Hong Kong adult expo cancelled as immigration officials dispute claims Japanese performers were refused entry

Cancellation leaves performers and fans facing conflicting explanations

Hong Kong's MEGA FANS EXPO 2026 was cancelled on November 11, two days before its planned opening at the Regal Airport Hotel, after Japanese adult film performers said they and their teams could not enter the city. Hong Kong's Immigration Department subsequently rejected claims that 27 performers had been refused entry, saying they chose to leave after learning the event was cancelled.

The cancellation covered both the November 12 media preview and the main exhibition scheduled for November 13 to 15. Organiser AEE Group Limited promised refunds, while ticket platform KKday told customers their payments would be returned in full.

The dispute centres on what happened first: performers initially described immigration problems that forced them to return to Japan, while the department said the cancellation prompted their departure. Several social media posts alleging refused entry were later deleted.

For ticket holders, the immediate result was certain: the advertised meetings, stage appearances and premium experiences would not take place. The reason the organiser abandoned the exhibition remained unexplained beyond a reference to circumstances outside its control.

What the organiser announced

AEE Group Limited had promoted the exhibition as Hong Kong's first large adult entertainment expo, bringing together nearly 30 Japanese actresses for three days of fan activities. Ticket presales began on the evening of October 15.

The organiser's November 11 announcement cancelled the entire exhibition and the following day's media preview. A subsequent post on X on Thursday promised full refunds and apologised to fans.

The expo organiser described the cancellation in its public statement:

cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

AEE Group director Choi Wai-sum did not provide a substantive explanation when asked whether the cancellation involved performers being denied entry. He said an announcement would follow and ended the telephone call when pressed about the immigration allegations.

What the performers said happened

Hibiki Otsuki said she had reached Hong Kong but that her manager, production staff and fellow actresses could not enter, despite having arranged the relevant visas beforehand. She described the situation as unprecedented and said she did not understand the reason.

Otsuki, one of the actresses scheduled to attend the expo, wrote on X:

No one did anything wrong, so it's only becoming more of a mystery. This has never happened before,

Mari Tachibana also said her team had secured the necessary visas and had to return to Japan. Posts attributed to Otsuki, Tachibana and Remu Suzumori alleging entry problems were subsequently deleted.

Yui Hatano, who was scheduled to host the event alongside fellow adult film performer Taka Kato, told fans she had arrived in Hong Kong but would be returning to Japan. She said the opportunity to host a large overseas event had been unusual for her and expressed disappointment at leaving without taking part.

Hatano apologised to the people who had expected to see her:

To everyone who was looking forward to this, I am truly sorry that things ended up turning out this way,

Messages attributed to Rena Miyashita and Hikari Aozora also described the Japanese group returning home. Miyashita said it appeared everyone would be forcibly returned, while Aozora told fans that everyone had to go back to Japan. Their descriptions added to the initial impression that the event had collapsed because of a collective immigration decision.

Immigration officials reject the refusal account

Hong Kong's Immigration Department gave a different explanation. Responding to inquiries, it said the relevant participants learned that the exhibition had been cancelled and then chose to leave. The department said claims that it had denied entry to the 27 performers were untrue.

KKday's message to buyers nevertheless referred to problems with the artists' entry into Hong Kong as the reason for cancellation. Fans therefore received an explanation from the booking platform that differed from the department's account.

The precise sequence of the cancellation announcement, immigration processing and decisions to return to Japan has not been publicly detailed. The organiser has not reconciled the performers' initial statements and the ticket platform's message with the department's response.

How the event unravelled

The exhibition moved from advance ticket sales to complete cancellation in less than a month. Its final scheduled activities were concentrated over four days, beginning with the media preview.

• October 15: Ticket presales began in the evening.
• November 11: Performers described problems entering Hong Kong, and AEE Group announced the cancellation.
• November 12: The cancelled media preview had been due to take place. The organiser's Thursday message promised full refunds.
• November 13 to 15: The main exhibition had been scheduled at the Regal Airport Hotel.

