USJ Announces New Collab with Junji Ito’s Tomie for Halloween Horror Nights 2026
Image by James RichardsonUniversal Studios Japan has revealed a new collaboration with legendary horror manga creator Junji Ito, bringing Tomie into the chaos of Halloween Horror Nights for an original merchandise collection created exclusively for the park’s 25th anniversary.
Tomie was Ito’s debut manga in 1986 and follows an unnaturally beautiful young woman who repeatedly returns from death, leaving obsession, violence and madness behind wherever she appears.
The character has remained one of Ito’s best-known creations throughout his career, which has also produced horror classics including Uzumaki, Gyo and The Hanging Balloons, while his work has earned major international recognition including multiple Eisner Awards and induction into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2025.
For the new USJ collab collection, Ito has created original artwork that places Tomie directly inside the story of the park’s 2026 “Street Zombies” experience rather than simply adding her existing manga imagery to Halloween merchandise.
Tomie appears wearing the same school uniform as the new student zombies being introduced to Street Zombies this year, smiling calmly while holding a plush version of USJ Halloween mascot HamiKuma as hordes of the undead gather around her.
The crossover fits directly into this year’s Street Zombies storyline, which begins with a group of students disappearing during a school trip before infected high school zombies spread through the park and turn the surrounding streets into an escalating outbreak.
USJ says 2026 will feature the largest number of Street Zombies in the attraction’s history, forming part of a much bigger celebration marking 15 years of Halloween Horror Nights at the Osaka theme park.
The Tomie collaboration will include a black T-shirt dominated by Ito’s newly drawn artwork, showing Tomie surrounded by zombies with red Universal Studios Japan lettering positioned beneath the illustration.
A sticker notebook uses the same artwork across its cover and comes with a selection of manga-inspired stickers featuring different images of Tomie, zombies, eyes, sound effects and one of the collaboration’s newly created lines.
The face towel turns the crossover illustration into a larger textile design, while a charm cosmetic keychain combines red and black lipstick and tube-shaped accessories with a black pom-pom and acrylic charm based on a Tomie manga panel.
Ito also shared a message celebrating Universal Studios Japan’s 25th anniversary, recalling previous visits to the park with his family and saying he was honored to collaborate with USJ at such an important point in its history.
All four items are scheduled to go on sale from September 9 at Studio Style inside Universal Studios Japan, with visitors required to hold a valid same-day park ticket or Annual Pass to make a purchase.
Individual prices for the Tomie T-shirt, sticker notebook, face towel and charm cosmetic keychain have not yet been revealed by USJ, with further details expected closer to their arrival at the park.
Halloween Horror Nights itself runs from September 11 through November 8, 2026, bringing the Tomie collaboration into a season that also celebrates 15 years of USJ’s hugely popular nighttime horror event.
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