International Jewellery Tokyo — universally abbreviated in the trade as IJT — is Japan's largest annual business-to-business jewellery exhibition, held each January at Tokyo Big Sight, the vast convention complex on the city's waterfront in Kōtō ward. Organised by RX Japan (formerly Reed Exhibitions Japan), the show draws manufacturers, gemstone dealers, findings suppliers, technology vendors, and retail buyers from across Asia, Europe, and North America, making it the primary forum through which the Japanese domestic jewellery market interfaces with international supply chains.

Format and Structure

IJT runs concurrently with a cluster of related RX Japan trade fairs covering fashion accessories, watches, and design goods, allowing exhibitors and buyers to move between complementary sectors within a single venue during the same dates. This co-location model is a deliberate commercial strategy: a retailer attending to source finished jewellery may also evaluate packaging, display fixtures, and fashion accessories without separate travel. The combined event is among the largest B2B lifestyle-goods gatherings on the Japanese trade calendar.

Within IJT itself, exhibition space is typically organised by product category — finished jewellery, loose gemstones and pearls, precious metals and findings, machinery and technology — as well as by geography, with dedicated pavilions for exhibitors from China, Thailand, India, and other major manufacturing nations. Japanese domestic manufacturers and wholesalers occupy a substantial share of the floor, reflecting the show's dual role as both an import sourcing platform and a showcase for Japan's own precision jewellery craftsmanship.

Significance for the Gemstone Trade

For gemstone dealers, IJT represents one of the few major trade venues in East Asia where substantial volumes of coloured stones, cultured pearls, and diamond goods change hands or are placed on order outside of Hong Kong's larger fairs. Japan remains one of the world's significant consumers of high-quality cultured pearls — particularly Akoya and South Sea varieties — and the pearl section of IJT attracts specialist buyers who regard Tokyo as the authoritative market for grading and pricing these materials. Coloured-stone dealers from Thailand and Sri Lanka in particular use the show to reach Japanese wholesalers and independent jewellers who may not attend the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair or the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair.

Audience and Access

IJT is a strictly trade-only event; admission requires professional credentials, and the show is not open to the general public. Domestic Japanese retailers — from department-store jewellery buyers to independent kōgei (craft jewellery) studios — form a core segment of the visiting audience. International buyers, particularly from South Korea, Taiwan, and increasingly Southeast Asia, attend to source from Japanese manufacturers whose reputation for finish quality and quality control commands premium positioning in those markets.

Context Within the Global Show Calendar

IJT occupies the January slot in a global trade-show calendar that also includes the Tucson gem shows (late January to February), the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair (February and September), and the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair (March and September). Its January timing means it serves as an early-year market-temperature reading for the Asian jewellery sector, and orders placed or trends observed at IJT often inform buying decisions at subsequent shows. JCK Las Vegas, held in late spring, and Vicenzaoro in Italy occupy different seasonal and geographic niches, but dealers active across all these venues treat IJT as an integral node in the annual sourcing circuit.