Question 1.
How do I get tickets to a concert in Japan
when my lucky little ass is already in Japan?

If your lucky little ass is already in Japan, your lucky little ass should find getting tickets very easy. First, check the band's website to see when tickets go on sale and where tickets are being sold. If you can get fan club tickets, obviously, do it that way…fan clubs usually make special early announcements of tours, and allow members to buy tickets before they go on general sale.

If you're not in the band's fan club, you can still try to get tickets before they go on general sale - ticket websites like Ticket Pia, Lawson Ticket, and eplus will also often hold pre-sale lotteries [抽選], after fan club sales have ended but before general sales begin. To find the tickets you want on a website like this, enter the name of the artist into the search box [検索], click on the show you want, then see if there is information about a pre-sale lottery. There will be a specific number of tickets available in a pre-sale lottery. If more fans enter the lottery than there are tickets available, who gets tickets and who doesn't will be assigned randomly. If you lose out on the lottery, you can always try again when the tickets go on general sale.　 Sometimes there are even multiple successive ticket lotteries. You may have to have a Japanese credit card to get tickets this way, although it seems that in recent years more ticket websites are accepting international cards. For more information on ticket lotteries, check out the Shopping Service section on concert tickets.

For fans without credit cards who are resident in Japan, most ticket lotteries (including fanclub ticket lotteries) allow for payment in cash yen at convenience stores using a confirmation number. This payment method is known as "e-context" [イーコンテクスト] for some convenience stores, excluding 7-11, which has its own separate method. If you win a ticket in a ticket lottery and have selected the option to pay at a convenience store, you will receive an email from the ticket seller with a confirmation number, or two separate confirmation numbers in some instances. If you don't speak Japanese, my advice is, print out this email, bring it with you to the convenience store, show it to the store clerk and ask them to help you. If you are paying at a Lawson or Family Mart, you will need to enter your information into the automated ticket machine, which will print out a slip for you that the clerk at the register will use to ring up what you owe. If you are paying at a 7-11, all you need is a confirmation number. Write it down on a slip of paper, show it to the clerk, and they'll do the rest for you. This is why, if you have the option to choose payment through 7-11, I recommend that as the easiest method.

If you purchase concert tickets through a band's fanclub, the tickets will be mailed to you 3-4 weeks in advance of the show. Ticket deliveries from Ticket Pia require a signature, so if you are not at home when the ticket is delivered, you will receive a non-delivery notice and will have to call the post office to request re-delivery. If you don't speak Japanese, check your non-delivery notice carefully, there will usually be a special phone number you can call for service in English.

If you purchase tickets online through Pia, Lawson ticket, or eplus, you are often (though not always) allowed to specify whether you would like to go to a convenience store and have them printed, or whether you would prefer them to be mailed to you. There is a fee associated with each method.

If you’re going to see some little-known band that has no fan club at some teeny-tiny venue, chances are you can just show up and buy tickets at the door when you go in, though the same day price is generally 500 yen higher than the advance price, so if you want to get the advance price discount (and a better line number), I recommend buying the tickets directly at the venue box office in advance, or reserving tickets through the band's website - if you can't figure out how to do that, emailing the band's staff will usually do the trick. If you can’t speak Japanese and you want to buy a ticket at the venue box office, print out the title of the show from the band’s website or something and take it with you to show to the venue staff.

If it’s inconvenient for you to physically go to the venue before the concert, then go where it is convenient—the convenience store, of course! It’s easy to get show tickets at the Loppi machines found in any Lawson convenience store, or at the Ticket Pia kiosk in the 7-Eleven or Circle K convenience stores (or any convenience store that has a [ぴあ] sign on the window). If a band is making tickets available through Lawson and Pia, it will list an “L-code” and a “P-Code” on its website next to the information about the show.

Using the Loppi/Pia machines will require some elementary knowledge of Japanese, but it’s fairly straightforward. If you search by L-Code or P-Code you’ll be able to find the show you want right away, select the number of tickets you want, and enter your name in katakana followed by your phone number. The machine will print a receipt which you then take to the register and hand to the cashier, who will ask you to pay whatever amount of money the tickets cost, then print the tickets for you on the spot. Most large shows will sell tickets through both Lawson and Pia. If you are really desperate for tickets and want to use the convenience store method but can’t speak a lick of Japanese and don’t have any friends who can either, write your name and phone number, the name of the artist/show, the L-Code or P-Code, and “LAWSON TICKET” or “TICKET PIA” on a piece of paper, show it to the cashier, and gesticulate at them till they get the message and come over and help you. If they’re mean to you, keep a stiff upper lip, move on to the next convenience store, and try again…chances are someone will be nice to you soon. Or be dying to practice their English on you.

That said, I really don’t recommend plunking your lucky little ass down in Japan without learning at least a tiny little handful of Japanese first…otherwise you might very well find yourself in over your head in more than just buying show tickets.

However, even if you're in Japan, if the above methods look far too complicated for you to want to deal with, you can always email Cayce at themadaristocrat at gmail and ask us to buy the tickets on your behalf. We're happy to serve as a proxy buyer even for fans who are already in Japan.

<< Index / Getting tickets from outside Japan >>

<<Back to Visiting Japan: Helpful Guides<<