In 2025, Final Fantasy IX, one my all-time favorite games, celebrated its 25th anniversary. Luckily for me, I just so happened to be in Tokyo when a special exhibition commemorating that occasion was being held! From development materials that had never been displayed before to exclusive merch, it was definitely a dream come true for a fan of the game. Read on for my full recap!
The Final Fantasy IX 25th Anniversary Exhibition ran for a short time from November 22 to December 7, 2025, with tickets available for advance purchase, as well as at the door, for 1,800 yen per person. Each ticket came with a random Tetra Master-style sticker featuring one of the main characters that was given to you when you went in.
I attended on Tuesday, November 24 with an advance ticket, and I was glad I had one because there was quite a line to buy tickets at the door. When I arrived right at opening at 11 am, there was a slight line for pre-purchased ticket holders, but within 5 minutes or so, I was in!
Upon entering, you were immediately greeted by some concept art and an introduction. Since people were tending to crowd this space and the staff were asking for us not to block the entrance, I moved along quickly to the character introductions with concept art. I don’t believe any of the character art in this section was new, but it was definitely fun to see it all on display, and so big for the character art!
After the main characters were more minor characters such as the members of Tantalus and Queen Brahne, followed by monsters, weapons, environments, and Eidolons. The Eidolon section began with a large screen playing videos of each of their summon animations, which was a nice touch!
In the interest of not completely overloading this article with photos, I made a little collage of some of my snaps so that you can appreciate the vibes. Clearly I have a thing for moogles, because I took photos of them whenever they appeared!
There were many design documents that were just sketches or text on white paper that unfortunately didn’t photograph well, but I definitely could’ve spent hours in there reading over everything.
I would be remiss not to share full-sized images of some special sketches and comments by Hideo Minaba, the art director for Final Fantasy IX, though!
One of my favorite parts was the photo spot featuring a replica of the Excalibur II sword in Memoria and an overlay that made it look like you were in a battle from the game. This is the closest I’ll ever get to Excalibur II by far… To get the sword in the actual game, you basically have to do a speedrun wherein you get to the game’s final dungeon within 12 hours. Of course, I had to get a picture!
In addition to content from the game, the exhibition also featured art from Vivi and Grandpa’s Memories for the Sky, which will be released in English in May 2026.
This was followed by a couple walls of fanart, along with fan comments. Then, as you neared the exit, there was a room with the ending credits playing, along with some special messages from staff, and the sheet music for “The Place I’ll Return to Someday.” I won’t lie, I got teary-eyed!
After exiting the actual exhibition, there was a wall of fan comments, which I of course had to add to!
Finally came the gift shop, where I’d say I reached a pretty good middle ground between being mediated and excessive. Here’s my haul:
Of the items I got, the Kuja plushie and desk mat weren’t exclusives, but they’re both items I’d been wanting to pick up for a while. The remaining items were exclusive to the exhibition (see the full list of items that were available here). The moogle save book book cover is particularly adorable!
I also got a special paper bag as a bonus for spending over 5,000 yen. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in this video, the quality of the screenshots they used was pretty low, so you can see the artifacting in the art. I would’ve much preferred something with concept art on it, but I can’t complain too much, considering it was free!
While much of the concept art on display was things I’d seen before in books and online, it was great to see it all together in person with the new additions along with other fans at the exhibition. It’s a shame it only ran for such a short time, as I would’ve recommended any fan of the game who found themselves in Tokyo go check it out!
