the Japanese toy market. As one of the world's most influential toy events, alongside the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany and the Hong Kong Toy Fair, the Tokyo Toy Show has long been a bellwether for toy trends in Asia and beyond.
The world's most influential toy fair
As a professional manufacturer of children's electronic toys, Cheertone did not participate in this exhibition as an exhibitor at the show. However, we engaged in discussions with numerous exhibitors at the event, discovering many new and interesting products, and learn about the latest trends in the smart toy market. This exhibition not only helped us gain insight into industry trends but also created new opportunities for us to expand collaborations with international partners.
Exhibition highlights - Image courtesy of Cheertone
These are some of the cute, compact toys we spotted at the show. We observed that AI toys are evolving from simple interactive functions to deeper emotional companionship,a new market trend. Many exhibitors introduced new products that emphasized emotion recognition and responsiveness to varying degrees. This also gave us inspiration: Cheertone will continue to refine its existing products, segmenting its product lines and developing new features, aiming to create more competitive products through differentiated upgrades.
Exhibition highlights - Image courtesy of Cheertone
Additionally, character IP was a highlight of this year's exhibition. A growing number of toy products are leveraging the power of animation, film, and popular IP, combining industrial production with artistic creation. Adopting the concept of "natural beauty combined with personalized beauty," they preserves the classic IP's adorable qualities while incorporating customizable elements. These intriguing character designs precisely tap into consumers' emotional needs, satisfying the human pursuit of beauty through multiple dimensions, including visual pleasure, emotional resonance, and collectible value. This demonstrates the unique strength of IP toys in delivering emotional value. It is foreseeable that IP collaboration will continue to be a key driver of innovation and consumer upgrades in the toy industry.
At the exhibition, we also found that Cheertone P16 kids' camera is well-performed particularly in the Japanese market.
It has not only seen a steady increase in sales on mainstream online platforms such as Amazon Japan and Rakuten,
Cheertone P16 kids’ camera - Image sourced from online platform
but also could be found in offline stores,even at Tokyo Airport's duty-free shops.
Image source: Cheertone
From the overall trend, the Tokyo Toy Show revealed several important development directions of smart toys :
Deeper emotional interaction: Future AI toys will move beyond simple question-and-answer functionality and will be able to memorize user preferences, understand emotional shifts, and provide emotional support. For example, Sharp's Poketomo can record conversations and sights, enabling smoother communication.
Trends in all-age development: Toy consumers are expanding from children to adults. The Japan Toy Association points out that adults with a childlike innocence are driving the toy market. At the 2025 Tokyo Fair, more collectibles, models, and high-end toys targeting young people and adults emerged, further broadening the market boundaries.
Accelerating technological integration: AI, AR, and VR technologies are increasingly integrated with traditional toys. At the 2025 Tokyo Toy Show, Sega subsidiary SEGA Fave launched the Zwift children's stroller, which connects to a TV to provide an immersive sports experience. At the 2024 Tokyo Toy Show, approximately 35% of exhibits already incorporated AI or AR features, and this proportion is expected to continue to rise.
The popularity of cross-IP collaborations continues to rise : collaborations between toys and animation, toys and trendy culture, and toys and artistic creation are constantly emerging, injecting more vitality into the market. In 2025, Tomy launched a series of new products in collaboration with overseas IPs such as Transformers and Disney Princesses, demonstrating the huge market potential for cross-industry integration in toys. In the future, we will see more cross-industry collaborations between IPs from different fields and toys , bringing more innovative products to consumers .
Social integration: Toys are no longer isolated entertainment products, but rather bridges between users and social networks. TOMY’s Beyblade X series even opened an official virtual space on Roblox, with over 15 million visits.
Trends revealed at the Tokyo Toy Show indicate that smart toys are evolving from a single entertainment function to a multi-dimensional experience encompassing technology, emotion, social interaction, and culture. In the future, toys will not only serve as companions for children but will also become a bridge of emotional connection and interaction for consumers across all age groups.
The successful hosting of this Tokyo International Exhibition has injected new vitality and confidence into the global toy industry. The Tokyo Toy Show is not only an important platform for product display and trading, but also a key hub for gaining insights into smart toy trends and connecting cross-industry resources.
Cheertone is actively preparing for the 138th Canton Fair. From October 31st to November 4th, we will show our latest products in the third toy exhibition area. If you are interested in participating, please feel free to contact us. We are looking forward to meeting you at the Canton Fair and jointly attending the unveiling ceremony of our new products.