Tickets were still available on the booking platform at about 5.30pm on November 11. Roughly an hour later, the event was displayed as sold out, before the cancellation announcement circulated that evening.

The abrupt change left a very short interval between customers being able to purchase admission and learning that none of the scheduled sessions would happen.

What fans had paid to attend

The programme extended beyond stage appearances. Organisers advertised four themed rooms, meetings with actresses, opportunities for photographs and autographs, handprint sessions and exclusive merchandise. Hatano and Kato were listed as special guests.

A pass covering all three exhibition days cost HK$1,320. Some tickets were described as costing up to HK$2,380, while premium handprint packages were priced as high as HK$2,580. Those figures covered different advertised purchases, with interaction vouchers and other extras increasing the price beyond basic admission.

The HK$2,580 handprint package cost HK$1,260 more than the HK$1,320 pass, almost twice as much. For fans buying premium experiences, a substantial part of the purchase was tied to a particular interaction with a performer.

Published event descriptions used several different headcounts: the Immigration Department addressed claims involving 27 performers, promotional descriptions referred to nearly 30, and a circulated guest list contained 28 actresses. The allegations also included managers and production staff travelling with them.

What the refund promise covers

KKday told customers that cancelled orders would receive full refunds through the original payment method. Its stated arrangements called for the platform and supplier to process those refunds automatically, without buyers having to submit a separate application.

The organiser also said refund information would be released through official channels. No completion date was announced, leaving customers waiting for confirmation of when the money would reach their accounts.

The event's ordinary booking conditions had said completed orders could not be cancelled, changed or refunded. The platform's response to the complete cancellation was to return payments in full, replacing the practical effect of those normal purchase conditions for affected orders.

The announced arrangements concerned ticket orders. Fans who had made separate travel or accommodation bookings would need to check the conditions attached to those purchases; no reimbursement plan for those expenses was announced.

Why the visa question matters

Hong Kong generally requires appropriate employment permission for visitors undertaking work, whether that work is paid or unpaid. A commercial appearance, ticketed performance or organised fan meeting can involve work even when it consists mainly of posing for photographs, signing autographs or appearing on stage.

Japanese travellers can benefit from arrangements allowing short visits without a visa, but permission to visit and permission to work serve different purposes. An entertainer attending a commercial event needs permission suited to the planned activity.

Otsuki and Tachibana said their teams had obtained the required documents. The exact visa categories and conditions attached to those documents were not disclosed. Immigration officers also assess travellers at the border, including their stated purpose and planned activities.

The department's account of this incident was that the performers chose to leave after cancellation. It did not announce a finding that their paperwork was unsuitable or that their proposed appearances breached immigration rules.

Political speculation surrounds the cancellation

Speculation linked the episode to strained relations between China and Japan, including Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's earlier remarks about a possible Taiwan contingency. Others pointed to preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit in neighbouring Shenzhen. The organiser gave no political explanation for its decision.

The summit's timing was described inconsistently: the initial account placed it on November 14, while another account gave November 18. Both placed the exhibition close to the leaders' gathering, but the cancellation announcement contained no reference to summit security.

Preparations in Shenzhen included intensive cleaning around metro entrances, bollards, pavements and station floors. Near Pingzhou station in Bao'an, an unfinished building described as having stood idle since 2005 was covered with blue screening. Transport restrictions were also described as disrupting coach ticket sales.

Those preparations attracted attention because Shenzhen and Hong Kong are neighbouring cities. The public explanations for the expo's collapse, however, remained focused on unspecified circumstances, the performers' travel accounts and the Immigration Department's denial of refused entry. No authority announced an operation against the exhibition connected to APEC.

Key Points

• MEGA FANS EXPO 2026 was cancelled on November 11, including its November 12 preview and November 13 to 15 exhibition.
• Several Japanese performers initially said they and their teams could not enter Hong Kong despite arranging visas.
• The Immigration Department said 27 performers were not refused entry and chose to leave after learning of the cancellation.
• Several social media posts alleging refused entry were later deleted.
• KKday promised full refunds to the original payment method, with no completion date announced.
• AEE Group has not publicly explained the cancellation beyond circumstances outside its control.