The largest HAM radio event in Asia has finally come around again. The 46th JARL Ham Fair was held at the new venue, Ariake GYM-EX, Koto-ku, Tokyo for two days on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th August 2024. The fair was organized by Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) and sponsored by Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, NHK, Japan Radio Association, Japan Amateur Radio Equipment Industry Association, Tokyo Tourism Foundation. The slogan for this year was “New Experiences with Amateur Radio in Ariake”.

Figure 1. Welcome dinner by Kuny san 7L1FPU and his colleague Hiro san on 2nd August 2024

The Ariake GYM-EX is not far from Tokyo Big Sight where the JARL Ham Fairs used to take place for many years. The venue was previously the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and was used during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games before being re-purposed into an exhibition hall.

Figure 2. The first day of 46th JARL Ham Fair where we met Ray N9JA and David BV2FP on the same Yurikamome Line to Ariake-tennis-no-mori Station

Bun E25KAE, JC E20NKB and Champ E21EIC arrived in Japan on Thursday 22nd August. Our main objective this year was to set-up a booth with the JA contesters to promote the World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) that is due to take place in the UK in 2026. Our aim was to raise money and awareness to support the Olympic games of Ham Radio.

Figure 3. WRTC2026 A-11 Booth at JARL Ham Fair 2024, (Top Right) The WRTC2026 volunteers with 7K1BIB, JR3RVO, and JA5SUD (JARL President), (Bottom Right) JE1JKL (9M6NA) pictured in the middle receiving the Bronze Medallion for his donation.

WRTC2026 United Kingdom Booth (A11) was funded by JARL. Our team of volunteers consisted of Yosuke JJ1DQR, Taro JA1BJI, Saty JE1JKL (9M6NA), Jun JH4RHF, Don JH5GHM (JE6RPM), Tong E22YHG, Bun E25KAE, JC E20NKB and Champ E21EIC. This year, JARL website reported that the fair attracted over 33,000 people on the first day, and 12,000 people on the second day. This was 2,000 more people than in 2023. The venue was indeed buzzling with visitors from all over JAs as well as from overseas.

Figure 4. Kids visiting WRTC2026 Booth at 46th JARL Ham Fair and receiving free t-shirts

Figure 5. Volunteers at WRTC2026 at JARL Ham Fair 2024, (Top, L-R), E21EIC, E20NKB, JJ1DQR, E25KAE, E22YHG, JH5GHM, JA1BJI, and JH4RHF, (Bottom, L-R) E20NKB, JH5GHM, JJ1DQR, E25KAE, JH4RHF, JE1JKL, and E21EIC

Due to the smaller size of Ariake GYM-EX compared to Tokyo Big Sight, the fair this year felt cosier and definitely brought people closer together into a tighter-knit community. The WRTC2026 booth gathered a lot of attention from friends and visitors. Our team was able to explain to everyone about the world of contesting, how to qualify for WRTC, and the ample of opportunities that ham radio can bring. The WRTC2026 booth also recognised the importance of youths in the future of ham radio, and tried to get more kids involved by giving out free t-shirts for any kids who stopped by our booth. As for other international booths, MARTS from Malaysia and KARL from Korea also came to showcase their national amateur radio association.

Figure 6. (Top Left) Officials from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) from Thailand visiting JARL Ham Fair 2024, (Top Right) Champ E21EIC with Masa san JA1DM, ex-JARL Senior Advisor, (Bottom Left, L-R) Friends visiting from Brazil PY2MYN, PU2PYC, PY2TWI, VK3TX, E25KAE, E20NKB, and E21EIC, (Bottom Right, L-R) Visiting CWops Booth JF1UOX, JJ1FXF, JN1THL, 7J1ABD, E25KAE, E20NKB, E21EIC, and JQ1LCW

At 15:00 JST on the first day of the fair, the remote operators N5J which consisted of Ken JN1THL, Oku JK1KSB, Tack JE1CKA, Eiki JH8JWF (Asia Pilot), Lee VK3GK and Champ E21EIC gave a presentation about Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024 and the use of Super Fox Mode at the Satellite Stage.

Figure 7. N5J Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024 presentation by the remote ops team: VK3GK, E21EIC, JE1CKA, JK1KSB, JH8JWF, and JN1THL

ICOM, YAESU, KENWOOD, ALINCO, Diamond Antenna, CQ Ham Radio, and many more, all had their own booths at JARL Ham Fair 2024. ICOM drew a big crowd with the unveiling of ICOM IC-7760 to celebrate ICOM’s 60th Anniversary. This ICOM IC-7760, a HF transceiver that features a very innovative design where the full control head is separated from the RF deck for greater installation. It boasts a flexible in-house remote operation via LAN network, dual-independent receivers with spectrum scopes, advanced RF direct sampling system, a better harmonisation of the digital pre-selector (DIGI-SEL) and preamp, 15-separated bandpass filters (BPFs), a digital pre-distortion (DPD) technology, a 100% duty cycle at 200W output, and a dual display control head for main and sub, to name but a few of its great features.

Figure 8. Atmosphere at the 46th JARL Ham Fair 2024

Figure 9. The new ICOM IC-7760

8J1HAM, the special event callsign for the JARL Ham Fair 2024, did not disappoint Bun E25KAE/JK1JVX as she had the opportunity to go on-air on both days; the first day on 1200 MHz with ICOM IC-9700 located at the ham fair and logged 15 QSOs, and the second day on 15m SSB by remoting to an off-site ICOM station through RS-BA1 software and logged over 30 QSOs including some from YB and VR2.

Figure 10. Bun E25KAE enjoying the activation of 8J1HAM from JARL Ham Fair 2024 on both days

On Friday 23rd August evening, Bun E25KAE, JC E20NKB, and Champ E21EIC joined the International Contest Dinner with approximately 40 contesters which was organized by Don JH5GHM at Villa Fontaine Grand Tokyo Ariake. This was then followed by a FEDXP DX Dinner at Tokyo Ham Fair on Saturday evening at Suien restaurant located at East TFT building. The evening was carefully organized by Hiro JA4DND and Joe JJ3PRT and was attended by many oversee DXers including K5GS, KE4KY, K9GY, KE4KDY, DF2OO, VK3GK and VK3TX. The atmosphere was very friendly and full of laughter. All the oversea guests walked away with small cultural gifts to remember Japan by. Over 40 people attended the event on the second evening also.

Figure 11. The atmosphere of the JA International Contest Dinner organized by Don JH5GHM on Friday 23rd August 2024

Figure 12. The atmosphere of the FEDXP DX Dinner organized by Hiro JA4DND and Joe JJ3PRT on Saturday 24th August 2024

After the fair ended on Sunday, Kuny 7L1FPU invited Bun E25KAE, JC E20NKB, Champ E21EIC, and Logan VR2XRW to his parent’s house in Yokohama, and we all got to visit the local summer festival together. Many of the local people who attended the event wore traditional yukatas which are lightweight Japanese kimono often wore in the summer time. Kuny san and his XYL Masami san kindly arranged for us to wear the yukatas to the festival too!

Figure 13. Highlights from Bun E25KAE, JC E20NKB, and Champ E21EIC visit to Kuny’s 7L1FPU hometown in Yokohama and the summer festival on Sunday 25th August 2024

The summer festival here is very interesting and bear many resemblances to temple fairs in Thailand with shrine procession, street vendors selling food, drinks and candies, and numerous carnival games stalls. On Sunday evening, we said goodbye to Bun E25KAE as she took the train to Haneda International Airport and head back to Thailand.

In next month’s article, our journey continues to Tohoku..

Some amazing people we met at JARL Ham Fair 2024..