At Comic Market in Tokyo Big Sight, the entrance queue is part of the official operating plan. Guidance for Comic Market 107 instructed holders of morning-entry wristbands to put them on before arriving and join either the East or West Waiting Line. Official maps marked both lines and even showed routes that could change depending on where the end of a line had reached.
The organisers manage more than simple first-come order. Early-entry tickets, morning wristbands and afternoon admission have different times and access points. Visitors exchanging QR-code tickets for wristbands pass through another location after 8 a.m. In summer, the guidance warns against arriving too early because waiting can last for hours in extreme heat. Overnight waiting around the venue is prohibited as a public-safety and neighbourhood issue, and the organisers state that it gives no advantage over people arriving in the morning.
The line is therefore not an accidental crowd outside an event. Tickets, maps, entrances, clocks and staff instructions convert a huge gathering into a temporary order. Defining when people may queue—and when they must not—is part of what makes the event possible.